It's been a while since I posted an update to this thread, the negativity from a minorty can get irritating and a little off putting. Anyhow I was prompted to post today as we visited Dr Amir in Putney and a new patient was with him (all the way from Gibraltar) as a direct result of reading about his treatments on TiMS. It was nice to meet you today.
So how is Emma in the years since she started seeing Dr Amir?
Well the symptoms that took us to see Amir originally are all but eradicated, mainly debilitating nerve pain down the left hand side of Emma's body, focusing in the hand/wrist and foot/ankle. Occasionally Emma gets a "twinge" in these areas, which she's come to understand as a sign that something needs adjusting with her brace/teeth.
Emma currently has what people would recognise as traditional fixed upper and lower braces.
Fatigue has also remained reduced since treatment started with Dr Amir. All in all Emma is finding life more tolerable as a direct result of this treatment.
So has Dr Amirs treatment helped Emma's MS? This is where a simple wording makes a world of difference. If I'm ever asked if Dr Amir's treatment is curing or treating Emma's MS the answer has to be no. I'd prefer to explain it as follows.
Emma clearly had underlying dental/jaw issues or a TMJ disorder. Dr Amir has treated this problem and as a result of that treatment a specific group of symptoms have been relieved/eradicated. The problem you have once you have a diagnosis of MS is the medical fraternity are all to willing to chalk any symptom up to "MS" without really looking any further. So Dr Amirs treatment has relieved symptoms that were incorrectly being attributed to "MS".
Is Emma still struggling with anything else?
In a word Yes, walking and leg control/balance is a problem that Dr Amir can't get to grips with. He's very open about this. In fact it's why we continue to see him. It's refreshing to come across someone who is open minded to new ideas, treatment and feedback from his patients. He's willing to look at all possible options no matter how obscure. Some people find this off putting, personally I feel it's how modern medicine should behave towards conditions that are misunderstood.
Eyesight is still and issue. The muscles controlling Emma's left eye in particular struggle to work together meaning her left eye "wanders" and created double vision issues. This has been diagnosed variously as "One and Half syndrome" and possible "Internuclear Opthalmoplegia" neither of which are understood any more then MS.
What we have found is if Emma's head and neck muscles are massaged, prompting blood flow and increased oxygenation, her eyesight improves. but this is transient. This ties in with the instant eyesight improvement Emma experienced when she had CCSVI in Scotland some year back. Improve blood flow, increase oxygenation = improved eyesight. We're currently experimenting with an EMS device bought from Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Med-Fit-Maxi-St ... ywords=ems to see if we can replicate "massage" electrically. Initial responses are interesting with regard to blood flow stimulation locally. (note this is not a TENS machine - it is something different).
Emma has Physio once a fortnight and Acupuncture once a fortnight to keep as much working as possible. We discuss all these treatments with Dr Amir and also discuss Dr Amirs treatment with the the other specialists. It can only broaden your mind.
Finally the other thing Emma is using is Cannabis Oil (aka Hemp Oil - aka Rick Simpson Oil). She takes a small amount of this at night which stops spasticity and allows her to get a full nights sleep. If you've never come across this before - Google it, it makes interesting reading and more importantly it works. I'm a convert as I admit to previously associating cannabis with dope heads and little else. It's medical qualities are far reaching and very interesting indeed, particularly in relation to cancer