1. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/abo...-ms/index.aspx
2. Scientists have long searched for an infectious agent that might trigger MS. While many different viruses have been suggested—including rabies, herpes simplex virus, measles, corona virus, canine distemper virus, HTLV-1, Epstein-Barr virus and others—none has been confirmed. Chlamydia pneumoniae, a bacterial agent, has also been suggested but never proven. Although no trigger has yet been identified, most MS experts believe that some infectious agent is involved in initiating the disease process.

I am Sarah Longlands Wheldon and Cheryl, I can say that my diagnosis was definitely secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. After having been very mild since I was 24, it suddenly turned very aggressive and the Addenbroke's based neurologist warned my husband to "make arrangements" for me. He is a consultant level microbiologist who had trained as a neuropathologist under the renowned David Openheimer at Oxford. He had previously, in his early clinical years, seen people with end-stage MS, abandoned by their families, unable to move, twisted with spasticity, blind, unable to eat except with a tube into the stomach, permanently cathetered and worse. He didn't want to see me having the same fate.

Something about the way I was reacting, though, reminded him of other people he had seen with serious infections. He therefore spent the first few days after my diagnosis searching the internet for possible answers. What he found was the Vanderbilt University research into chlamydia pneumoniae as the infective cause of MS. Having treated other such infections, he knew exactly what I needed to start with,so brought me home a pack of doxycycline.

It is now nearly five years since that diagnosis: the page which Mark was quoting from is a bit out of date. I finished treatment nearly a year ago and I have done nothing but improve since starting. There is no new disease activity on my MRIs and not only am I now painting again after having had a nearly paralysed right arm, but my mind is clearer than t has been for years. I can't say that CPn is always the infective cause of MS but it certainly was with mine and I am truly thankful for my husband of only a few years to endeavour to find this out.



Sarah

I really am not a believer in CPN and MS. I have done some research into this because this same topic came up on another forum. It's very difficult if not almost impossible to find any current studies.

I did find this which suggests there is a sub-type of MS where CPN seems to be the case, it was a small study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...?dopt=Abstract

Sarah, I visited your website for awhile out of curiosity. What concerned me was the mis-information about MS I was reading.

I'm sure you realize your dealing with some of us who were on the other forum and sometimes you and others who believe in the Wheldon Protocol seem to be pushing this past the point of information.

I was looking for that Snoopy! Thank you!

Your Welcome!

Maybe I should have been a little more forth-coming about my non-progression in the Tovaxin trial...but unfortunately, I am not at liberty to discuss the details of the double-blind study that I am in.

That information will be released at the upcoming AAN conference. I am one of the 150 study patients that are doing well on this trial drug.

I love discussions like this....Knowledge is Power!!!

And Thank You Cheryl..Hugs!

Hello SallyC and Av8rgirl!

I hope you ladies are doing well and still remember me from the MSWorld forums.

I was that physician who never tried any conventional medical therapy and was a sort of nuisance there, because my only goal was to tell everybody that Lipitor works miracles in secondary progressive MS(in my case no neurological symptoms after 3 months on atorvastatin, however still far from perfect memory). Now, I don' even use Lipitor any more. I tried to save the world at that time.

I met Sarah Longlands on MSRC in April 2004 when she tried to spread the news about her success. No one believed her, except for me. I was already symptom-free for over a year. As sick as we were at the beginning of treatment it was difficult to decide which one of us was sicker and more hopeless. In June 2004 I decided to trade my daily 80 mg of statin for antibiotics, after all they are so much more liver friendly.

I have been taking antibiotics for over 3 years. I took them continuously for 13 months and now I take them every couple months for two weeks.

At present time my memory is very close to what it was in my youth. Chronic asthma and sinusitis are gone for the past 3 years, and I hope, forever. I passed my recertification exam in medicine last summer and achieved a very high score. Before the treatment my memory was wiped out and I had severe difficulty with concentration.

Memories of MS seem to be like bad dreams now. Sometimes I almost don't believe it really happened. I had been given a second chance in life.

I came here today by Mark Hall's suggestion. Fortunatelly for me, I don't attend any MS forums any more. I consider myself free of MS. I know it is a blasphemy for most people, but it is true for me.

I wrote about it a few times on MSWorld before, but stopped about two years ago. People who seek alternative ways to treat themselves will find all the information via the Internet. I had a patient for the first time in my office asking for the antibiotics for Chlamydia pneumoniae two months after her MS diagnosis.

Most MS patients feel secure with the therapy they receive from their neurologists. I know how easy it was for me to lose the independence. On the other side, it is hard to accomplish and not to share with others.

If only conventional medicine would bring a cure to all MS patients than we would not have to stay separated by any doubts about our credibility.

Barbara.