I am a 40 something female with a MS diagnosis for the past 19 years, although they said I probably had MS since my early teens. I was forcibly retired from nursing about 13 yrs ago, and went back to school for a degree in forensic psychology. Due to recurrent health problems I never finished my doctorate, but instead went to doing what I had wanted to do since my teens - ART! Besides being very therapeutic, it helps pay the bills.
I decided very early on in this journey with MS, that I would not let this disease have me, just because I have it. Staying in control of something as devious and tricky has not always been an easy journey. I spent just over 10 years injecting myself with Copaxone, which seemed to be working fine as far as I could tell. Sure I had a few exacerbations every year or two, but considering the number of lesions the doctors have said I have, I considered myself to be doing great. That is until the injections site problems became worse, and shortly after one injection I couldn't breathe, my heart was racing and my skin flushed and itched terribly. Being the typical stubborn red headed ER nurse, I promptly too an epi injection and drank down a bottle I f liquid Benadryl I had for my dogs. I kept a watch until the symptoms subsided, and reported it to Teva. They didn't think it was the Copaxone but told me to stop it immediately.
I went another 7 or 8 years on nothing except the occasional attempts to start Avonex or Betaseron, both with poor results as the same things were happening. It was finally determined that it was the diluent used to liquefy the medication, which is the same in all injectable MS modifiers (or so I was told the same) that was causing an allergic reaction. The end of December I started the Tecfidera. I was holding out waiting on an oral drug. So far, so good I think, but it am still wary of any chemical I put in my body. I had to fight all those years to keep off the others drugs, even being fired as a patient by one bull headed neurologist. But I made it to here and today, and I am still walking and stumbling through life, and it is a good life even when I get down and wish some of it to be different. I can live with what I want to see changed, and I will keep on working to change it. Not that I have typed far too much here and no one wants to read this much, I wish the best for all if us here, because life is a beautiful thing no matter what troubles follow us through it.
