Update

Multiple Sclerosis Update-March 2016

MS Update-March 2016 N

I had my infusion, and I also saw my Multiple Sclerosis doctor on Monday, March 21st, so I figured that now was a good time to post a small update on how things are going and how I am feeling.

If I am going to be a one hundred percent honest with everyone I have to admit that I have been feeling pretty sick most days for the past couple of months.  Which has made my life harder but is part if the game when you have diseases like Multiple Sclerosis.  The last time I saw my doctor was back in December before I switched jobs and insurance companies.  I am sure the new job along with the stress of it is part of the problem.

I also have been feeling like I going to have a relapse soon because of some strange things that I have been feeling for the past couple of weeks.  I remember one morning a couple of weeks ago that as I stood up to turn off my alarm my legs gave out. After I had sat back down for a few minutes, I was able to walk, but my legs did feel weak. I also have also had times where out of nowhere I feel like my legs may give out on me.  They haven’t thanked God, but it is such a strange feeling to feel your legs get weak and then have it go away after a few minutes.

Nothing was changed at my doctor’s appointment which I guess is a good thing. The only thing that she did was to schedule my next MRI for the 2nd of April, so I have that to look forward too. So other than all that my life has been pretty stable which is always a good thing. I hope you are all doing well, and I hope to see you back here tomorrow for another book review.

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MS Tuesday: MRI & Treatment Updates

MS

I had another doctor’s appointment last week so I figured it was time to updated on what is going on with the MS and things like that.  The MS has been pretty stable since my last appointment in June which is a great thing.   I am so grateful for that but with that being said because of the stress that is going on with my job right now my Psorisis has flaired up which is more embarrassing than anything else.

After I get my new health insurance at the start of next year I am going to look more into maybe switching treatments because I have decided that I am not going to tell my new employer about me having MS from the start.  It always hard to figure out when to tell your employer that you have MS because you never know how it will go.  I know in time I will tell them but I want to wait until I they see how hard I work and things like that.

Anyway other than my headaches coming back not much has really change for me which is a great thing considering how active my disease used to be.  I am happy that I am stable and I hope it stays that way because I don’t have the time to have a relapse considering that I have to start a new job on January 4th.  So that is all that is going on with me.  I will see you tomorrow with a book review.

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Updates: Doctors Appointment, Multiple Sclerosis, and Everything Else

Updates

I had a doctors appointment on Monday June 8th and I wanted to write a short update about that appointment and also an update about how I have been feeling lately.  I also decided as I was writing this post that I wanted to include just a general life update because  I am truly struggling with things right now.  I can’t tell everything that is bothering me but I will tell what I can and maybe I will still write what is going on and password protect those posts and if you want to check them out you can email me and I will give you the password for them.  Anyway lets get on to the MS update because that is the easiest and quickest part of this post.

As I said before I had a doctor’s appointment Monday afternoon with my neurologist.  I hadn’t had an MRI or anything since I saw her last but she does like to see me every so often because of the medication I am on and things like that.   I haven’t been feeling the greatest lately but there is nothing that can really be done about that because I just don’t feel well.  My headaches are getting bad again which totally sucks because I went so long without having them or at least not having super bads one.  I know that the reason I am having them is because of allergies and also just the stress of life.  I have an MRI in August and I don’t have to see the doctor again until December so that will be nice.

Now on to the life crap that I am willing or able to talk about.  I have no idea where to start or what I even want to say.  I guess the first place to start is with the fact that the daughter I placed for adoption will be 10 this year and I am honestly not sure where the time went.  It has also been a hard year this year when it comes to dealing with the adoption and I am not sure why this year has been so hard for me.

Another thing that has been hard for me this year is family things and usually I don’t really care what goes on with family members but this year that has changed for me.  What is funny about it all is that what I am sad about didn’t even happen this year and to be honest I am not sure why it is now bothers me like it is.  I am sure it is because of everything else going on that is making all the little things in life that usually don’t affect me hard for me to deal with right now.

Anyway that is all I can think of right now so I am going to leave it like this.

How are things going for you???

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

MS Tuesday-Update On Me

MS

I recently had an MRI and I also have something going on with my eyes that I wanted to document so that if I needed too I would be able to remember when it first started.  First I am going to talk about what is going on with my sight and then I will talk about what the MRI showed along with my thoughts on it all.

So I started noticing that I am getting major headaches for the past 6 months or so when I do a ton of reading.  At first I just thought that it was because I needed to start wearing my glasses again so I figured I would go to the eye doctor and get an updated prescription and that I would be back to normal after that.  When I went and saw my eye doctor he basically told me he wasn’t sure what was going on because he couldn’t get my vision to correct which is a huge change from what it used to be like.  I was referred to see an opthamologist and I still haven’t made an appointment because I am waiting to talk with my neurologist about it first.

If I am being honest I was hoping that the MRI would show that the disease was active or that it had been active because I was hoping that whatever is going on with my eyes could go back to normal.  The MRI showed that the disease is stable and that it hasn’t been active in over 6 years which I know is a great thing but I am not happy about it.  Since the MS hasn’t been active I now have to go see another doctor about my eyes because the headaches I have been getting need to go.

When I was diagnosed with MS I never thought that I could go blind.  I have come accept that I might end up not being able to walk but I am struggling with the fact that I could go blind.  For me going blind would be the worst possible thing that could happen to me because I can’t imagine not being able to read books anymore.  I know there are audio books and things like that but I love reading actual books and not being able to do that anymore makes me truly depressed.

Anyway that is the update for now.  I will have a follow up post about my eyes after I see my neurologist and make the appointment with the opthamologist.

How are things going with you guys?

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Multiple Sclerosis Tuesday-Updated Treatments Post

MS

This week’s MS Tuesday post is going to be an update to my post where I talk about the treatments there are for Multiple Sclerosis.  If you want to check out the original post you can click here but I am going to copy and paste the old post and updated it with the new treatments that have come out since that post was originally published.

I am going to do a small overview of the different Multiple Sclerosis medications out there right now.  I want to start by saying that there is no cure of MS right now.   There are a few medications that will hopefully slow the progression on the disease.

The first group of drugs are called Immune modulating drugs. They work by keeping the immune cells from interacting with other cells.  This group consists of 3 different drugs they are called Betaseron, Rebif, and Avonex.  There is one other drug that is under this type of medication and it is Copaxone.  This one is made of amino acids and works differently than the interferon’s.

There is Tysabri that attaches itself to the blood brain barrier and doesn’t let immune cells into the brain.  There are several other treatments such as: Novantrone, Cytoxan, Imuran, Rheumatrex, and Trexall.  All of those treatments are drugs that will suppress the immune system.

Since I posted the original post they have come out with several pill’s that you can now take.  Before you had to have shots and/or an infusion so coming out with pills was huge for people who have MS.  The names of the pills are: Gilenya, Tecfidera and Aubagio.  I don’t know much about the new drugs out because right now Tysabri is still working for me so I am not in a hurry to try any new medication right now.

They will sometimes give a person steroid treatment if they are having an MS flare up or relapse.  I have been given steroids several times and I will always refuse them now.  I don’t think they really didn’t anything but make me gain weight and make my eyes see funny colors.  I can see why they do them but I would rather have some disability than deal with the side effects of the drugs.

I have taken several different MS medications and if you would like to know which ones I have taken and how they affected me please let me know.  There are also medications that we are given to help manage side effects of medications and also to deal with how the disease affects each of us as well.  If you would like to know anything else please let me know!

The sites I used to get the information for this post from: 
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/understanding_multiple_sclerosis_medications/page6_em.htm#inter (original site I used)
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/multiple-sclerosis/basics/treatment/con-20026689 (new treatments info)
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