This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

since ive been diagnosed ive seen several drs and neurologists and when i went to the dr last i was given meds for anxiety, sleeping and pain but i asked for all non narcotic which unfortunately dont seem to be working. all my family and friends tell me i have a real reason for needing meds and should ask for something stronger, im just afraid the dr will think im some drug seeking kid since im only 20 and my old dr told me to stick with tylenol even after i was diagnosed. is it common for MSers to need pain and anxiety meds? also, when im on the 'roids i hallucinate from sleep deprivation once i hit around day 4 so would it be reasonable to need sleeping pills to? i dont want to look like some druggie but im in pain almost all the time and i have several panic attacks a week so should i just tell my dr whats what? thanks everyone!

i would say, a d3 supplement, plus a good calcium/magnesium/zinc mineral supplement should make a big difference for you. but try to take some of the minerals with the d3 early in the day, and some of them (particularly magnesium) at the end of the day (and with no d3).
other than that the best thing you can do is try to get some bloodwork to check your d3 levels at a minimum. if you are successful with that, let me know, then we can figure out more
just to make more sense of that, the d3 and magnesium are both good for pain (depending on the kind of pain, if you can clarify i can be more accurate), d3 for anxiety, and magnesium for sleep.

Hi Ahliasbat
JL has some good supplement suggestions there.

To tell you my experience - I too had pain from about 20 yrs of age - I went undiagnosed until I was 25 in 1998. It took until last year for me to cave in and finally admit I needed a painkiller. All this time my sleep was erratic, at times non-existant. When your sleep is that bad your mental health can suffer - anxiety, depression can set in or can disimprove when you're exhausted.

I finally took Amitriptyline, 25mg at night - started last September 2008 and my goodness, I can't believe the difference. Very little nerve pain, sleeping better and then everything else feels better too.

Amitriptyline is an older anti-depressent but it's prescribed for nerve pain. It's one of the few drugs that do make a difference to neurological pain. If you do start it the things I found were that I needed to take it a few hours before bed - about 7.30pm for me, then bed about 11pm - 12pm. That way it's starting to wear off by the next morning, otherwise I found myself very fatigued by it. Also, you can't really drink on it. I can have 1-2 small glasses of wine, but for me that's an absolute maximum. Any more and I get dangerously tired and that lasts for the next day too. That limitation on drink doesn't bother me because I don't drink that often anyway, and even then, not more than 2 small glasses.

HTH and hope you find something that works for you well. Insomnia is hell.

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Concussus Resurgo
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RR-MS dx 1998 and Coeliac dx 2003
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Copaxone, Cymbalta. EPO, Fish Oils, Vitamin D3 2000 IU daily, Cal/Mag/Zinc, Multivitamin/mineral, Co-Enzyme Q10, Probiotics, Milk Thistle.

My neuro put me on prozac from day one, he said I needed it, I didnt think so, but did it anyway...Took them for a month, I could see where they really calmed my "thoughts". The month I was on them allowed me to relax and take a better, more mild approach tomy new condition. He wanted me to continueon them, but after calming down for the month, I seen no need to continue, so I never refilled them.So, if your doc offers them, try it out, if it works, use it. That doesnt mean you have to stay on them forever. Now I have been taking xanax at bedtime so I can fall asleep, otherwise I would just lay awake all night. Px sleeping meds didnt work for me, the xanax works well. But, I have been on them for a while, even before my dx. 1mg at bedtimne, works magic for me and I dont seem to build tolerance to them. As far as pain pills? Rapid release Tylenols, and / or 800mg Ibuprophen...