This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Hello! My name is Andrea and I'm 33. Five years ago I had optic neuritis and after three days of Solu-medrol I recovered completely but MRI's showed nothing at that time.

About a year ago I started experiencing hot and icy sensations on my legs which felt like water being poured on me. I was also experiencing Lhermitte's sign that lasted about 6 months but eventually went away on its own (only because I couldn't get into my neurologist). Then I started going through these episodes that really scared the crap out of me. If I got up from a sitting position and suddenly started moving around to quickly I would feel a creeping numbness all the way down my right arm which would leave me unable to use my right hand. Numbness doesn't even describe it accurately. It was more like my entire arm fell asleep but multiply that feeling times 10 with no control over my hand. It would generally last around 45 minutes.

In July of 2011 I was finally able to get into a neurologist and have some MRI's which revealed enough for my doctor to diagnosed me, put me on three days of Solu-medrol, and send me on my way with a kit telling me why I needed Avonex.

I thought long and hard about my options and, going against my doctors suggestion, I decided I would take a natural approach instead with diet, exercise, vitamins and I'm even trying some chiropractic stuff. I continue to have problems daily but I'm doing great!! I've been coming to this website off and on for over a year and the information and stories here have helped me so much!! Thank you!!

Hi Andrea-
What part of Ohio do you live? I'm in Cincinnati. If you need the name(s) of a neurologist that specializes in MS, I have a couple in this area. I was not happy with my original neurologist nor her office staff. I was in the midst of a relapse and I didn't get a return phone call for 19 hours. I could not even get through to the on-call physician!

I had Optic Neuritis about ten years ago and all of my tests came back clean. Did the Solu-medrol and a tapered dose of Predinsone when I got out of the hospital. Before my "official" diagnosis in 2009, I had episodes of bilateral inferior hemianopia and blurred vision. I also had balance issues, numbness in my left shin/ankle and my left knee giving out for no apparent reason. All that time I thought I was just experiencing medical anomalies. I was first on Copaxone, but it was not efficacious for me. I've been on Rebif now for almost two years. My last MRI showed no new lesions, so I was thrilled about that. I've also looked into dietary changes and a few other "natural" approaches as well. Educate yourself, look at all of your options and find what works best for you. We're all different and what works well for one person might not work for another. Glad to have you aboard!

Welcome! And sorry you had to be here...

I genuinely admire your determination to take a natural approach, but as someone who's life has literally been saved by modern medicine (chemo, radiation & cyber-knife) I sincerely hope you will continue to consider the disease-modifying meds. This is the most comprehensive argument I've read: http://activemsers.blogspot.com/2011/08/going-ms-drug-free-flawed-arguments.html

I definitely believe in living as healthily as we know how to (and can personally tolerate), but I hate the idea of passing on treatments that have been demonstrated to delay the progression, too.

Good luck whatever you choose,
Mark

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RRMS dx 3/3/11; Copaxone since 12/1/11

Thank you both for your comments. I'm from Northwest Ohio near the Toledo area. I've had the same neurologist for five years and he's been OK but sometimes trying to get an appointment with him is rather frustrating. While I was going through all these crazy things that were happening to me I had to patiently wait for my appointment. By the time I saw him most symptoms had gone away on their own. When the time came and he made his diagnoses he offered up no suggestions or options to me. He simply told me that I would start Avonex and he would see me in 3 months. I had already been educating myself on what options were really available to me because I knew in my heart what was really going on before I was diagnosed. There are many reasons I decided to go the natural route for treating this. One being that I had done a poor job of taking care of my health up to this point. I felt that if I was going to consider going with meds, I wanted to know I was doing everything I could to be healthy and take care of myself before expecting any results from medication. I would never try to convince anyone that going the natural route is better than going with meds because like Froggie said ...what works for one person might not work for another. I can say that what I'm doing now is working for me and I pray that it continues!! However, I have not ruled out that meds may be the way to go down the road. Does that make sense?

Diet is the way for the body to heal itself. Never seen any one healed by taking MS drugs. Many have been healed by changing their diet. Check out what Dr. McDougall has to say about MS drugs. See what the people on facebook say about the drugs they have taken. Glad you decided not to do the drugs. Dr. Walhs had all the best drugs but didn't see any change in her MS until she realized that diet was the answer.

http://www.franksherwood.com/tnms.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJyQTTZr ... _embedded#!

http://www.facebook.com/notes/ccsvi-in- ... 1295097210

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... nking.aspx