Hi all! my name is clark and i was diagnosed from a brain mri in august. i cannot walk without a walker except for very short distances and it looks like im blitzed drunk, cannot drive either as my right leg is very difficult to lift even a little bit unless im fully rested. i am trying to get an appt with barrow neruological's ms clinic in phoenix, to start getting treated asap. right now i'm only getting some pain meds and gabapentin and they dont do much except knock me out...

i'm very worried that i will never walk normally again, i see people talk of remission and i'm wondering if you may have had a similar problem to mine (its like my thigh is asleep), and fullt recovered for periods of tiem. its very frustrating to not be able to drive, or even to take a bus, and cabs are very expensive.

is there anything i can be doing to help my condition until i can get on avionex or whatever they decide? i am eating a good diet with veggies and protein every day, (i'm also diabetic).

does anyone else have any problems getting pain meds? my clinic dr wouldnt give me anything, she said i had to see my phys therapy dr. i am on oxycodone 5-325, and sometimes i have to take a second pill if after an hour the first one has no effect (i'm near 400 lbs so it may take higher dosage to work for me, not sure how these pills work). so anyway my phys therapy dr only gives me 60 pills with instructions to take up to 6/day and expects them to last me 3-4 weeks, and i feel like a junkie if i ask for more :/

anyway ty in advance, it looks like there is some good info at this forum adn i will be doing lots of reading

Welcome back Sunflour, it's good to "see" you. Please join in here on the board too -- quite a few of us can't "chat" anymore.

Welcome Clark! Nice to meet you, but sorry it's here on the MS board. It sounds like you're having a flare (relapse) and is probably why you were diagnosed. I'm not sure if anyone can prescribe IVSM (steroid infusion -- solumedrol) until your appointment with the neuro, but that's the usual course of action. Sometimes Prednisone is given also. These usually help to end the relapse and send your MS back into remission. Did you have many symptoms before this exacerbation?

Hope you get some help soon and find what course works best for you. Take care!

Welcome to NeuroTalk, Clark. I'm so sorry for your suffering right now. I hope your exacerbation ends and you feel better soon.

Please come join us.

Hiya Clark. Pull up a chair and squat a while. We would love to hear your story.

hugs to all the new wee ones, come on in!

Hi sunflour and welcome back. I wasn't on here ten years ago but I wish to welcome you back to our friendly neighborhood. I am sorry to here you got tagged with another DX, Lupus. I have a few dx's myself, autoimmune stuff. Not fun, but I'm glad to meet you.

Hi Clark, Welcome! I'm glad you found us. Yes you do sound like you are in a relapse. Call you Neuro and see what he thinks. Maybe you need to start with IVSM (IV steroids) before going on Avonex or one of the other DMD's.

The DMD's won't help you to get out of a relapse, just considered long term therapy. Good luck and I hope you feel better. I get bad and then good again, it's the nature of the beast. (MS). Nice to meet you.

Hi everyone,

I am just seeing this site for the first time today. It seems like there are heaps of information and support to be found here.

Maire
DX probable MS because of my abnormal MRI and negative LP.

Welcome to NeuroTalk, Maire. Nice to meet you. Come on in and join your new family..

Hi, I was diagnosed with MS in January 1998. I didn't start medication until after my second child was born. Started Avonex in 1999. Took that for about 6 years until I had a big attack and my neuro switched me to Rebif. I have been on that for the past 5 years. I have to admit that I wasn't the best at taking the shots three times a week. I recently had a bad MRI and now my neuro wants me to swith to either copaxone, Tysabri, or gilenia. I know I can't do copaxone. If I was not good about 3 times a week I'm sure I would be a nightmare if I had to take a shot every day. I am so torn between the T and G. I would like to take the G but am worried because it just came out and because of risk of infection. Have been trying to research my options and came across this board. If anyone has any input I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Lisa

thank you judy and sally! the only thing that i ever noticed before was about a year ago, i noticed i it was hard to lift my leg like when i was getting into a car. at the time, i thought it just had to do with my weight. that and a constant headache for the last year, which i'm not sure if i would feel a headache from the lesions forming or anything...

right now, my numbness and tingling is spreading to my left side, about a month ago there was a clear line down the middle of my chest, now its the whole thing. and my left leg is the same, from knee area down. its taking so long to get treated for this i'm scared i will be like this forever!

i ran out of pain medication yesterday, and have been in terrible pain all day. on the plus side, i restarted some physical therapy, i dont know if it will help the ms, but this whole thing pretty much started when i fell and hurt my ankle and damaged my right ulnar nerve, then about 5 weeks later the ms made itself apparent...

btw, my lumbar puncture was the worst thing i ever voluntarily let someone do to me. i pray i never have to do that procedure again. he was hitting my nerves like crazy, i was screaming...