Exhausted but in pain every night

MICHAEL Forsyth, 24, is one of 100,000 people in the UK – including 11,000 in Scotland – living with MS.

He was on the verge of celebrating his 21st birthday when he was given the crushing news.

Michael, from Carluke, Lanarkshire, had been feeling lightheaded and then developed pins and needles and a weakness down his left side.

A doctor said it was a migraine but two weeks later his mum found him with his head stuck inside a tumble dryer, unable to move.

By the time of his diagnosis a few months later, he had begun to feel paralysis in his legs.

He said: “I had to resign from my job because the factory was too warm for me with my condition and I was struggling with the fatigue.

“I wasn’t prepared for half my friends doing a bunk. I had lots of friends but a lot disappeared because I was going to be different.”

Going out with friends at night is difficult because he is so exhausted he is usually in bed by 6pm. But he goes to the gym four times a week and walks his beloved labrador Diesal, inset, four times a day.

Nights are the worst for Michael. He said: “I am in agony all the time. At night I get severe cramping in my legs with shooting pains down them and I also get cramp and pins and needles in my hands.

“I would love to be able to go somewhere without having to worry about where the toilets are and to be able to get back to work.”