Hi All,
I was dx 32 years ago. I am doing well considering. I've been infused with Tysabri for 14 years.. it's been a G-d send for me.
Linda

My neuro said she would have to consider my age before taking any injections. 74 yrs old

Thanks for mentioning this, poochie! It's nice to know that age is a factor being considered by the neuros.

I gave up on Copaxone about 8 years ago. A couple of times in recent years, a neuro has suggested an injectable or infusible MS drug, and I've always said I'd like to skip it because I'm so old by now that I don't think much is known about how these drugs affect people my age--who do tend to react differently to drugs compared to younger people.

I'm back after several months!

I received a diagnosis of "probable MS" in 1981 and have had few relapses since. I do wonder if there's a connection between aging and MS relapsing, as I've noticed small things that could be just getting older not MS. I also wonder about the connection between stress and MS. The last two years have been a horror show, and things showed up again. I'm doing better now, thank goodness. I have never taken drugs aside from migraine medicine and have decided to ride it out at this stage.

Welcome back, Ann N!

You've brought up two issues that are big questions for me too--the connection between stress and MS, and how to know if problems you're having are due to "just aging" or to MS.

For me there is a very clear problem with stress, especially now that I'm older and have had MS for over 40 years. I find it increasingly hard to tolerate stress, even types of stress that would have rolled off me years ago.

The aging question can be handy in a way. When a symptom or a pain comes along, I tend to chalk it up to aging and shrug and try to work around it or hope it will go away eventually. That way I don't have to worry about whether the MS is getting worse.

The chances are that it's getting worse. That's one thing it's known to do. But I've been lucky so far because it's been very slow about getting worse for me. It's still been a very rocky road but not nearly as rocky as some people have.

I see that I posted in this thread less than a year ago. I should update that information by mentioning that in December 2020 I went back onto Copaxone--this time in the generic form and with a shot only 3 times a week instead of daily. I don't know how helpful it will be for me at this point but I wanted to do what I could.

You have a lot of stress in your life, I'm sure. I hope that you can think of ways to cope so that you can get through the bad times. If you have MS for a while you almost have to find ways of getting around it so it won't act up.

A few of us around here are also "riding it out", myself included. Good luck to you!