Well. This is one of those total burnout periods for me. My mother is taking Chemo for lymphoma and she keeps on having to go into the hospital with infections. She only had one long stay, the others were just to investigate whether hospitalization is required. She keeps on coming up with these very depressing intenet statistics for transformed Lymphomas.

My good friend Michael, who I pretty much consider to be familly by now, has very advanced MS. He has had two bouts of pneumonia in the last two weeks, and he's losing the strength in his arm, the only appendage that is not totally paralyzed. And, he really seems uncomfortable with breathing problems a lot of the time.

My health seems quite good, but they have me running around, sending me back to the god-aweful MS clinic and all because I have no lesions on my MRI after 6 and 1/2 years. They say it's clinically definite, but having complete resolution on MRI is more often seen in multiphasic disseminated encephalomyelitis than in MS. They really seem to think that it IS MS, but I half to do all kinds of crap to keep on my darn meds. I wouldn't mind if that were the only thing I had to deal with these days. If I end up quitting the meds it won't be because I don't have MS, it'll be because I am too damn burned out.

Hi Matt, I just posted a reply to you on the Welcome thread but I wanted to let you know how sorry I am that you and people dear to you are going through so much. Little wonder you're feeling burned out.

I also wanted to say that since you're doing a lot better, if I were you I would fight with everything I had to stay on your meds!!

Thanks, Teddy. Boy I sure wish they were more open to trying people with unclear diagnoses on meds. Have they even tried you on solumedrol? If you've been progressing lately, I would think it would be worth a try...and it doesn't require a definite diagnosis.

Thank you so much for your responses.

Matt

Hi Matt . . . nice to see you here!

Sorry to hear your mom and Michael are having such a hard time right now. I went through something similar a few years ago with my mom and BIL, and it definitely wears you down emotionally and physically.

Well, perhaps the Beta is doing the job for you, and that's the real reason for no active lesions . . .? Isn't that what we take the drugs for anyway, to hopefully reduce inflammation?

If you can just continue with B, and otherwise try to ignore your health concerns at the moment, that might be the best thing with everything else going on right now.

Take care,

Cherie

Thanks Cherie,

Yeah, I'll stay on the Beta if it doesn't take too much doing. It's probably why my MRIs are clear after so long. I don't really dwell on my own MS these days because I'm doing so well.

Matt

Hi Matt, I really hope things start looking up for you soon.

In answer to your question, I've had two rounds of IVSM but because of the undiagnosis, my neuro won't treat me with anything unless, I think, something really drastic happens. The IVSM did definitely help, although didn't take me back to full functioning.

Again, I'm so glad you're doing well enough that your own health isn't complicating things for you, when you've got enough to cope with as it is.

Thank you so much, Teddy.