Does methyl-prednisolone temporarily improve CCSVI?

[adamt]

I was diagnosed with MS in 2002, and once a year my doctor would give me methyl-prednisolone (500mg daily for 5 days - short course)
I stopped it in 2007 when i started LDN - so had 6 short courses in total.

I've only ever had one relapse in 2002 (which led to diagnoses - and progressed since), but had the methyl-prednisolone once a year as it made my walking 90% better! but only for the days i took it and maybe a day after stopping.
- each future year the improvements would be less pronounced, probably due to more damage/demylination occuring..

- i was diagnosed at 17, so this great improvement in my mobility meant so much to me.

After about one hour of taking 500mg oral dose my mobility - balance, legs strength, walking stability, would improve greatly.
I have always wondered why i improve so greatly when taking methyl-prednisolone?


So i was thinking, could it be because it thins the blood greatly so the CCSVI is widened/improved?

Does anyone know why walking/mobility improves so greatly when taking methyl-prednisolone?

Does anyone else have the great improvements in mobility when taking methyl-prednisolone?


- - i fully understand methyl-prednisolone is not good for the body and can be very harmful if used regularly, i dont intend to take it ever again, im just curious does it have any effect if you have CCSVI

[adamt]

Does anyone else's mobility improve greatly when they take methyl-prednisolone?

Do you think it improves CCSVI ?

[CureOrBust]

I take a monthly pulse of 75mg / day, for three days, of oral prednisone.

I notice my walking improve on the third and the forth day (ie the first day of not taking it). Then it slowly fades back to roughly the same, or maybe a little better.

Prednisone has two "known" effects for improving MS (usually taken during a relapse). One is that it "settles" the immune system and hence stops the auto-immune attack. But the second known effect is that it lowers the BBB permeability.

If you believe in CCSVI, then you would subscribe to the theory that CCSVI causes BBB permeability, and hence steroids would help reduce this step in the CCSVI course.

Basically, I do not think its blood thinning, otherwise blood thinners (of which there are many) would have a similar effect. ie I think it does not improve CCSVI, but combats one of the negative effects of CCSVI.

By the way, 500mg orally? how many tablets do you have to swallow?!? I know in Australia our largest pill is 25mg, but when I was in the UK, I could only get 5mg tablets, so even taking 75mg was a handful of pills.

[adamt]

I take a monthly pulse of 75mg / day, for three days, of oral prednisone.

I notice my walking improve on the third and the forth day (ie the first day of not taking it). Then it slowly fades back to roughly the same, or maybe a little better.

Prednisone has two "known" effects for improving MS (usually taken during a relapse). One is that it "settles" the immune system and hence stops the auto-immune attack. But the second known effect is that it lowers the BBB permeability.

If you believe in CCSVI, then you would subscribe to the theory that CCSVI causes BBB permeability, and hence steroids would help reduce this step in the CCSVI course.

Basically, I do not think its blood thinning, otherwise blood thinners (of which there are many) would have a similar effect. ie I think it does not improve CCSVI, but combats one of the negative effects of CCSVI.

By the way, 500mg orally? how many tablets do you have to swallow?!? I know in Australia our largest pill is 25mg, but when I was in the UK, I could only get 5mg tablets, so even taking 75mg was a handful of pills.

thanks for explaining, i wasnt sure why my mobility improves when i take methyl-prednisolone.

I think methyl-prednisolone is just a stronger form of prednisolone.

methyl-prednisolone comes in 100mg atblets, so i had 5 a day and my walking improved greatly within one hour of taking the 500mg dose.