I have a question. I went to my MS doctor today and he noted I am starting to have balance problems.



I can not walk heel to toe any more and a few other things. He is changing my antidepressant to Prozac and sending me to physical therapy.



I am to go back in two months. If I had not improved then he is going to assume it is the MS and add another MS medication along with the Avonex.



He said he wants to make sure it is not stress causing me to have more trouble. The PT is to help me more with functioning at home.



I can not go up on my toes to reach things. The steps are becoming more of a problem for me.



I fell while coming down the steps over a week ago. I fell backwards so it was not an awful fall but it did hurt and left me bruised. I am 45 and not obese.



I assume someone my age and size should not be having these types of issues. Especially considering I used to be very physically active and strong.



He did the scratching the bottom of my foot test several times. My left toes bend down. My right toes flare out while my big toe stays generally unresponsive.



He double my Trileptal and added a medication for spasticity because of awful leg cramping in the morning.



Any ideas?



LA

i'm sorry you're having these problems.

i know stress can do a major number on someone but i just don't buy "stress" as an answer to a physical problem, especially when you've been dx'd with MS. and your problems sound very neurological to me.

have you had a recent MRI? did it show any increase in lesions? or active disease, enhanced lesions?

you might get a copy of your dr's dictation from your visit.
i wonder what the neurological exam showed. he would have to address that in his notes.

you might also want to Q whether the avonex is working for you.
sometimes changing to something else works.

however, I'M NOT A DR. i assume your dr would know what's best.
write down your Q's so you can ask him for your next visit.
also, you might want to keep a sx journal (symptom). write down the date and any sx's you have. it can help the dr with a medical timeline.

i hope the PT helps.
keep us posted please.

Thank you! I was starting to think I had such a bizarre situation that know one knew what to say.

I am concerned about the stress issue too. My level of stress has actually decreased here these past few weeks. I have been busy but 4 of my 5 children are in school. I actually have 3 hours a week with no children!

Of course I do understand my doctor wanting to make sure he has tried other things before he adds another medication to my growing little pharmacy.

He is only giving me two months to see if this works. I do wonder about the Avonex myself. My last MRI was in February. He didn't say anything about another MRI this time.

I have already had two this year so I am wondering if my insurance would even cover it again.

Thanks!

LA

Hello..

I have had many problems with my MS and about 90% either went away or lessened greatly. The balance problem gradually improved but only on level ground.

I tried adding "stuff" to my Avonex about 10 years ago when I had some severe increase in symptoms which was found to be because of a new enhancing lesion on my Brain Stem!!!

I went to John's Hopkins Hospital and they decided that I could add some low dose METHOTREXATE 2.5 mg three times a day. It is LOW dose of a chemotherapy drug. This stuff really lowers key factors of the immune system.

It turned out to be a disaster. I was taking a few supplements like B12 & Folic Acid with this stuff but when the METHOTREXATE treatment was combined with the Avonex treatment it gave me pneumonia in 5 weeks.

After recovering I found out what elements it lowered and found in PubMed (NIH-NLM) that many common supplements do the same thing to a lesser extent. I also discovered that certain substances elevated in MS folks inactivates AVONEX and that some of these same supplements could lower them and make the Avonex(any Intereron-Beta) fully effective.

This posting of mine on another board "MS refugees" Titled "Maximizing INTERFERON-Beta effectiveness" greatly elaborates on this and also contains a lot of good for MS Supplements/Vitamins info.

http://www.msrefugees.proboards82.co...ay&thread=3770

THIS IS A 3-(THREE) PAGE posting you must type next page number into the box at left bottom corner.

Good luck.


jackD