This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

My name is Jessi, or Jay, I go by both!
I was sent to the hospital a few days ago and just got home with the diagnosis of MS .

It started a few months back when my hands went numb, but I thought nothing of it. The MRI of my spinal cord said maybe I should have considered a doctors visit way back when. But, I went to the doctor when I started to lose the vision in my left eye. So here I am told I have MS and having no idea what to expect.

I'm 21, in school for Advertising, and I work as a Bartender (which is so much fun!)

Looking forward to meeting others with MS and being able to get some more information on what I can expect in the future.

Welcome to ThisIsMS, Jay.

Since I believe insulin is a major player in MS, from this day forward, I encourage you to eat a healthy diet (a good idea whether or not a person has MS) – a diet that will not trigger insulin production. Many people find that diet can influence the symptoms of MS. In my opinion, this means a low-carb diet -- remove all sugar (including beer, wine, etc. which have sugar – this will not be easy for a bartender, I think), remove all artificial sweeteners, including sugar alcohols like sorbitol, xylitol, erythritol, mannitol, maltitol, lactitol, etc. (These promote insulin production, too.), remove all trans fats (These also increase insulin.), and white flour, white bread, white potatoes, white rice (in fact, all carbs so far as possible) from your diet.

My suspicion is that Fatty Liver Disease is also involved in MS, since visceral fat (internal or belly fat) secretes cytokines (like poison to the internal organs), which lead to increased insulin, which leads to inflammation which leads to more visceral fat… And the cycle goes round and round. Diet is important; in fact, you may find the account of Dr. Terry Wahls and her dramatic improvement in MS interesting (http://www.TerryWahls.com).

thanks for the advice

Would you happen to know some good foods that could be included in a diet ?

That will be sort of tricky for me as a bartender, but other than just needing to know what things taste like so i can give opinions, I don't drink at work other than a shot here or there when people have a birthday and want a shot with the bartender.

I'm a pretty picky eater when i do in fact eat at all (and ever since i've been home from the hospital - my appetite has gone completely down the drain :/

Hi Jessi... well like you i was diagnosed with MS young, i was 23.. i was diagnosed in 2010 while i was in the military.. i started treatment with an injection called avonex however now im on pills.. what you can expect totally depends on you. if you treat it since you are young you can continue to live normally.. i havent had any issues with the MS in almost 4 years.. in fact i just had an MRI 2 weeks ago and the lesions in my brain have healed to the point where there is only one lesion left.. so like i said it all depends on how you treat it

jaykateri wrote:My name is Jessi, or Jay, I go by both!
I was sent to the hospital a few days ago and just got home with the diagnosis of MS .

It started a few months back when my hands went numb, but I thought nothing of it. The MRI of my spinal cord said maybe I should have considered a doctors visit way back when. But, I went to the doctor when I started to lose the vision in my left eye. So here I am told I have MS and having no idea what to expect.

I'm 21, in school for Advertising, and I work as a Bartender (which is so much fun!)

Looking forward to meeting others with MS and being able to get some more information on what I can expect in the future.

I've heard the pills have serious side effects. Everyone around me recommends the shots ...

I'm glad to hear that you have had no problems tho I'm a little nervous not going to lie ... still in shock. The news came so suddenly

jaykateri wrote: Would you happen to know some good foods that could be included in a diet ?

That will be sort of tricky for me as a bartender, but other than just needing to know what things taste like so i can give opinions, I don't drink at work other than a shot here or there when people have a birthday and want a shot with the bartender.

I'm a pretty picky eater when i do in fact eat at all (and ever since i've been home from the hospital - my appetite has gone completely down the drain :/

Jay–you may find it interesting to read through the Diet forum (http://www.thisisms.com/forum/diet-f9/). There are threads there that pertain specifically to the Wahls diet, which I mentioned earlier; the Wahls diet is quite restrictive (too hard for me). However, many people find great help with the Wahls diet: there are 69 testimonials on her webpage (http://www.terrywahls.com/_blog/Testimo ... sclerosis/) But there are many other diet recommendations there in the Diet forum.

In my opinion, the objective is to reduce the insulin level; there may be several diets that can bring this about. I think this is inadvertently the mechanism of the Wahls diet. The following may be common to all effective diets because they lower the insulin:

#1 Remove ALL trans fats from the diet.

#2 Remove all sugar (including beer, wine, etc. which have sugar), remove all artificial sweeteners-NO Splenda, including sugar alcohols (polyols) such as sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, erythritol, lactitol, etc. (these sugar alcohols are "sweeter" than sugar), and remove white flour, white bread, white potatoes, white rice (which convert readily to glucose, a.k.a. blood sugar, in the body) from your diet. Raising the blood sugar level leads to an insulin spike.

#3 (as CaveMan suggested in a Paleo Diet discussion) Remove all processed foods..

#4 NO MSG

#5 Dr. William Davis in his book, Wheat Belly, recommends avoiding ALL wheat – refined and even whole wheat – not because of a gluten problem, but because of a problem with a protein called gliadin. He feels, "Today’s wheat may be dangerous because it greatly elevates blood sugar levels, leading to insulin spikes that cause chronic inflammation and excess belly fat (visceral fat)."

And if you cook, Jay, he has offered the recipe for his Wheat Belly Pizza (http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/wheat-belly-pizza) on The Dr. Oz Show. The link will lead you to some of his other recipes.

Any diet (for diabetics, for example) which will reduce blood sugar will reduce the resulting insulin spike. Eat simpler, less processed foods; go easy on the fruit because it will stimulate insulin. The objective is to reduce that insulin.

You may find it helpful to substitute coconut flour, almond flour/meal, or flax meal/flour in your favorite recipes which are low in sugar – these flours have no carbohydrates and, of course, have no wheat flour.

#6 Recently I read that cucumber pickles, or any pickled vegetable (onions, cabbage, etc.) or apple cider/or white vinegar alone will reduce insulin production in the body. I have now started eating a pickle every day; I hope you like pickles, Jay.

#7 Add coconut oil to your daily menu – fry an egg in it for breakfast, cook with it, use it in salad dressing, or just stir a teaspoonful into your oatmeal. Coconut oil is a medium-chain fat and is readily used as fuel by the body.

A completely different diet, backed by 34 years of research on dozens of patients, is the diet of Doctor Roy Swank. The bulk of patients that stayed on his diet were still walking after 34 years. His focus is on eliminating saturated fats and processed foods. Based on his (and other) research MS is vascular in origin. Whether insulin plays a role or not, steer clear of artificial sweeteners (they are neurotoxins).

Eliminating all these foods sounds really difficult :/ Especially being in college and not having the time or money to really take care of preparing the proper diet. The past four days (ever since I was put in the hospital) I have had no appetite whatsoever. And the only thing I have eaten is the strange craving I have had for cheese and crackers. It's the only thing that doesn't make me want to hurl. Going in tomorrow for treatment options with the MS specialist. Hoping my appetite turns around pretty soon

Diet is difficult if you are not doing it at home. Eating out can be a disaster but diet is the only path to healing. There was a study done in England showing the drugs do no good. It is best if you start immediately.



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