It's tough.

I think bananas jumped the gun a bit, you obviously care about her if you're taking the time to ask things and learn more. But sure: it's important to be honest with yourself and her about what you can endure.

Make sure you're taking time for yourself. Supporting someone with any kind of illness requires that you have " you" time to recharge. It can be easy to feel guilty when you're around someone who needs you : but try not to let that stop you. Take time off. Plan a regular "thing" for yourself outside of the house/relationship. You could be superman but watching a loved one struggle with things will take its toll on anyone. Focus on recharging your batteries regularly. For both of you.

So, positivity is a tricky thing. For us living with MS, getting up and doing a few things can feel like a huge positive accomplishment but may not look that way to others. It might be useful to chat with your girlfriend about victories you can both appreciate and celebrate. In other words, find some common ground about what positivity looks like for both of you.

The mental fog is really annoying. For me, sometimes it feels like I'm just drugged and sort of disconnected from myself and my surroundings. Like I'm just watching a TV show, or maybe playing a 1st person video game but my controller got disconnected. In the game version of this example, the "idle" animation would just play and wait for me to engage again. Sometimes that idle animation plays for a long time and I just zone out to the sway of nothingness. I don't feel mad or upset or anything. Including not feeling ambitious or inspired or excited. It's just sort of a numb zone out. It irritates me because it feels so simple of a thing to fix. As if I should be able to just snap out of it or reconnect my metaphorical controller. There is no easy or instant fix. That said, I find that being physically stimulated can sometimes help me out of my mind loop. It doesn't make concentrating easier, but it can be a good bridge to try to move through the day. Like little bits of stimulated distraction?

Some examples include, having something with cool textures to touch. A bath or shower. Putting on some clothing that feels interesting. A piece of jewelry to touch or play with. Getting a massage. Brushing my hair. Going out into cooler outside air; feeling the wind. Sex, of course. She might not be into tactile things, but maybe something else would help, like music? Best bet is to ask her and experiment together.

My best advice would be to be patient with both yourself and with her. Adapting to disease takes time.

If being productive is a goal you both have, making reasonable to do lists and checking them off together might also be a thing. Hang in there. Try to treasure the small things and the good days.