About 8 years ago, I found out I was diabetic. In the course of having all kinds of tests for that, I also found out I have Multiple Sclerosis. That was kind of like a double whammy that year.
The doctors I went to for the MS were "baffled" (their word) about the number of lesions on my brain, spine, etc., and my lack of symptoms. In reality, I think I have had symptoms for years and just over-compensated for them to mask them.
Now I have come to think of MS symptoms flaring up as "having an MS day." They come a lot more frequently now-a-days than they used to.
For those who know nothing about MS, there are many excellent websites that can educate you to the disease. The talk show guy, Montel Williams, has also written a book about having the disease.
My main symptoms are these:
1. vision problems
2. extreme fatigue
3. muscle stiffness
4. numbness
5. poor balance
7. tingling
8. depression
9. a burning sensation in my left hand (it feels like it is on fire)
These are the main ones, but on "MS days", it is hard to get out of bed and go to work teaching my special education kids. My students are sweet though...they accept and love me no matter how I feel and act.
The medication I take for my MS is avonex, and two of the side effects of it are suicidal thoughts and the feeling that you have the flu! Sometimes it is hard for me to imagine a medication that costs $6000 for a 3 month supply (thank God for good insurance!)having side effects like that! But my rage against the drug companies is for another blog entry.
Now I am going out to sit in the sunshine for a bit and decide if I want to post more. Being a private person, this was hard enough to write.
Later,
Vicki
The doctors I went to for the MS were "baffled" (their word) about the number of lesions on my brain, spine, etc., and my lack of symptoms. In reality, I think I have had symptoms for years and just over-compensated for them to mask them.
Now I have come to think of MS symptoms flaring up as "having an MS day." They come a lot more frequently now-a-days than they used to.
For those who know nothing about MS, there are many excellent websites that can educate you to the disease. The talk show guy, Montel Williams, has also written a book about having the disease.
My main symptoms are these:
1. vision problems
2. extreme fatigue
3. muscle stiffness
4. numbness
5. poor balance
7. tingling
8. depression
9. a burning sensation in my left hand (it feels like it is on fire)
These are the main ones, but on "MS days", it is hard to get out of bed and go to work teaching my special education kids. My students are sweet though...they accept and love me no matter how I feel and act.
The medication I take for my MS is avonex, and two of the side effects of it are suicidal thoughts and the feeling that you have the flu! Sometimes it is hard for me to imagine a medication that costs $6000 for a 3 month supply (thank God for good insurance!)having side effects like that! But my rage against the drug companies is for another blog entry.
Now I am going out to sit in the sunshine for a bit and decide if I want to post more. Being a private person, this was hard enough to write.
Later,
Vicki
