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Alternative Treatments
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 6:31 am
by RuralLaundry
Hello everyone,
Has anyone tried taking Turmeric, B Complex and Fish oil prior to diagnosis to try and stave off recurrences?
Any other natural items that have helped? I'm not big on medication and from most of what I'm reading it's very difficult to tell who or how much people will be helped by the current MS drugs available. Maybe I'm reading the wrong stuff but it seems silly to spend the money/time/side effects on treatments that may or may not do much good in the disease progression.
Re: Alternative Treatments
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 2:26 pm
by NHE
RuralLaundry wrote:Has anyone tried taking Turmeric, B Complex and Fish oil prior to diagnosis to try and stave off recurrences?
Any other natural items that have helped? I'm not big on medication and from most of what I'm reading it's very difficult to tell who or how much people will be helped by the current MS drugs available. Maybe I'm reading the wrong stuff but it seems silly to spend the money/time/side effects on treatments that may or may not do much good in the disease progression.
Here's my experience.
http://www.thisisms.com/forum/avonex-f5 ... ml#p163704 It's a long post, but I wrote...
NHE wrote:I wish you the best with your decision. People are now diagnosed earlier and earlier in the disease process. I experienced 8 years of clinical remission without doing anything different. If you read enough personal experiences, I think that you'll find that an 8 year remission is not unusual. I have read of people having even longer periods of remission, up to 15 to 20 years. Had I been diagnosed and put on one of the DMDs, it would have been reasonable to attribute the 8 year remission to the medication. However, I suspect that if I had started the dietary changes and supplements back in 1991, then the remission would have been even longer.
I currently feel a bit jaded by the DMDs and no longer feel that chronic immune suppression is a valid treatment paradigm (sure, corticosteroids such as prednisone can shorten an attack by inducing apoptosis in white blood cells, but long term use doesn't seem to have much impact on progression). My current hypothesis is that MS may be a neurodegenerative disease with a component of chronic immune activation in susceptible individuals as opposed to one of autoimmune etiology. After having read much of the evidence surrounding the CCSVI hypothesis, I suspect that it will pan out to play a large role in the disease process. Researchers have repeatedly published over the last 20 to 30 years that MS patients have reduced cerebral blood perfusion. However, it seems that few have asked why this might be the case until recently.
Re: Alternative Treatments
Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 2:04 am
by ElliotB
DMDs do not necessarily modify the disease progression, rather they help possibly help reduce the frequency and intensity of relapses.
I take the supplements you list plus many others. I strongly recommend Royal Jelly.
"it seems silly to spend the money/time/side effects on treatments that may or may not do much good in the disease progression"
Even 1 less relapse is a good thing.
Re: Alternative Treatments
Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 2:52 am
by RuralLaundry
ElliotB wrote:DMDs do not necessarily modify the disease progression, rather they help possibly help reduce the frequency and intensity of relapses.
I take the supplements you list plus many others. I strongly recommend Royal Jelly.
"it seems silly to spend the money/time/side effects on treatments that may or may not do much good in the disease progression"
Even 1 less relapse is a good thing.
I guess I understand that mindset and I'm in the very beginning so maybe it doesn't seem like as big of a deal right now. But as a businessman I look at cost benefit, I look at spending 10's of thousands on DMD's over 10 years to possibly have 1 relapse avoided.
I guess if that is the relapse that puts me in a wheelchair for the rest of my life it would have been nice to avoid that one. If it was a relapse that makes me feel like I have ticks crawling on me well, I can deal with that. I have been trying to make lifestyle adjustments to help reduce the impact of the disease without costing a fortune with the hopes of having similar results to the expensive drugs.
Re: Alternative Treatments
Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 3:21 am
by jimmylegs
if you are interested, RL, here's my thinking/approach:
http://www.thisisms.com/forum/regimens- ... tml#p15460
Re: Alternative Treatments
Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 3:30 am
by RuralLaundry
Excellent thank you very much! Reading through now.
Re: Alternative Treatments
Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 10:36 pm
by ElliotB
"I look at spending 10's of thousands on DMD's over 10 years to possibly have 1 relapse avoided. "
If the DMD you take works for you, it could prevent many, many relapses over the course of the years you take it, not 1. And potentially give you years of disability free living and/or less disability than you would have had otherwise. You missed the point of my comment. But in time, you may come to understand why even 1 less is worth the cost and trouble.
Re: Alternative Treatments
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 9:00 am
by victoriagrace1
Hi, When I was first diagnosed I went on meds mainly because my Neuro specialist said it was the thing to do but Ihad such terrible side affects and after the second lot of meds gave me side affects I decided after much thought to just to follow a strict diet no gluton,no dairy, whilst also taking supplements and I feel so much better I still have lots of ms symptoms but feel it was the right thing for me.
hope this helps.