Sorry, but this is gonna be long.

I've been having what the docs say are muscle spasms triggering severe nerve pain in my leg - to the point I can't walk. I actually went to a neuro and he said yeap - MS manifestation.

I was dx'ed in 1988. I've never taken any drugs for MS (okay - a 2 week stint on copaxone in 2003). Most of you know this.

Anyway - this neuro is the first one I've been to in 20 years that didn't discard my previous dx's (yeah - I've been dx'ed in Toledo oh, Miami FL, and Houston TX). So no tests other than wacking my knees and doing the tuning bar and he read 20 years of radiologist reports that I gave him, to include 3 sets of MRI films. He gave me a prescription for Nortriptylene. Lower dosage than that prescribed for depression but apparently it works for MS nerve pain or muscle spasms or whatever. This was last Thursday.

Well, I hopped on a plane last Friday and flew to Las Vegas from Houston, toured Hoover Dam, and drove to Cedar City UT. Extreme leg pain the whole way. I'm surprised they didn't haul me out of Hoover Dam on a stretcher. Getting into the hotel was a nightmare.

I took 10 mg of this trip stuff Friday night. I'm slowly increasing dose and now up to 30 mg. Either this is a miracle drug or my pain issue went away for a while. I don't know. Last Thursday I couldn't walk 20 feet without doubling over in pain. Today - one of my walks was a little less than 2 miles in Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah. I haven't had pain since last Thursday. Keeping fingers crossed...

I can't hide it from work anymore but I did make up some mumbo-jumbo about possible causes so they still don't know I have MS. My job hasn't changed and I'm still one of the shuttle mission managers (next flight is mine).

I don't know if I'm in remission or if this stupid drug is actually working. I would suggest to anyone having debilitating nerve pain not to wait as long as I did to try to fix it, but on the flip side of the coin - I started seeing neuro's 2 years ago for this pain and all, until the last one, blew me off. I'm sure this is no surprise to alot of people here...

Sorry so long.

Monument Valley, Glenn Canyon tomorrow. North rim of grand canyon Saturday. Been thru Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands. Capital Reef, Fishlake, Dixie, Cedar Breaks, etc this week. Guess we wanted to see Utah this year...

So - do y'all know why I haven't been posting here lately?

Tom