Hi and welcome!

After the initial shock wore off I was totally ****** and actually still am at times. Oh well it keeps me determined to move forward as long as I can.

Hang in there.

All of you! Thank you! I am so glad I found this site. I have spent all weekend explaining to friends and family what this disease is (or what I know of it) and researching and comforting them! I get Dx'd with this and somehow I am the one comforting my mom and my sister and I finally cut my phone off this morning. My mom did point out I am moving out of my grief stage.

Funny story, so I thought I would share. After the dog bashed my eye with her face last night and split my eyelid open (see, these kind of things can only happen to me!) I woke up in a grateful mood that my eye hurt worse than my back so see MS is not that bad. LOL I headed to the store and bought everything I needed to make my mom's chipped beef and gravy. She calls me while I am cooking and points out I am getting over being depressed. I had a lot of depression issues growing up and it seems every time I would start coming out of my funk I would make the same breakfast. Which is funny because I never thought about it and I NEVER eat breakfast. So I guess the cloud is lifting (not that I can see it clearly out of my black eye).

And again thank you guys so much for being here it sucks we are all here for the reasons we are but it is great not having to go through this alone!

For lighter reading check out our off topic forum Stumble Inn. It is where we get silly, share stories and basically solve all the worlds problems over coffee, lol.

Hi and welcome to NT. I'm so sorry you have to deal with this cruddy diagnosis. It certainly is a shock in the beginning. But this is a great supportive group of people. I was diagnosed 14 months ago and the people on here have helped through some difficult times. The first year will be rough but just know that you will eventually find yourself back on more solid ground.

I would highly recommend this book for someone newly diagnosed. It is easy to read and will answer many of the questions you have about symptoms, choice of medication, and the emotions surrounding this disease, particularly in the beginning stages.

Margaret Blackstone, The First Year-Multiple Sclerosis: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed

Take care of yourself!

Welcome to NT! I am a Bifer!

Hi Legzz!!! Welcome to NT! Sorry you are here for this reason but you will find these people here will become your saving grace! Especially when you are depressed. No one understands what you are going through better than these people. They have become my extended family!

Make sure you take care of yourself and LISTEN to your body (easier said than done) If you are stressed or taking on too much, your body will tell you.

I also take Rebif. I switched from Avonex. I like it because I can autoinject. That has saved me. I take the shot at night so if I do get any side effects they will happen while I sleep. I do take an Aleve with the shot so it will help with any "flu like" symptoms I get.

Good luck! Let us know if you have any questions or need to vent!

Hi and welcome! Sorry I'm late to the thread, but you've got a ton of advice. Glad you found us.

Yep, stress can make things worse for us. I was also wondering if you had any balance issues. I know that my back and hips hurt for awhile from the compensation I was doing for my wacky legs and PT helped a little with it.

There's a lot of great info out there. I have the book previously mentioned by Natalie and I have "Multiple Sclerosis for Dummies". Both of those helped a lot. The NMSS also has a lot of good info on their site.

Hi legz! Welcome to the site!

Not much more to add. The first year is a torrent of emotions. Things typically settle down after a while.

I've had MS for a while. I watched all the trials for beta 1a (rebif, avonex), beta 1b (betaseron), and COPII (copaxone). There was nothing approved when I was dx'ed so it wasn't a decision I had to make.

There is a possibility ya won't have too much of a problem with MS. Just warning ya. You might just still be doing everything ya do now in 20 years. This includes, unfortunately, working and paying taxes.

Tom

Hello legz and another welcome to NeuoTalk here. Sorry to hear about your dx, but as you can see, this place is incredibly supportive. Please know that you are among people who really understand and care.

Welcome! I think you are going to be fine! Just keep your great outlook and pay attention to what your body tells you.