Know Multiple Sclerosis

Hi, Its Alison again...I just started taking an antibiotic called minocycline. They have tested this in canada, with much success as far as treating MS, although NOT the approved ABCR drugs.... I decided to go this route because I feel sooo goood, and was afraid the daily injections would have more of an impact. My Doc in Buffalo, has said they would try this for a 6 month trial period, and run scans every 3 months, and at the 6 month period would meet with me to see if this is really working...sooo wish me luck. I also take omega 3 fish oils from a website called www.inflammationssolutions.com. I have also tried cutting out the junk food, and eating fairly healthy..This is NOT an approved MS therapy, so I do realize I am taking a risk.....but it made sense for me.....

Glad to hear you've started some therapy and working with your doctor to monitor things. Everyone has to find their own plan to deal with MS. I've heard the omega 3 fish oils can be helpful. Does anyone else know the specific benefits of those? Also, I'd be interested in knowing why they may be helpful (do they regulate the immune system?, etc.).

Yes, the vaunted ABCR-LDM and so forth. Been there on most of them ... HATED IT! The perpetual flu symptoms nearly drove me over the edge. The job stress, new children, it was enough to kill a healthy man. Then I snapped. I had become extraordinarily reactive to the interferons and the injection site reactions were more akin to flesh-eating bacteria. I was a total wreck. It was time for a change. I dropped the pharma and when holistic. No expensive brand name pills mind you. Just common sense stuff. Lots of fruits and vegetables ... cut back on meats and fats ... simple stuff. Then, to help my body recover, I started on a regimine of 'dark' fruit. There are compounds in the skins of these fruits (reservatrol) that apparently help reinforce the blood-brain barrier and keep some of those nasty immunological elements out. Throw in some evening primrose oil to supply my body with GLA (rebuild the myelin sheath) and a set of generic B(3,6,12) complex vitamins. The hard part was incorporating the entire lifestyle change. First things first ... the job. Just reducing the stress of a job is tough. One of 3 things can happen: 1) The stress goes up, 2)you successfully reinvent your job to lower the stress, 3) you get fired. In the end, the easiest (odd?) way is to just get a new job. It took 3 years, but I finally found a similar job with a similar wage scale that was close to home and had enough benefits and employee centric policies that I could restart my life. With the closer job, I could cut my commute time to a fraction of what it was. All this time gave me the opportunity to do more with my children: Martial Arts Training and Swimming. Now, each day I stroll out of the office, jump in the car and zip off on a 15 minute trip to grab the kids for 1 hour of swimming and 1 hour of Tung Soo Do. The mrs has lots of time to do what she needs to do at work and dinner is ready for the hungry army by the time we get home. I've had 2 attacks in the last year. A bit of vertigo and some numb patches. These left me as quickly as they came on. This is one of the best changes I've made in years ... in my life.

It's great that you've found ways to deal with the disease. Everyone needs to find a plan that works for them. Your ideas about reducing stress and improving diet are excellent - I think everyone with multiple sclerosis could benefit from those.

While the ABCR drugs don't work the same for everyone (everyone is unique), they do work very well for some people. I have been on an interferon for 7 years and have been relapse-free. It's something each individual should discuss with their neurologist.