Comments on: Multiple Sclerosis, What Type of Treatment Plan is Needed?

By: angela

angela — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:33:07 +0000

my cousin has chronic progressive and she receives chemotherapy, and my other cousin has relapse remittance like me and she takes copaxone. so you are right when you say everyone is different. my team of doctors encourage the inteferons, vitamins, eating healthy as in a balanced meal and we (ms) do need our carbohydrates so don’t cut them out. please rest and don’t commit to stuff you don’t want to do. i get stressed but that is the main factor….eliminate the stress if that is realistic.

By: angela

angela — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:24:22 +0000

i have had ms for 16 years, i am 36. it started with myalgia & shortly was paralyzed completely on my left side. the left side of my face dropped like i had a stroke. i did not receive a diagnosis until 24 because the diagnosis criteria was different. i stop counting how many time i was paralyzed. i have beem blind in both eyes and currently blind in the left due to optice neuritis. my vision is slowly coming back. solu-medrol is what gets you out of an acute attack. an interferon slows the disease down because it is a disease modifying drug that suppresses the immune system. people with ms, have a really great immune system…..so great that it is overly active and attacks itself. i started on betaseron (the best) for 7 years & now i am on rebif. i became immune to the betaseron. i was on amantadine for the chronic fatigue, it caused miagraines so we tried provigil but the new drug nuvigil is so much better. i take alot of vitamin d, plenty of fish oil tablets, and multivitamins. i drink plenty of water also. i don’t drink alcohol, soda and never smoke. all of that helps. my problem is people take me for granted because i don’t look sick. i am relapse remittance. an ms patient needs a treament team of a neurologist, primary care physician, and optamologist that will run test and communicate with each other. i hope this helps someone.

By: JoAnne

JoAnne — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:35:34 +0000

I was diagnosed with MS in 1985 at the age of 41 but had other symptoms in my 20′s. Fortuate enough to say I am healthy but I deal daily with a variety of visual problems which are getting worse and the worse pain is my facial pain… trigeminal neuralgia. The doctors say it is from the MS and yet I have seen no article about it. I have known two others with it who have MS. It is begining to be daily. Acupuncture and laser therapy has helped for a few years but not sure it is helping any more. I have had to increase the Tegretol and add Neurontin. Does anyone have answers?

By: Vicki F

Vicki F — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:17:11 +0000

Well said Maria!

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:46:01 +0000

I have been dealing with MS since 2000. I came home from work on halloween, sat down in my lazy boy reclined, and at that exact moment my life was changed forever. My left hand started going numb, it started in my finger tips and within two weeks both arms just hung by my side. I had a client at the time who was a neuro surgeon, he checked me out, no answers. went to a different neuro and had the MRI’s, and cat scans done, the MRI showed 2 big leisons in my brain and 2 more in my spine at c2 and C4. To confirm the diagnosis I had a spinal tap done, those are fun. So the monday following thanksgiving I found out I had MS. I have been on all the disiease modifing drugs, that are supposed to slow progression. To my grand luck I had to stop all of the meds at one point or another. I am not one to trust holistic or any other types of cures. I do how ever go to the gym as much as possible and take alot of vitamins along with a vast array of pharmacuticels and I am part of the medical marijuana debate, I am pro. MS is a weird disease because there is nothing predictable about it. I know someone who has not had a relapse in 20 years, while I have at least 3 major relapses a year, but please don’t waste your energy and pity me. when you are out and meet new people allwasy approach them with understanding because you don’t know they could be very sick. I once asked someone what does a sick person look like. When I have a good day (not often) I look like there is nothing wrong with me, but yet I am chronically ill and will be sick for the rest of my life but I don’t allways look like I am sick, and most people would not know I am sick when I feel like crap. so approach every one with understanding because who knows what is wrong with them

By: Marre Carpenter

Marre Carpenter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:25:07 +0000

I was diagnosed in 1990 with my first bite episode of Lyme, and now it acts just like MS, ALS, OR other neuro diseases like Parkinson’s, etc. A whole mess of bites later, and I’m a medical wonder that I’m still alive my new Lyme Literate doc told me…..it mimmicks all diseases in order to hide, like a mutation or something, and now researchers/scientists are finally getting the links of all these together! I’ve been to hell and back with this Lyme, my heart stops and slows down, my muscles give out whenever, my head bobbles, I have dyslexia, my short term memory is gone, and I get cattleprod-like electrical shocks throughout my body when I least expect it. I only pray and stay alive for my kids and for other children/adults with any of the neuro disorders and hope they all get a cure soon dear jesus…..

By: Maja Field

Maja Field — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:51:32 +0000

I was diagnosed with MS 20 years ago…..I just found out I had Lyme instead….

By: Maria

Maria — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:49:39 +0000

These types of articles pain me, I have MS and have had it for almost 20 years. I have gone from RRMS to CPMS and have tried everything from holistic to accupuncture PT you name it. This is a disease which effects every single person with it differently for example I have other medical conditions that could either be making my MS worse or not effecting it at all. All I know is that my life is an never ending battle of changes day to day. I can honestly say if I have 2 good days a week I consider myself lucky. I use a arm crutch to keep my ataxia in check, but that does nothing for the pain in my foot which is from drop foot. My back pain which while excruciating goes untreated because of all the chronic drug abusers have made it impossible for those of us that actually need pain meds to get them because all the doctors are afraid to write for them. I really think that people who don’t have MS really can’t say that Vitamin D will help or that Marijuana will help with spasms it makes my muscles tense up and hurt twice as bad??? PT didnt offer much help as the more I did it the worse I hurt the days after. So Please stop lumping those of us that Have MS In a tidy little clump. What works for one doesnt work for another and so on and so on. It just isnt fair to think that it does, it is hard enough to get people to understand MS and not make the stupid remarks well you look so good or it doesnt hurt or a hundred other stupid remarks that I have heard in my 20 years of being sick. The goverment tells me that I am not disabled, well how nice for them to know how it feels to be in my body and know how hard it is to do some of the simplest tasks. Shame on you all that pretend to know what someone who has this disease goes thru on a daily basis.