Chronically Joyful

Spring is in the air! As the weather has started to warm up (or at warp speed with the random 80-90 degree days), I am once again reminded of standard MS symptoms that have followed me from the beginning. 

Not only is my body trying to mitigate the outburst of heat to the best of its ability, but I’ve had a noticeable increase in clumsiness beyond my standard. Within the last week or so, I’ve noticed more instances where my legs just don’t seem to be working the way they should – I’m talking occasionally turning into a baby giraffe when heading to my car at the office. Along with my legs having a mind of their own, I just can’t seem to exist without walking into something or nearly taking out entire display shelves. 

I take great pride in my decision to no longer be heat intolerant in the Summer of 2025, but that doesn’t mean the outcome of that decision needs to be linear. I successfully ran in 90+ degrees last summer, but it certainly still had an impact! My body would revolt for the longest time, but after a while it got on board. Repetition is both the definition of becoming an expert and insanity, so I guess I could call myself a little bit of both. After what felt like a long winter (even though in reality, it was pretty mild), I am warming back up along with the temperatures. As it reaches over the 70 degree threshold, my core temperature is rising beyond its comfort zone over the last 4-5 months of colder weather. Even though my mental health is absolutely singing, my physical body is going to take a bit of additional time to catch up to the sunshine and rainbows. 

What is in my control: choosing to move slower and more deliberate, and actually stretching when I say I’m going to. It feels like an action that would have a smaller impact, but in reality, it is bigger than it seems. MS can shorten muscle fibers given the spasticity so stretching can be incredibly beneficial in ensuring muscles are healthy, but also in aiding in things like cramping, spasms and specific types of pain. 

What is out of my control: the symptoms I experience due to a really high or really low temperature. I have accepted this, I just choose not to focus on it to try and beat my odds like always; summer of 2025 proved successful, I am just choosing to start conditioning in the Spring! 

My entire life, I have always been clumsy. I walk into walls, trip up the stairs, spill hot coffee all over myself because I’m laughing and walking at the same time – you get the picture. In early 2026, I’ve just noticed that this trait has become exponentially more noticeable and definitely occurs more often. For example, I walked into a shelf full of microwaves at work and all of them anchored just a little bit off center; I stood up from a desk and turned away from a friend and slammed my computer into the chair I had just been sitting in. These incidents occurred within maybe 2 hours of each other – I have no excuses, this is just the delightful hot mess I’ve always been, but I have noticed more moments like this within a shorter period of time. 

I don’t know if the temperature changes and the increased clumsiness are related, but if I had to guess, probably at least a little bit. More relevant to my personal circumstances, I have been incredibly stressed for the last few weeks due to personal life circumstances and insanely high stress work environments. Depending on how my unpredictable work days go, I experience flare symptoms more intensely and more acutely (obviously) than when I’m calm. 

A real test to the beginning stages of Summer of 2026’s heat intolerance will be happening Thursday after work when I go for my first run of the year! Of course the day I decided to do so was 85 degrees out of the blue, so the ultimate test is truly the one test to rule them all – I draft these blogs throughout the week after work, so I will be able to provide an update once I get back! 

The run went better than expected, though I was optimistic to begin with! On an 85 degree day, I slipped on my new running shoes (which absolutely gave me shin splints) and let the route figure itself out. I ran while I felt good and happily walked when needed – I like to refer to my runs as “yogging” because when the weather is hot, it’s mostly walking LOL. I made it 5 ⅕ miles accidentally and managed not to fall on the concrete or pee my pants! Definitely a win, but highlighted that while I try not to be heat intolerant, the temperature certainly does affect my body as my core temperature rises.

We have to be just a little bit delusional sometimes to make magic happen! It’s a known fact that most autoimmune diseases come with built-in heat intolerance and clumsiness, I just choose to take the delusional route in the sense that I am simply just “choosing” not to experience that anymore. In practice, of course I’m feeling these things still, I just elect to shift my focus in the moment to alleviate attracting MORE symptoms. This process has brought really positive outcomes for me thus far, so I’m all-in. 

Cheers to being delusional together and navigating the uncertain with a smile and laughing at ourselves when we sometimes (literally) fall down. 

Thanks for remaining Chronically Joyful with me. ♡