Multiple Sclerosis Fatigue and Music Therapy

So what do you do when you are beyond exhausted and laying in bed trying to pass the time? I try to find things to do that take no real energy, but that bring me enjoyment and elevate my mood. Which brings me to MUSIC!

What a wonderful invention the MP3 player is. With it I can download my favorite old-school songs and classify them according to what type of rest objective I am trying to achieve. For example if I have to rest but feel like being more lively, I have my favorite upbeat songs to listen to. If I'm trying to unwind to go to sleep I have more mellow songs to relax me. I seem to be stuck somewhere between the 70's and early 2000 when it comes to my music. I like all types including country, so that gives me plenty to chose from, but I don't find too much modern music that thrills me. Guess I'm getting old.

It was interesting trying to decide on my current MP3, so many choices out there. Of course the Ipod was the best known, seems you aren't cool unless you have one, but since I'm not trying to impress anyone I decided to compare different brands based on what I like to accomplish when I listen to music. I went with Sony's Walkman MP3 4MB since it comes with a FM radio and a great stereo sound. I really love to hear the bass and the Walkman comes with adjustable bass levels to my liking. It is very small compared to the ipod but as long as the sound is BIG I don't mind.

So now I have a collection of CD's, I found Amazon had the best prices on a consistent basis, for on-line CD purchases, and their downloads are comparable in price to itunes, but I get my downloads from another source that I discovered simply by listening to an area newsbroadcast.

LALA

The Lala website was featured on my local news channel. It didn't take me long to decide to give them a try when I heard they gave you 50 songs for FREE! After that you only pay .99 cents or less for any downloads you make or any songs you listen to more than once. Since I like old-school songs, I usually only pay .79 for my downloads. The one downside I found is that my favorite Eagles song wasn't available. I assume they will have it soon though since they get new songs on a regular basis.

Thus far, I have had no problems with Lala. I keep a small amount of funds available on their site for download purposes. With CD's and downloads in hand, or should I say, in player, I have such a nice variety of my fav's at my disposal at any time.

Lala is currently one of the contenders for a Best 100 award at Cnet. They now have a library of over 6 million songs at their site.

While I purchased my Walkman from Amazon, later I found that Walmart had it about ten dollars cheaper, which is what made me remember to include Walmart in my price searches after that.

With music that I love now easily at hand, I began investigating audio files I could download as well. Sometimes my fatigue is so bad concentration is difficult, but at other times I'm able to listen to something besides music like audio files or pod casts.

Relaxation and de-stressing are very important to anyone suffering with MS and if you are like 80 percent of MSers who also suffer debilatating fatigue, you especially need to find a way to slip away from the symptoms and just chill out. Music accomplishes that for me, if you haven't found that out for yourself, why not give it a try and see what happens.

Music has been said to be a "mega-vitamin for the brain". Playing a instrument, listening to music or singing songs have all attributed to recovering and coping with diseases such as

• Autism
• ADHD
• Stroke
• Parkinson's
• Dementia

Renown R&B artist, the late, Luther Vandross suffered a severe stroke that eventually took his life. Still his back-up group happily sang with the entertainer, even though he couldn't talk. He could still sing and enjoy the activity even while suffering the effects of a crippling stroke.

Stroke victims taught to play the drums or the piano recovered faster than those given more traditional therapy..

Familiar songs help bring treasured memories back to patients with Alzheimer's and Dementia.

A small sampling of the latest discoveries of the benefits of music should encourage everyone with a neurological ailment to investigate the potential health benefits of music. If nothing else but relaxation is attained, that surely is enough of a reason to pursue our musical interests with zeal.