JustJazz, please continue to read and post here on Tims, all views and ideas are welcome and batting, not battling, ideas & opinions around is a good thing, I think. I’m often drawn into the conversations myself from an emotional point such as this. But there is a WEALTH of information at Tims over and beyond CCSVI.
I was on Avonex until my liver functions started coming back elevated, and my MS symptoms were still progressing. It was a concern for me and my GP, not so much for my Neurologist….
When I discovered the Candida albicans theory by Ann Boroch on-line a few years back, I was all over it, having been following a similar diet by Roy L. Swank. Later I found the CCSVI information here on Tims, so now I’m all over it!!I wish I had answers to all my questions to my own satisfaction, but I don’t. So I still log on-line daily and do related searches for all things MS. Every little “scrap” I find interesting I search to the end, that’s how I stumbled into Tims in Sept. 09, while researching the Candida connection.
Many times the medical research papers I find are so far over my head, but I am still often able to somewhat understand the conclusions at the end of the papers. I was never comfortable with the idea that I needed to use drugs to “suppress and compromise my immune system” in order to fight the auto-immune attack in my body. I really felt and feel that there must be a “logical” reason for my body attacking it’s self.
I was intrigued by the idea of the excess iron in our brains caused by reflux (Dr. Zamboni‘s theory) or (back Jets as Dr. Schnelling calls them) could be the culprit. So now I’m going to follow this “scap” of info to the end and see where the research goes.
JustJazz, if you haven’t read Wheelchair Kamakazi’s blog, I would suggest it, it’s a really a good read and journey of self discovery that is still a work in progress. Here’s a quote from one of his latest posts.
Marc at www.wheelchairkamikaze.com
“In regards to "where I stand" on CCSVI, I try to take an open-minded and unemotional view of all MS research and treatments, because early on in my disease I learned that nothing is sure when it comes to MS. Becoming "emotionally attached" to a treatment only served to keep me from being able to assess things objectively. Of course, we all form our opinions, but I've had my hopes raised and dashed too many times to fall into that trap anymore.
I believe that CCSVI will prove to be a significant part of the picture for many patients, but that for others it will play no part in their disease process. I base this on the simple fact that I don't believe that MS is actually any one disease, but a collection of related conditions that share symptoms and some diagnostic criteria. Researchers doing postmortems on deceased patients have already identified at least four different types of MS lesions, each of which exhibits markedly different characteristics. Some show signs of immune activity, others indicators of infectious causes. It could be that one or two of these lesion types is caused by CCSVI, but I doubt that all could be attributed to this one cause.
I don't have time to wait to see whether research proves or disproves CCSVI. The anecdotal evidence, in addition to the preliminary buffalo results, convinced me that there's enough to this to warrant me giving it a go.”
As I type this Marc is currently having an angioplasty. I hold similar beliefs to his about Ms being a collection of related conditions that share similar symptoms. In my own personal journey for answers I will be in the Stanford CCSVI trials later this year. I hope I get more answers from the trials, but I don’t believe for one minute that it will answer all my questions or be a complete or definitive “cure” for my MS. Just a part of the puzzle that is Multiple Sclerosis.
Respectfully,
Lora
