This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

if spms has constant mild inflammation then would prednisone help if you were on it full time ?

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Had ms for over 19 years now.

Robbie,

My Mom has rheumitiod arthritis and she takes 5 mg a day of prednisone. If she does not take it her inflamation goes through the roof. It helps her but also messes with her diabetes.

I can't spell. Sorry,

CF

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Holly - Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd

9/3/09 Stanford - Dr Dake - Stent in R-J to unblock Arachnoid Cyst in Sigmoid Sinus. Stent in narrowed L-J. Balloon in narrowing where R & L Jugulars meet.

check with your doc but I'm pretty sure that it does help to reduce inflammation

I dont have SPMSS, or a medical degree, and as such I am talking out my ....

From my experience, when I took long term, low dose of prednisone (25mg/day), it did not "seem" to help. It was only when I took a high dose (75mg/day) that I noticed a big improvement.

I am now trying the "pulsed" concept using prednisone instead of IV steroids. So far I have done two pulses, of 75mg/day, for two days, with two weeks spacing. I think it has possibly helped, but the jury is still out.

thanks for the replies i have taken prednisone before for my eyes and it always helps.

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Had ms for over 19 years now.

Robbie,

While Prednisone does reduce inflammation, there can be a price to pay when taking it for the long term. Each person has a different tolerance level in this scenario. The drug can play havoc with different organs in the body.

As well, in many cases, the longer you use the drug, the less effective it can be for you. I would sit down with your doc and really discuss this treatment. Ensure he tells you both the pros and cons of long term use.

Harry

Thanks Harry I have double vision right now(for a week or so) so I hope she will give me some to help that like she has in the past. I am at the point that if it gave me some relief I would take it no matter what the consequences. I just wondered if it would still work the same with spms rather than rr.

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Had ms for over 19 years now.

Robbie,

Using Prednisone for your current situation should be fine and hopefully will help the symptoms.

There is some hope on the horizon for SPMS patients. It's a new drug called Dirucotde being developed by BioMS, a small drug company in Edmonton, Canada. I have been following this drug for almost 10 years now and am happy to say that the two researchers who discovered it at the University of Alberta truly are looking to help MS patients as opposed to just making $$$.

The initial results are promising but when it comes to MS medications, I am always very cautious. So often promise turns into disappointment.

Here is a recent article about Dirucotide.

http://www.forbes.com/healthcare/forbes ... 1/062.html

Harry

this looks good Harry, the first time something for all ms not just rr.as soon as 2010 which is nice, i also saw this i am one of those two.

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Had ms for over 19 years now.

Robbie,

About two years ago a Neurologist at the Pain Clinic here London, ON, was conducting an open lablel clinical trial for the use of MJ on pain. He wanted to study the side effects of MJ compared to other conventional pain medications. I haven't seen any final reports as yet on that study.

Marg visited this neuro on more than one occasion and he told me that they knew that MJ worked on certain kinds of pain. It was the social stigma that had to be overcome by both the public and politicians.

Harry

it's just like any other drug harry, for me it stops the pain mostly because i don't spasam as bad and it puts my head in a place where ms seems far away and i really need that sometimes ,eat and sleep better and for me thats huge.i guess the social stigma is from those who are not sick. i feel that if it helps you in any way with your sickness you should be able to get it even if there are other pharmaceutical drugs that may do the same thing.

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Had ms for over 19 years now.

I agree with you totally, Robbie. Fortunately in Canada, one can get a medical rx for MJ and the government will supply it for you.

Harry

Harry confirms what I thought the deal was with prednisone. It can help during attacks but doesn't necessarily ease future attacks if you're on it for a long period. Plus the side effects can be bad.

When it comes to MJ: not too long ago I read an article on here about MS patients and MJ being worse for them than for the general public. I'm certainly viewing it as a drug like any other pharmaceutical I'm just wondering if it is in fact worse for an MS patient than for someone else?

Matt....this is yet another false bit of information that some medical people try and scare MS patients with. According to the pain clinic neuro that I have spoken to in a number of occasions, MJ is simply another "drug" like any drug. People react differently to the same medication and such is the case with patients who use MJ. Would you go out and use Neurontin or Lyrica, both strong neuro pain medications without the supervision of a doctor? Of course not and when using MJ, exactly the same situation should exist. That is why this neuro was running the open label clinical trial on MJ so he could learn first hand what the side effects were with various patients and compare them to what the conventional drugs did .

The one big concern by some was thinking they had to "smoke" the MJ to use it. Simply not so.....patients can consume the drug either in tea or mixing it with other foods. It takes longer for the drug to have its effect this way but the benefit obtained is the same.

Harry

got 60mg a day for 7 days and then a slow tappering off,worked for my double vision in the past but things have changed allot for me since then.hope it helps

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Had ms for over 19 years now.