One stint I did was in a working men's club which had a 'male only' room - so as you may imagine it was quite full of eyebrow-raising comments and exaggerated machismo.
And while I never actually had anyone say to me that old cliched classic 'My wife doesn't understand me' there were certainly variations on the theme.
Of course the vast majority were just trying to get away with chatting up a young barmaid - and therefore it was likely to be the case that their wives understood them all too well.
But that doesn't take away from the fact that maybe everyone does want someone to understand.
And this is very often the case with MS and all it's confusing, frustrating, frightening and invisible symptoms.
It's nigh-on impossible to explain some of the symptoms we experience and even harder to describe the impact they can have on almost every aspect of our lives.
So I was really touched by this film made for Shift MS, a social network for MSers, which so accurately captures the day-to-day life of many of us with a diagnosis.
Everything in it is overwhelmingly familiar to me - the visual colour loss checking, the finger-to-thumb testing, the full-body weakness, the struggles with concentration and the "I'm fine" lie.
It's a really wonderful depiction of a really horrible disease and reflects what we deal with astonishingly well. Have a look.
:: Mirrorball by Elbow
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