May is my going to be my 6th month being vegan. I have had no problems being vegan other than salad dressing and my coffee. I prefer having a carb over a protein any day. How it relates to my multiple sclerosis is a different story:

1. You can’t be vegan and not cook. This has been difficult because my hands fatigue easily making chopping, stirring and sautéing tiresome. The other issue is standing on my feet over the stove. I can only stand for so long until my legs tire out. So cooking is a challenge. I had to make very simple recipes. I’d pick a day and double recipes to make for the week. Luckily I’m a creature of habit and get hooked on foods. I found a soup and a lunch that I make every week and eat frequently. https://multipleexperiences.org/2017/02/01/vegan-creamy-potato-curry-soup/.  https://multipleexperiences.org/2017/03/16/forks-over-knives-vegan-no-tuna-salad-sandwich/.
2. I haven’t had any increased energy. Actually I’ve had the opposite. I find around 3-4pm I’ve had such a severe case of fatigue I’d pass out on my couch. The strange thing is, I’d fall asleep for a few minutes and then I jerk myself awake and be fine. However, I haven’t had this type of fatigue in some time. I have to be honest, it probably has absolutely nothing to do with being vegan, but it started around the same time.
3. It doesn’t make me feel any better. Since I’m asked by everyone I know, I figured I’d say it. Being vegan HAS NOT made any MS symptom better but I never expected it to. I didn’t become vegan expecting some miracle with my MS. I did it to help inflammation in my body that maybe I won’t feel any worse. Since you could never measure if I would have felt worse if I wasn’t vegan, the point is irrelevant.
4. Being vegan completely helped my digestive tract. I’ve said this before, this was the unexpected benefit to becoming vegan. I had so many issues, because of my MS, that forced me to take many laxatives to help with movement in that area. I was going to a gastroenterologist to get help. The issues were becoming that extreme. Then I became vegan and things changed. I didn’t need a laxative for 5 months. It was going great until the last two weeks. It seems like my problems came back again. I went once again from almost daily to nothing in a week. I was forced once again to take laxatives.

To to be honest, number 4 wad the biggest reason I was staying vegan. There was really no other benefit to my multiple sclerosis other than that. If my bathroom issues creep back up, then it really serves no purpose. It was easier for me when a ate a non-vegan diet because I could purchase more prepared meals as opposed to cooking. I am at the 6 month mark this month which I feel was an honest effort. I’m hoping actually that my digestive system kicks in again, because the other way was horrible. I really didn’t mind the vegan way of life. I am giving it another month. I am hoping for the best. I can’t go back to the way it was. I believe the last two weeks has to just be a bump in the road. However, maybe there are other benefits that I don’t see or feel. I will see what the next month brings.