Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

This course was very insightful, I am a parent of a 22year old diagnosed on her 19th Birthday after going blind in one eye with Rapidly Evolving Severe MS (her sight did return it happened twice 3 months apart),Neurologist found four lesions in her brain in the November by January she had 14 in her brain and 2 in her spine it has been an horrendous journey, she works part time and is a full time Uni student studying Animal Biology & Wildlife Conservation. Her brain cognition and behaviour was awful she began to get drop foot and speech issues feelings of wetness insomnia stomach bowel and bladder problems and her balance was going she couldn't eat for the sickness, She also developed voices in her head to kill herself along with self harm and a long dark depression. These last 4 years have been horrendous however since she had DMT Lemtrada her last infusion Sept 19 It has transformed her. She still has stomach problems and fatigue and almost showing signs of being on the Spectrum as slightly autistic which we never noticed before along with anxiety level with depression but no way as detrimental to her safety as before. At one point I lost my daughter and our relationship was breaking down the aggression and anger of the diagnosis on top of the symptoms she had you can imagine we both considered suicide as there was no help no discussion no support until I called our GP after she broke down and said she has voices telling her to end her life she the was referred to the Mental Health team and had CBT. The relationship is a lot better however I feel guilty as my grandmother had MS and I was very ill during my pregnancy with Renal disease I also smoked as had terrible sickness and smoking helped me vomit so I could eat quickly. I was in hospital all of my pregnancy being pumped with drugs to stop me getting urinary infections. However every person and family that get a diagnosis of MS should sit this course it would of helped my tremendously.
Please feel free to contact me at [redacted] if you wish to discuss further Thank you for this insightful course I would like a certificate please :)

I highly recommend the Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS) free online course for any interested members of the society. The information is clear, concise, and relevant: while the digital format is logical and easy to follow. The course balances both theory and community perspectives. Via text and video the content is delivered by professionals working in the MS research and service sector, and by people with MS sharing their personal experiences.

The course is specific to the topic of MS, but it also has broader applications. For example, the course educates learners about the invisible symptoms associated with MS: While listening to people with MS talk I was reminded of people with Parkinson’s disease, who although they present no differently from the previous day, report an array of invisible symptoms. Thanks to the Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS) course, I have learned a great deal about the specifics of MS and living with MS, and had my preconceptions about the condition altered for the better. Also, I now have an enhanced sensitivity to an individual’s experience of symptoms, both visible and invisible, across a range of neurological conditions.

Belinda, personal care assistant

This is the third time that I have undertaken the Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS) online course. After the September offering in 2020, I repeated the course a year later for revision. When UTAS contacted me again with the information that new material was going to be presented in the September offering 2022, I was just curious and enrolled for the third time in three years.
It is fascinating to hear in Module 5 Disease Management from Jane England, a person living with MS, about her perspectives with stem cell therapy. Though the video is short, it is packed with information. As stem cell therapy is a bone marrow transplant, this procedure is not to be taken lightly. It is considered when disease modifying therapies (DMT's) have failed. Jane England is very open about her approach to this difficult and dangerous procedure she went through. Being under the age of forty years of age, having failed three disease modifying therapies already, having be still a person with relapsing remitting MS and lastly a person with very high MS activity, made her a candidate for stem cell therapy. Jane did ten years of research before undergoing the procedure. Eight months post stem cell therapy, she is pretty much of all her medications and her biggest problem which is nerve pain is at bay.
Thank you for this new video so well presented, so inspiring and so full of information.
Module 6 Living with MS with Caitlin Wilde, a person living with MS for eight years, is even shorter but explains so well that pregnancy is possible at the right time. Caitlin felt well during pregnancy but relapsed after birth with symptoms which did not come as a surprise because that information was given to her before falling pregnant.
Again, a wonderful addition to current material.

I am in my third year of near diagnosis of MS. This course has helped me appreciate why it is often a lengthy process to complete diagnosis. It helped me further understand symptoms I vaguely had glanced through just after talking of my diagnosis. I feel I now have a good handle on what the possibilities are for my future years and how to communicate more effectively with the medical team caring for me, my family and the wider community. The course content was delivered in easy to understand modules in a mix of videos and text plus animations and diagrams. I found the delivery by a mixture of professionals and people sharing their life experiences of having MS an excellent mode for learning. We had the opportunity to voluntarily be involved in a number of discussions on topics, they helped with the learning process but more importantly it provided interaction time with other course members, I found that interaction highly valuable. We also received appropriate positive feedback from our course moderator, so no need to feel no help at hand. There were also quizzes after each module that we could keep doing till we hit 100%, no failure but more importantly it helped concrete the information into the brain. For a first time course I thought it was brilliant. Thanks UTAS from Kristine Bradley.

I found the course Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS) an excellent presentation with an array of Professionals one comes into contact with when living with MS.

Even though my diagnosis many many years ago and whilst I have let medical assistance lapse somewhat, having a resource such as this is an extremely helpful way to keep up to date particularly concerning disease modifying medications that where not available in my early days of living with ms. In terms of medication I would like included options such as Low dose Naltrexone, and medical cannabis researched and other alternatives to DMM.

In relations to work, I feel superannuation options, impact of reduced hours on payment and the likelihood of meeting with discrimination on disclosure could be covered. Welfare payment options briefly touched upon also.

A nuro phycologist discussing cognitive testing, cognitive impact on a persons functioning on a day to day level should be covered particularly when a high percentage of people with ms experience cognitive impairment causing life altering tragic impact on quality of life. Which is often experienced early after diagnosis and an invisible disability not understood or accepted by others.

Pain and trigeminal neuralgia would be helpful to touch on the subject.

Overall I am very grateful for the presentation and have recapped and refreshed my knowledge and experience of ms in a positive, easy way in the comfort of my lounge room at no cost on the hip pocket.

I also enjoyed doing the questionaries and seeing my results. A good way to make me pay attention.

Many thanks and much appreciation for a job well done.
Kindly Leanne

Absolutely fantastic to have this course available to me as a person who was diagnosed with MS 10 years ago. It explains the mechanism of the MS disease in clear easily understood everyday language with helpful articles, diagrams and videos to assist. It helps to take the fear of managing the disease out of the equation as it describes management strategies, different treatment options, available support groups, helpful hints of living with the disease, the variety of medications options that are now available to help those with MS depending on their circumstances, how important a support team is for you and how you can still live your best life with the disease. Also the importance of communication. The videos of interviews with people in the MS community whether the person with the disease themselves, a MS caregiver or family member of someone with MS or a medical specialist (MS doctor nurse or neurologist or researcher) takes the mystery and therefore the fear out of the disease for me. Thankyou for this opportunity. I continue to live my best life even with MS.

I have just completed the Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS) 6 week online course and 100% recommend it to everybody. As a Mindfulness teacher and Creative Mindfulness Practitioner, and Nurse, I decided to complete the course because I currently work with members of the MSSociety in my region in Ireland and wanted to learn more about how I may be able to support individuals and groups. The course was recommended to me by staff and members of the organisation. I thoroughly enjoyed the course, the format and delivery methods. The research and up to date information on treatments, care, and support was amazing really. I am so grateful to all involved, especially those who shared personal experiences of living with MS, thank you all so much. I look forward now to bringing so much of what I have learned to my classes, and look forward to joining another course in the future. Thank you all again so much for the continued hard work.