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New to the site and new to MS

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:36 am
by scottyk
Hello my fellow MS havers (or whatever we are calling ourselves)

I'm 37, and was diagnosed in October. I t was a normal day in the office and my feet went numb. Although it was annoying, I pretty much avoided it. As days went on, the numbness spread through my shins and eventually all the way up into my stomach and small of my back.

I really had no idea what was going on so it was off the the doctor I went. From there he sent me to a specialist and I need up in the hospital for 4 days.
I went through the whole 2 hour MRI (not fun at all) but avoided the spinal tap. The MRI showed 2 spots on my spine but nothing on my brain.
They gave me 3 days worth of IV Steroids and then 20some days of pill form and the numbness and tingles went away 100%.

We discussed Gylenia and Tecfidera but i declined any meds at first as I wanted time to read about MS and educate myself. I seriously had no clue about MS and exactly what it was.

Fast forward 3 months and it's been one of those out of site out of mind things. I felt as normal as I ever did. Then out of nowhere my feet, hands and belly got real numb.
It was back on the IV steroids followed up with the pill form. Everything went back to normal expect the numbers in my hand is still lingering around (very annoying)

I decided to put myself on Tecfidera. It actually came in the mail today and I will begin my 30day starter pack tomorrow.



Thanks for reading my story. Please feel free to comment with any insight you may have. Lifestyle changes MS forced you to do. Diet changes etc..

I look forward to chatting with everyone here and getting through this all together.


Cheers!!!

Re: New to the site and new to MS

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:41 am
by jimmylegs
hi and welcome :) interesting - you received a definite msdx in the absence of any brain lesion evidence? can you share any info on your personal background, the location of your two spinal lesions, and the reason for your specific mention of diet changes? i'll be interested to read your reply :) again, welcome

Re: New to the site and new to MS

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 12:00 pm
by scottyk
Thanks Jimmy
Yes, when the Dr. came in the morning after my late night 2hr MRI he said they were canceling the spinal tap because the 2 lesions on my spine showed them enough to diagnose me with MS. He then said, "Any Questions?" Mind you, this was all 100% new to me so I didn't have a clue what to ask or even know what him telling me I have MS meant.

I only ask about diet changes because I during my research I came across the whole Walhs Protocol Diet and fighting MS through diet.

Re: New to the site and new to MS

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 12:10 pm
by scottyk
jimmylegs wrote: can you share any info on your personal background,

Another thing, 4 years ago I was losing vision in my right eye. After seeing specialists I ended up having optic neuritis. The doctor brought up MS and said I had nothing to worry about and not to read in to it online because it would only scare me with MS info.

Well, 4 years later, here I am!

There is no history of MS in my family that anyone has any knowledge of.

Re: New to the site and new to MS

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 5:43 pm
by lyndacarol
scottyk wrote:Another thing, 4 years ago I was losing vision in my right eye. After seeing specialists I ended up having optic neuritis. The doctor brought up MS and said I had nothing to worry about and not to read in to it online because it would only scare me with MS info.

Well, 4 years later, here I am!
Preventive effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on conversion of optic neuritis to clinically definite multiple sclerosis: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial. (2013)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23250818

Multiple sclerosis (MS) presents with optic neuritis (ON) in 20 % of cases and 50 % of ON patients develop MS within 15 years. In this study, we evaluated the preventive effects of vitamin D3 administration on the conversion of ON to MS (primary outcome) and on the MRI lesions (secondary outcome) of ON patients with low serum 25 (OH) D levels. Thirty ON patients (15 in each of 2 groups, aged 20-40 years) with serum 25 (OH) D levels of less than 30 ng/ml were enrolled in a double blind, randomized, parallel-group trial. The treatment group (cases) received 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 weekly for 12 months and the control group (controls) received a placebo weekly for 12 months. Finally, the subsequent relapse rate and changes in MRI plaques were compared between the two groups. Risk reduction was 68.4 % for the primary outcome in the treatment group (relative risk = 0.316, p = 0.007). After 12 months, patients in the treatment group had a significantly lower incidence rate of cortical, juxtacortical, corpus callosal, new T2, new gadolinium-enhancing lesions and black holes. The mean number of total plaques showed a marginally significant decrease in the group receiving vitamin D3 supplementation as compared with the placebo group (p = 0.092). Administration of vitamin D3 supplements to ON patients with low serum vitamin 25 (OH) D levels may delay the onset of a second clinical attack and the subsequent conversion to MS.

If you have not had the vitamin D blood test called "25-hydroxy D," please consider asking your doctor for one. (Also, request your own copy of the test results.)

The blood test is the only way to determine if you are vitamin D deficient. The California-based group, GrassrootsHealth (http://www.GrassrootsHealth.net) recommends that the vitamin D level be 40-60 ng/mL.