This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Hi all
I am an alcoholic/addict who was dx MS in 1996. I work a 12 step program and would like to connect with other alcoholics and addicts who also have MS David

Goodness, sorry to hear about this.

Baclofen is supposed to be super for an alcohol addiction. You could easily have it prescribed for muscle spasticity.

It's a long shot but we have excess iron in our brains. Small/medium amounts of alcohol deplete iron reserves (although huge amounts actually deposit iron in the body). There could be some innate urge to drink relating to this. Perhaps taking something else which gets rid of iron, chelates it, would help. A supplement called iP6 does this effectively. I know this from experience - I am mildly anaemic you see and iP6 make my anaemia much, much worse.

I gave up smoking with the Allen Carr book 'The Easyway To Stop Smoking.' I was hopelessly addicted. It was easy and enjoyable to stop. I felt as though, after I read it, I could achieve anything I wanted. It was very empowering. If you are a smoker I should have a read.

And good luck! I'm sure you can get where you want to be.

I have posted this earlier, http://www.thisisms.com/ftopicp-118790.html :

"About my own genetics, I know only that in my high school biology class (studying genetic traits) all of us students chewed a piece of specially treated paper, which would identify those students who carried the dominant gene allowing them to taste the bitter flavor of PTC (phenylthiocarbamide), and those who could not (I was in this group). According to my reading I have learned that this sensitivity to this kind of taste is due almost entirely to a single gene.

Now I am curious to know if Sardinians with MS have the G version of the TAS2R38 gene, which is dominant and allows bitter taste perception. For that matter, I wonder if anyone else here knows which form of this gene he possesses."

In my reading, I found that some researchers suspect that this genetic inability to perceive a bitter taste may also contribute to alcoholism and smoking because those addicted cannot recognize the bitterness in those substances. Maybe this simple genetic test should be performed on any one with these addictions; the outcome might suggest a direction for effective treatment.