Advice about a friend with MS

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Votadini
Votadini Online Community Member Posts: 49 Empowering
in Talk about your impairment

Hi I hope I can get some advice here from people with more knowledge and experience than myself. My friend is in her early sixties with MS and has taken to her bed. She's sleeping (according to her) 23 and a half hours a day because she says she's happiest when she's unconscious. She's aided in this by a steady intake of Tramadol but nothing else, she's stopped eating and even getting up to make tea.

Her daughter is at her wits end and despite my best efforts to reason with my friend over the phone (she lives nearly 300 miles away) I can't seem to get through to her.

I'm open to any advice because she seems determined to sleep the rest of her life away while starving herself to death and I'm not going to let that happen.

To be clear this is a recent occurrence, I visited her last year twice and she was fine, had her out to the pub on her birthday.

Comments

  • NeonNomad
    NeonNomad Online Community Member Posts: 13 Contributor

    Given the severity of your friend's situation, it's imperative to involve professional help immediately. Contact her healthcare provider or local social services to intervene and provide assistance. Collaborate with her daughter to devise a plan for her care. Time is of the essence here, so swift action is key.

  • JonnycJonny
    JonnycJonny Scope Member Posts: 253 Empowering

    No one on this forum can offer medical / clinical advice. Your friend must seek the help of a Health Professional for her neurological disease.

    Best wishes

  • Rosie_Scope
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 6,325 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Hi @Votadini that sounds really worrying, sorry to hear your friend is in such a difficult place at the moment. As others have said, it sounds like the best course of action would be to contact some medical or social care professionals to see if they can support her.

    Does your friend receive any mental health support? If not, in this instance I think it would be really important to get in touch with her GP and see if they can organise an urgent referral to some specialist mental health services. They may also be able to suggest some other avenues to explore to help your friend. Social workers may also be able to start referrals to other support if that's something your friend would appreciate.

    If she feels able to engage with some talking therapy, Disability Plus offer counselling specifically for disabled adults: https://www.disabilityplus.co.uk/

    The MS Society also have a few sources of support that might be worth a try if she's willing to give them a go, but I'd totally understand if this is not something she's able to do right now.

    If you're ever really worried about her and feel she's in immediate danger, please don't be afraid to call 999.

    Please look after yourself too, it's not always easy to cope when you're looking out for someone else who's struggling so much. I hope things start getting easier soon for everyone involved.

  • Votadini
    Votadini Online Community Member Posts: 49 Empowering

    Thanks for the responses. Her Daughter arranged for a health visitor to see her last week and amongst other things they prescribed antidepressants so the clinical side is covered. What I was looking for was advice about support and wondering if anyone had been through anything similar. The MS Society and disabled counselling both sound like routes worth taking so thanks very much Rosie.

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