I have been wanting to do the same thing in my neck of the woods (San Antonio Texas) but have had no luck. In some ways I wonder if there is an aversion to meeting up due to our disese.

Contact shared solutions, there might be a support group in your area. Sharedsolutions.com

I guess there is a support group to go to here in Billings, MT, but I have been told not to check it out because it is full of whiners and complainers.

Amy met up with some people in her area I think. And right now I belong to a telephone support group thru the MS society.

But sometimes its just nice to meet up with folks living same kind of life and just chat - socially. I used to meet with 3 other people in my area once a month. It was nice.

Haven't we got other Tampa/TX folks on here?? Yoo Hoo....What about using MeetUp?

Melanie

Melanie

Go to www.nationalmssociety.org and you can look up local chapters and local events as well. Next week, we have a dinner put on by Biogen and a neuro from the practice I go to will be speaking at it, so I'm definitely going. The dinners are always free and are a little more fun than the actual support group meetings. I personally have found that for the most part the local support groups are made up of PPMS people who are older. I went to my first meeting as a newbie, 2 months from diagnosis and was scared to death! Most were in wheelchairs or scooters and it was just hard to see what the future may bring. I just wasn't ready for that at that time. I attend occasionally now, and it's good.............. in order to receive support, you must also help give it as well and that's what I try to do. I like to bring them donuts sometimes and talk about my children just to liven things up so we don't concentrate just on the negativity of MS.

HEre's the website with the mid FLorida info:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/flc/about-this-chapter/local-offices/index.aspx

You can go to www.MSconnection.org and connect with people there and perhaps you could find some people who live in your area. Some of the local support groups have groups on the website. This is a website that started in March 2012 by the MS Society (through the funding of one of the drug companies). There is also the phone for the MS Friends that the MS Society started. Call the MS Society (800-FIGHT-MS) and get the phone number for the Friends. It is a group of volunteers who have MS and want to talk.

You can also start a Meetup on www.Meetup.com. There is a local group here that is called Chronic Diseases and there are a lot of people with MS. Although there are not many meetups because the organizer is not that well (she does not have MS).

If there is not a MS Support group in your area, you can start one. Call your local chapter and tell them you want to start one. They should help you.

Also, the MS Conferences have a lot of people with MS attend them. You can socialize with people at them. At the MS Walk and other fund raisers, you can meet others with MS.

Good luck. Wish I lived in your area because you seem like a neat person and it would be fun to meet you as a lot of people on this site. I wish you well in finding others with MS.

Thank you so much everyone for all your inputs! I'm going to do my best to connect with others!