This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Have been a long time lurker of this board, and decided to get in the mix. I hope that my contributions may offer help to someone as much as many of the current contributors have helped me.
My background is........Male, middle aged, Dx'd in 2010 following optic neuritis brought about by sinus surgery for chronic illness. In hindsight the symptoms of the disease had been around for several years. Within a month of diagnosis, I began Copaxone injections which I stayed on for just over two years. Dropped the Copaxone to begin Aubagio about a month ago, due to a flare up. Also taking Ampyra and Oral Baclofen.
I also was allergy tested, and found that I can not have dairy or any Gluten. Best thing I ever did for myself was eliminating these foods. This elimination was more helpful than anything else I have done in the last 2.5yrs. Also have refined my diet and excercise program to what equates to a Paleo diet and 30 minutes of cardio excercise per day. Have lost 40lbs in the last two years and generally feel better than before diagnosis, except for some spasticity and fatigue that comes and goes. Jimmylegs posts on nutrition have helped me to check and identify some deficiencies that are addressed through both diet and supplementation that are too long to list in this post......
I have a lot of faith and some hope that I can last long enough to see some actually helpful treatment come about.

welcome st looking forward to hearing more deets on your findings and regimen when you have time. glad you're feeling better generally!

I will post on the regimen and how I got to that point as soon as I have time. I know you like details and bloodwork results, so I'll compact it all into a summary soon. But, I can already tell you that it won't be anything you don't already know as a lot of the info came from you to start with! Thanks

sounds good ST, i'll keep an eye out

speaking of eyes...
Iron homeostasis and eye disease
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2718721/
"Iron is necessary for life, but excess iron can be toxic to tissues. Iron is thought to damage tissues primarily by generating oxygen free radicals through the Fenton reaction. We present an overview of the evidence supporting iron's potential contribution to a broad range of eye disease using an anatomical approach. Firstly, iron can be visualized in the cornea as iron lines in the normal aging cornea as well as in diseases like keratoconus and pterygium. In the lens, we present the evidence for the role of oxidative damage in cataractogenesis. Also, we review the evidence that iron may play a role in the pathogenesis of the retinal disease age-related macular degeneration. Although currently there is no direct link between excess iron and development of optic neuropathies, ferrous iron's ability to form highly reactive oxygen species may play a role in optic nerve pathology. Lastly, we discuss recent advances in prevention and therapeutics for eye disease with antioxidants and iron chelators. ... Although further research is necessary, advances in understanding the role of oxidative damage in optic neuritis may lead to novel uses for antioxidant therapy and potentially for discovering a link between iron-related production of ROS and optic neuritis....."
with a bit of searching we could probably draw a line max three to four studies long between high iron, low zinc, and optic neuritis.