Swanking since the beginning of the year - PERFECTLY. I've lost 50 pounds. I have not cheated one time all year.

Copaxone since early in the year. PERFECTLY. Maybe I've missed one shot. Maybe.

Result? I'm officially in a relapse and about to go on IV steroids.

To hell with it all. I swear I want to go out and bury my face in all you can eat BBQ right now after 6 months of perfect healthy eating.

This disease makes no @%$#ing sense. I've done everything I can possibly do since the diagnosis last year. Everything. And here I am again.

I hear ya Yeti and empathize.
I say order yourself a big Barby dinner and enjoy!!

Feel better soon and congrats on the big weight loss.

yeti,

You could do everything right (exercise, healthy eating, weight loss, medications, ect.) and still have relapses and progression. That's simply MS.

Nothing about MS makes sense and there is no "right" or "wrong" in what you do or don't do.

This disease is in control. Any control someone might think they have is just an illusion.

Make lifestyle changes because it makes you feel better about you not in the hopes that you can control what this disease might or might not do.

I understood going into this that the DMDs were, at best, barely effective and the evidence for Swank was inconclusive. I am still not making these lifestyle changes to feel better about myself. I am making these changes to fight this stupid disease even if its an impossible fight.

It's common for us MS'ers to need IVSM in winter ("Christmas Steroids") and in the summer.

The first is due to the stress and the second to the heat. Of course, you can have an episode for no reason in particular.

Hoping that you will feel better soon and congrats on the weight loss.
ANN

I have stuck with Swank for this reason: my symptoms over more than 25 years always got worse if I got off it, and quickly. This does not mean that I got rid of symptoms entirely. No, I just improved while on Swank.

At this time in my life, many years later, I am seeing Swank diet not help as much. My neuropathy is awful tonight, pain down my leg. I just keep fighting but one never completely wins.
I'm sorry you have to take IV steroids. I can't tolerate them, go balmy on them.

Dr. Swank himself thought there needed to be a further treatment, and it involved giving transfusions from close friends or relatives who had the same blood type. He found that this helped patients dramatically. But it was really only practical for someone who lived in Portland where he was. It would have been too great an effort for both my husband and I to make the trip (we were the same blood type). My husband was working, even though I was on disability then. The reason Swank wanted close friends or relatives for the donor was to cut down on possibility of disease. I know he was right about that, because I did get Hepatitis B from the only transfusion I ever had, which I had for anemia. I could not take iron, ever, which was probably because I also had undiagnosed Porphyria.
Dr. Swank sent my blood and others' blood to England, where research conditions for his odd ideas were easier, but finally he got very old and retired and did not complete the blood work. He thought something was missing in MS blood. I did have something missing in MY blood, ha-ha, I had only 50% of one of the enzymes in the porphyrin synthesis pathway. I would have been sure to tell him about this if he and I were still in contact...but he did live to be very old and retired. He followed his own diet and he said that was why he lived so long. What a great man. He sowed some seeds which may someday pay off.

I guess the thing that always plays on my mind - and the one thing that we will NEVER know, is where we would be if we weren't taking the steps that we take. It might be exactly the same as it is now if you had done nothing - or you may be in a significantly worse place.

Congratulations on your weight loss though - that has to make getting around easier than it would have been.

Still, I agree with others - you do deserve a little treat. You may have lost this battle, but you may yet win the war.

Hugs

Thanks everyone.

Where would I be if I wasn't doing the Swank/Copaxone? I have no idea. While I'm not in a great spot right now, this isn't the worst attack I've had (or even close). Maybe it is helping. Maybe it isn't doing jack. I don't know. There's no way to know. I think that's the part that's just really, really getting to me this time.

As I said, and it's reinforced by everyone's comments - we don't know what we don't know and that stinks. So sorry that you are so down - makes you wonder why nasty, horrible, despicable people who deserve this disease don't get it, instead of caring, intelligent, warm and lovely people!!!!!

Stupid disease!

I'm just ticked off, frustrated, and venting. Although I've had lots of attacks, this is my first one where I've known it was MS going into the attack. I guess I'm thinking about it differently than when I didn't know what the problem was.

And as much as I really dislike some people, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.