First, a little background on my MS. I was diagnosed with my MS in 2000 after a year long battle with something called Transverse Myelitis. TM is an MS like disease that goes away.

First, a little background on my MS. I was diagnosed with my MS in 2000 after a year long battle with something called Transverse Myelitis. TM is an MS like disease that goes away. They way Neurologist gauge you have MS from TM is that it does not go away or get's worse. Right after the 2000 election I found myself blind. I would say it was an eye opening experience (I am full of accidental puns like that) but no matter how long my eyes were opened it still stayed dark. After a week in hospital with round the clock steroids I regained my vision. I would have been excited except that little vacation sealed the nail in my MS coffin. The diagnoses was complete. I spent the next few years in and out of a State Run Hospital static with MS. My treatment plan was going no where. I finally figured out that I am very fortunate to live in an area that has a clinic dedicated to Multiple Sclerosis therapy. No longer static I finally have the care I need. Which leads me to all the drugs I have tried and some I am still on for MS.
#1. Avonex- An inter muscular injection before the time of auto injection guns. I had to mix this medicine myself. Then find a good deep muscle. It was painful. Made me feel horrible. It stopped the progression for 2 years.
#2. Copaxone- I am still on this now. It is a prefilled syringe with an auto injection gun that goes subcutaneous. The only side effect I have had from Copaxone is random welts at the injection site and some bruising.
#3. Cytoxan- Can you believe there is a chemotherapy for people with MS? I could not hardly believe it. I was on Cytoxan therapy for almost 2 years. It made me ill for about one day a month. I may post an in depth article on MS and chemotherapy at a later date. I stopped Cytoxan 2 years ago and have not had only 2 exacerbation's since.
#3. Low Dose Naltrexone- This is where you may think I have lost my reasoning. It is not even approved for MS. At 3mg it is also pointless to many doctors. They give 50mg of this drug to junkies who are trying to get off Heroin without Methadone. So it is also an ear catcher. I swear by it. However, I will never know if it is the LDN or the Cytoxan that has slowed the progression so well. It is encouraging that my doctor finds it interesting all his LDN patients are fairly stable.
#4. Steroids- When in doubt or relapsing a good dose of steroids can do wonders. There is a notable difference between steroids. Decadron makes me puff up like the marshmallow man and mean. Prednisone is worthless. No really it has the worst side effect of all steroids and does nothing for MS. I like Solumedrol. I call it my “go juice” because it does just that makes me go go go. At times maybe a little too much. Need your house painted get me a 3 days solu drip and we are good to go. All joking aside it is what works for me.
That is the end of the list of the big players. Now, for the list to live by.
The drugs that help me function:
#1. Provigil- When making this list I knew Provigil would be number one. Without Provigil I would be asleep every two hours. Provigil is rumored to be a drug made for the military. Fighter Pilots specifically. It keeps you alert and focused without all the jittery side effects of speed. It has gained great popularity on college campuses during finals. This is why now it is a class 3 drug. Without it I could not live. Well I would live but I would sleep through most of life.
#2. Nuerontin- Without Nuerontin I would not be able to type this. I would be shakier than Katharine Hepburn. Michael J. Fox and I could open our own Malt Shop. I do not know why Neurontin seems to work for my MS shakes. I do not know it's effect on Parkinson's. I just know that it helps with my shakiness.
#3. Baclofen- It is a muscle relaxer. What miracles Western Medicine has achieved that not only can we have an upper (see Provigil above) that does not make one jittery. We can also have a muscle relaxer (Baclofen) that does not make you drugged up and drowsy.
#4. Prozac- Hey no one said being diagnosed was an easy trip. It makes total sense that your brain chemistry is attacking your myelin. Somewhere a long the way it is possible that it's not the only chemical misfire that is occurring. Having been in forums, chat rooms,communities,and even in social networking sites. One sees it all the time. The MS person with a big dose of the crazies. These people are typically different than the newly diagnosed. These are the people who have been diagnosed for a certain amount of time and are perpetually negative people. I know it's hard to hear. If you can not have a positive outlook you are going to loose the fight. I am not saying one has to be a jumping jack cheerleader with a smile always plastered on their face. It is hard to have a life altering disease. We all know this. It's just that without a more positive outlook you are going to be miserable fighting this battle. If you find yourself yelling,crying,and acting tremendously out of sorts. I recommend you see a Mental Health Professional. You are not alone.
#5. Nexium- Well you see the list. With all this medicine obviously I am going to have some kind of stomach upset. At this point I do not even think the Nexium is working at this juncture.
It's a pretty impressive list in black and white. Drugs I did not include were drugs not related to MS like allergy,high blood pressure,and cholesterol medicine. Here is a surprise in the article. I am pretty sure I have lost the people who do not believe in Western Medicine by now. That is a shame. I once was a person who did not even take aspirin. That was before this whole MS thing began. I believe in Vitamins, Supplements, and Organic food. What I do not agree with however is the use of these items without knowing how they react with your immune system. Take for instance Echinacea. It's in every natural concoction to ward off colds. Unfortunately it stimulates the immune system. Something that simple can irritate your MS. If you are very in to vitamins and supplements I suggest getting books that have drug and vitamin interactions in them. Study. Doctors do not always know. Neither do herbalist or chiropractors. Information will always be our best ally.
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