There is a particular kind of pressure that comes from trying to work while your body is changing in ways nobody else can see.
You can arrive on time, contribute to a meeting, finish a project, and look completely capable while spending much more energy than anyone around you realizes. For someone living with multiple sclerosis, even an ordinary workday can require an extraordinary amount of effort.
MS doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stop working. Many people continue in their careers, sometimes without needing changes and sometimes with adjustments that help them manage their symptoms.
But what happens when the work you love becomes something your body can no longer manage?
I know what that feels like.
When Work Was Part of Who I Was
I was 23 when I was diagnosed with MS, during my first year of teaching high school physical education.
I had worked hard to get there, and I loved sports, movement, teaching, and coaching. Being a physical education teacher wasn’t simply a job I had chosen. It was something I wanted to do, something I was good at, and something I could imagine doing for years.
I never expected that my body would become the reason I had to reconsider that future.
As MS began affecting my energy, strength, balance, and physical abilities, I discovered that the question was no longer simply whether I could do something. It became whether I could do it today, how much energy it would require, and what I might have left afterward.
That’s a very different way of thinking about work, especially when your job requires you to be physically active and fully present with students throughout the day.
I’d spent years believing that hard work, determination, and commitment could get me through almost anything. MS challenged that belief in ways I wasn’t prepared for.
The Energy Cost Nobody Sees
One of the biggest challenges of MS in the workplace is its unpredictability. Some days may feel manageable, while others require considerably more effort.
Fatigue, mobility difficulties, pain, vision changes, bladder symptoms, and cognitive changes can all affect someone’s ability to work. The combination and severity of those symptoms vary from person to person, and many aren’t immediately visible.
A long meeting, a commute, standing for extended periods, moving between rooms, or concentrating through a complicated discussion may require far more energy than anyone else realizes.
And that energy cost can add up.
One of the things I eventually had to consider was not simply whether I could complete a task, but what completing it would leave me with.
If I spent everything I had getting through the morning, what would happen in the afternoon? If I used all my energy at work, what would be left for the rest of my life?
Those aren’t questions about motivation or commitment. They’re questions about capacity.
And having MS doesn’t automatically tell an employer what someone can or cannot do. Each person’s circumstances, abilities, and needs are different.
Working Differently Doesn’t Mean Working Less Effectively
For some people with MS, relatively small workplace adjustments can make a significant difference.
Flexible hours, additional breaks, working from home when appropriate, seating for tasks normally performed standing, a quieter workspace, or changes to how responsibilities are organized may help someone continue working effectively.
There may also be times when a gradual return to work after an absence is more manageable than immediately resuming a full schedule.
The important thing is recognizing that there isn’t one solution for everyone. MS affects people differently, and the demands of one job may be very different from another.
Disclosure is another consideration. Deciding whether to tell an employer about an MS diagnosis can be complicated, particularly when someone is worried about being treated differently or having their abilities questioned.
In Canada, federal, provincial, and territorial human rights laws generally require employers to accommodate employees with disabilities up to the point of undue hardship. What that accommodation looks like depends on the person’s needs, the essential duties of the job, and the circumstances of the workplace.
An employee generally isn’t required to disclose an MS diagnosis simply because they have the condition. When requesting accommodation, however, they may need to provide information about their disability-related limitations and how those affect their work.
Employers may request relevant supporting medical information, but they generally aren’t entitled to someone’s complete medical history or specific diagnosis, except in limited circumstances. The requirements can vary depending on the workplace and applicable law.
For someone who has always taken pride in being capable and independent, even asking for an adjustment can be emotionally difficult.
When so much of your identity is connected to what you can do, asking to do something differently can feel like admitting you’ve become less capable.
But needing different working conditions doesn’t automatically mean you’ve lost your knowledge, skills, or ability to contribute.
Sometimes the conditions need to change so those abilities can still be used.
When Adjustments Aren’t Enough
Sometimes workplace adjustments make it possible to continue doing a job you love. Sometimes they don’t.
I taught physical education for five years before MS made it impossible for me to continue in that role. I’d worked hard to become a PE teacher, and I loved what I did. Leaving that position was devastating because it meant giving up something I’d wanted for so long.
But I hadn’t stopped being a teacher.
I moved into teaching social studies and eventually worked in Learning Assistance. I was still connected to education, but I didn’t feel the same excitement or sense of belonging I’d experienced in the gymnasium.
In June 2001, I left teaching altogether.
That was different.
When I left physical education, I lost the career I’d dreamed of. When I left teaching entirely, I felt as though I’d lost my identity.
Teaching wasn’t simply what I did for a living. It was part of who I was. I’d spent years building my life around education, students, and the satisfaction of making a difference.
When that was gone, I struggled to understand who I was without it.
Three months later, in September 2001, I began my PhD in Teacher Development. My hope was that it would open a door to teaching future physical education teachers.
I was moving in a new direction, but that didn’t mean I’d come to terms with everything I’d lost. I was still trying to understand who I was without a classroom.
It took me years to recognize that leaving teaching didn’t mean the teacher in me had disappeared.
Your Career Can Change Without Your Value Changing
There is an emotional side to working with MS that deserves more attention.
People may worry about losing their independence, being treated differently, disappointing colleagues, or no longer being able to meet the expectations they’ve set for themselves.
And when working is no longer possible, those feelings can become even more complicated.
I think we sometimes underestimate how much identity is tied to employment. We introduce ourselves by what we do and measure progress through accomplishments. We build routines, relationships, and a sense of purpose around our work.
When that changes unexpectedly, the loss can reach far beyond a paycheque.
But I’ve also learned that the skills, experiences, and qualities we develop don’t necessarily disappear when a particular career ends.
My ability to teach didn’t disappear when I left physical education. Neither did my curiosity. And my desire to contribute didn’t disappear either.
What changed was how I could use those parts of myself.
And that distinction took me a long time to understand.
Work Is Only One Part of a Life
Work matters. It can provide independence, purpose, relationships, financial security, and the satisfaction of doing something meaningful.
But it is also only one part of life.
Living with MS has taught me that using all your available energy to get through a workday can leave very little for family, friends, interests, and the things that make life enjoyable outside of employment.
For someone who wants to remain in the workforce, sustainable work matters. That might mean adjustments, a different schedule, a different role, or a conversation about what is realistically manageable.
For someone who can no longer continue working, the challenge may be very different. It may involve grieving the loss of a career while trying to imagine a future that no longer looks the way it was supposed to.
Neither experience is simple.
I spent years learning that my worth wasn’t determined by how much I could physically accomplish or whether I could continue doing the job I once loved.
And I don’t believe someone needs to find another impressive career or achievement to prove they still matter.
Sometimes the hardest part isn’t learning how to work differently. It’s learning that working differently, or no longer being able to work at all, doesn’t make you less of the person you were before.
MS changed my career, and eventually it took me out of the classroom altogether. For a long time, I confused losing my profession with losing myself.
But the teacher in me didn’t disappear in 2001.
I just couldn’t see her anymore.
Related reading: MS fatigue management tips | MS and sleep
References and Further Reading
The medical and workplace information in this article is supported by the following resources. Personal reflections are based on my own experience living with MS.
- MS Canada. Managing Work.https://mscanada.ca/managing-work
- MS Canada. MS Fatigue.https://mscanada.ca/ms-fatigue
- MS Canada. Employers Guide to MS.https://mscanada.ca/employers-guide-ms
- Canadian Human Rights Commission. Duty to accommodate.https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/individuals/human-rights/duty-accommodate
- Canadian Human Rights Commission. Workplace accommodation: A guide for federally regulated workplaces.https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/resources/publications/workplace-accommodation-guide
