10 Popular MS Blogs to Check Out in 2023

Is it possible to keep a positive attitude when you’re constantly fatigued? How about if you occasionally wet the bed?

With multiple sclerosis (MS), symptoms can range from numbness and tingling to vision problems, bladder dysfunction, balance problems, dizziness, and more, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS). But there’s no pattern of symptoms that applies to everyone; MS affects each person differently.

One thing everyone with MS can relate to, though, is the unpredictability of a condition that can have you feeling fine one day and lying flat on your back the next.

Figuring out how best to live with this incurable disease and the challenges it throws in your path can be overwhelming if you try to do it alone. So why not turn to other people with MS who know exactly what you’re going through? You can find a lot of them on the internet, blogging, creating podcasts, and sometimes posting a video or two.

In our favorite MS blogs, you’ll find plenty of inspiration, brutal honesty, new experiences, frustrations, successes, highs, and lows.

Regardless of where they come from and what they do, all these bloggers provide advice, encouragement, and a no-frills look at what life is really like when you’re living with MS.

1. Tripping on Air

Ardra Shephard’s generous use of profanity and friendly, conversational writing style make Tripping on Air feel like a chat with a friend. Her hilarious posts discuss the daily struggles of MS — like how MS can mess with your mojo, having to admit to her husband (“The Banker”) that she wet the bed, or getting the flu during a fancy birthday dinner in New York City. She also talks about what it was like to “come out” to her friends about having MS. Candid and charming, Ardra’s blog is the perfect remedy for any of your down days.

2. Dinosaurs, Donkeys, and MS

Heather has made her story one of perseverance and positivity. She and her crochet donkey companion, Dizzy — named after one of her symptoms — chronicle daily life with MS via her blog posts and the occasional podcast, Dizzycast. Heather’s charming blog highlights her adventures with Dizzy (such as volunteering at a wildlife hospital or practicing donkey yoga) as well her tips for making life with MS easier and keeping your brain healthy. Don’t miss her helpful and reassuring articles on how to cope with an MS diagnosis and how to make MS injections less scary.

3. An Empowered Spirit

As the title suggests, Cathy Chester’s blog focuses on empowerment and encouragement for people living with a chronic illness, because, she says, “No matter what adversity you face, life is still delicious.” Diagnosed with MS in 1986, she aims to help readers feel “less lonely, isolated, and overwhelmed than she did when she was diagnosed,” assuring them that the road is “a lot less bumpy when we travel together.” An Empowered Spirit discusses Cathy’s own life and interests and also provides up-to-date medical news to equip you with resources for a positive and healthy life. In December 2021, after taking some time off from her blog, Cathy reflected on knowing when to step back and focus on your own well-being in times of craziness.

4. Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me

Referring to her symptoms as her “MS-sponsored pajama party,” Willeke Van Eeckhoutte often takes a jovial approach in her blog, Ireland, Multiple Sclerosis & Me. Once, when retrieving the results of an MRI scan, she was asked to present a photo ID, to which she wittily responded, “Isn’t an MRI, like, a picture of my brain, photo ID?” But she’s not afraid to take a more serious tone when necessary, such as this open letter to the media that laments sensationalist headlines promising a cure for MS. Still, her posts consistently end on a happy note.

5. It’s a S--- Business

The title of this blog offers a clue to the tone of Steve Woodward’s long-running series of thoughts on his experiences living with MS. Frank, irreverent, and conversational, It’s a S--- Business is an unfiltered look at Steve’s day-to-day life, from what he calls “MS medications roulette” to the very real phenomenon of wheelchair envy. (Upon discovering the price of one particularly flashy model, he warns readers not to be surprised if he “reinvent[s himself] as an Instagram or YouTube influencer in the forthcoming months.”) He’s also not afraid to tackle some of the more serious issues facing people living with MS: Check out his posts on feeling “like a (literal) burden” when his family members had to push his wheelchair or “that’s not MY MS...”, in which he muses on a tendency among members of the MS community to “live entirely through the filter of their illness.”

6. My New Normals

Despite the challenges she has faced with MS, including learning to love the body that has let her down, Nicole Lemelle is an upbeat writer who hopes to educate, reassure, and inspire her readers in all things MS. Those who come to My New Normals appreciate her candor and positive attitude, especially when things aren’t going as planned. Like when, for instance, you get so desperate, you start believing in spam emails or you’re late for appointments because you’re running on “MS time.” Her posts touch on the very fibers of how MS can really change you, and she clearly hits a nerve in her readers; one of her most popular posts, titled “I Hate,” has garnered more than 200 comments. While her symptoms mean her blog isn’t updated as frequently as it once was, her website is still host to dozens and dozens of previous posts, and you can keep up with her on Twitter and Instagram.

7. Yvonne deSousa.com

If you’re looking for a funny blog about MS, look no further than Yvonne deSousa.com. Yvonne’s posts are full of anecdotes about her daily trials with the illness, and she can find humor in any situation — from mistaking “slipper fuzzies” for ants to the fatigue of laundry day, and even her January 2019 cancer diagnosis (in a post entitled “About a Boob”) and subsequent experience with reconstructive surgery. She’s also a published author: You can order her book, MS Madness!, on Amazon.

8. Think in Decimals

Edith Solenne Monk was diagnosed with MS at 16. “As much as I hate that being my opening line,” she says, “it’s become a big part of my life.” It’s also a big part of her blog, Think in Decimals, which she’s been writing since 2015. She’s an avid traveler and has written about trips to Canada, Transylvania, and the Alps, among others. (Her favorite part of New York City? The “ lovely, accessible, concrete" pavements for wheelchair users.) She also does a lot of campaigning to draw awareness to the struggles faced by people living with a disability, whether it’s workplace discrimination or issues with the social care system. Eloquent and inspiring, Edith’s blog is a must.

9. Accessible Rach

When Rachael Tomlinson was diagnosed with primary progressive MS at age 51, she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer, aiming to prove that living with MS “shouldn’t have to be an uphill struggle.” In her writings on Accessible Rach, the United Kingdom–based blogger broaches topics ranging from disability and accessibility to plus-size fashion and beauty. Check out her posts on living with irritable bowel syndrome in addition to MS, dealing with impostor syndrome as someone with a chronic illness, and why it’s okay to not be okay. You can find the self-described patient advocate on Instagram, too.

10. Tripping Through Treacle

Jen is a 40-something single mom of a teen and a tween who has secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (she was first diagnosed with MS at age 15). On her blog, Tripping Through Treacle, she writes about how to keep striving toward your health goals, life with progressive MS, the positive aspects of MS, and parenting and lifestyle topics. You can also find her on Instagram.

Additional reporting by Laura McArdle and Christina Vogt.