A Glasgow doctor diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) is sharing her battle with the condition in support of a World MS Day campaign.

Dr Victoria Appleton, a mother-of-two and a part-time chronic pain doctor in Newlands, used to treat patients with MS before being diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) in 2011.

The 43-year-old is joining MS Society Scotland and communities worldwide to back the My MS Diagnosis: Navigating MS Together campaign.

She said: "Of course, it was a shock when I was diagnosed.

"No one wants to hear the words 'you have MS'. I cried, I cried a lot. I needed time for things to sink in.

“As a doctor, I had come across many people with MS in my working life and my view was certainly that this was a condition that was going to make my life far more difficult.

"I was aware of the uncertainty living with MS would cause and I have found that probably the most difficult thing to come to terms with over the years.

"Because of that I try to live in the moment, enjoying every day as it comes, knowing some days will be easier than others.”

MS, a condition affecting the brain and spinal cord, impacting movement, thought, and feelings, is a reality for more than 17,000 people in Scotland.

Dr Appleton's symptoms include pain, sensory problems, balance, cognitive difficulties including struggling with word-finding, vertigo, and affected sleep.

However, the symptoms she finds toughest to deal with and talk about is fatigue and bladder issues.

The member of MS Society’s Scotland Council said: "I find it difficult to talk about my invisible symptoms, and to get people to understand how much they affect my life.

"They’ll make comments like ‘I’m tired too, I didn’t sleep well last night’ or ‘Oh yeah, having two young kids, no wonder you’re fatigued’ but it’s a whole other level.

"I really struggle with that psychologically, because if you look at me from the outside, I’m a mum who works part-time with two young kids and I ran a half-marathon last year.

"So I look like I’m doing fine when actually I’m not."

Dr Appleton isn't alone in her struggles to speak about her symptoms.

Her experience is echoed by 89 percent of more than 250 respondents in a UK-wide survey conducted by the MS Society in lead up to April's MS Awareness Week, who confessed to hiding symptoms due to embarrassment.

Dr Appleton followed the advice she was given after her diagnosis by managing her fatigue through exercise and has regular bladder Botox injections which she says have changed her life.

She said: “Early on in my MS journey I remember clearly being told to exercise to improve my fatigue.

"The thought of doing any kind of activity was laughable with the way I was feeling at the time.

"But, with hindsight, I would tell the newly diagnosed me that as weird as it sounds it really does help.

“I really would recommend speaking to someone about your MS. Whether you’re newly diagnosed, or you’ve had MS for a while but you’ve developed a new symptom that you find a bit embarrassing.

"The sooner you mention your symptoms to a medical professional, the sooner you can start treatments, and have a bit of normality back."

Morna Simpkins, director of MS Society Scotland, said the organisation offers free emotional support and information through their MS Helpline, provide online webinars, and courses and sessions through their Living Well programme.