When I first moved up North, the fact that I virtually lived in my stilletos, and also am from Essex, was a running joke. I protested on multiple occasions that you could take the girl out of Essex, but never out of her high heels!

Somewhere along the line though, it started getting tough. I couldn’t walk in them all day anymore. I was losing my balance. On one night out where I wasn’t even drinking I went flying! I used to salsa dance A LOT, and I suddenly couldn’t dance in heels. Perfectly fine in converse though.

Oddly, I put it down to putting on weight. I thought that having gained weight made it harder for me to walk in heels. It wasn’t that though. It was MS.

These days, you’ll rarely catch me trying to gain an extra couple of inches in height. If I do wear heels now, I’ll definitely suffer for a couple of days after. The bigger problem than the pain is the lack of balance whilst wearing them though Luckily I’m not a party animal so getting glammed up isn’t something I do often anyway. Hell, getting glammed up is so much damn effort that I’m too knackered to go out once I’m done anyway 😂

It’s funny – it’s surprising how exhausting just getting ready can be. I was really suffering a couple of weeks back. I’d worked a full week solid (there were a couple of exceptions that I had agreed to with my flexible working agreement and even though it wiped me out, I’m glad I did it. It proved to me that four long days with a Wednesday off is definitely a great move for me). Every stage of getting ready ended with me needing a sit down. Get up and walk to the bathroom. Come back to my bedroom and need a sit down. Pick some clothes to wear. Have a sit down before putting them on. Put clothes on. Have a sit down. You get the picture…It’s hard when you feel like that. All your limbs start to ache like you’ve just done leg day in the gym.

Mentally, I’m not tired. My body is just exhausted. So I can still function and work etc. Just standing and walking and generally moving about is a hell of a lot of effort. It does start to make you feel a bit fed up. Especially when the weather is as glorious as it has been this weekend so far. And often, any pain and exhaustion you feel is just aggravated by the heat. So would you believe, I’ve spent most of weekend so far indoors which just feels like an epic waste!

Anyway, back to footwear! I’m in desperate need of finding some decent shoes for work which are supportive without looking like a throwback from the 1930s! I can’t live in ballet shoes forever. Although different footwear won’t help MS nerve pain, at least I’m doing as much as I can to prevent other pain that’s unrelated to MS. So if anyone can recommend footwear that looks alright and provides support I’d love to hear your thoughts.