Well, went to the neurologist and surprise surprise, I did not see the one that I was scheduled with. Basically I had a medical student examine me, then I saw another Neurologist, who I actually really liked. Anyway that's neither here nor there. In the end, I still have MS, no changes to medications at this time and see ya back in 3 months.
Okay, more of the information highway about Multiple Sclerosis.
Let's talk medications. There are a plethera of medications to manage symptoms and some that claim to "slow" the progress of the disease. The links provided on this blog can lead you to specific information, so I will just tell you about some of the medications I take.
For the type of MS I have, RRMS, there are disease modifying drugs. There are, I believe 6 different types, 5 of which are in the same classification as interferons. I take the odd one out. I take a medication that is called Copaxone. It is a shot I give myself nightly, and actually my husband does most of it, God Bless him. From what I understand, this medication is supposed to work on the response of cells we carry in our bodies called killer T-cells, supposedly allowing the suppression of an overactive immune system. This is based on the theory that MS is caused by an immune mediated response in our bodies (who knows) and by inhibiting our body from attacking the nervous system, it would ultimately slow down the progression of the disease. Let me reiterate that this is just my very basic knowledge and it is not meant to be anything other than my understanding.
Then there are my symptom management medications.
I take a medication called Amantadine for the chronic fatigue that MS can cause, somewhere around 50% of people with MS feel an overwhelming fatigue during the course of their disease. Amantadine's effectiveness on fatigue was found as a "side effect" of the original intent for this medication. It was originally intended as a flu medication when it was found to reduce fatigue. I am yet undecided if it actually works or not.
MS pain is different from "regular" pain because there is no real source for the pain. It's a short circuit in the nerve impulse that perceives pain where there is no visible injury, so conventional pain medication is not really very effective. I take a medication called Elavil for chronic pain in my left leg. medication is actually an anti-depressant when taken in high doses, but is used for pain in the smaller dose range. Now I just started this medication 2 weeks ago and it supposed to take up to a month to show an signs that it is working, so the jury is still out on this one. I was taking Cymbalta for the pain and it really helped except for the unfortunate fact that it was affecting my liver (Bummer to this).
Another medication I take is for the painful spasms that I get. This medication is called Baclofen. Just think of having a charley horse all the time and that is what MS spasms feel like, at least in my version. This medication helps prevent those spasms from happening. This one has been really helpful for my pain. I notice a big difference on the days I don't take it.
Now when I went to the Neurologist today, he wanted to talk about my bladder and putting me on something for that too. I am like what????? more medication... I am a walking pharmacy already. But we decided to hold off on anything until I see the Urologist in 2 weeks.
Phew, that was way too much information I think. I will have to end this post on that note.
"There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread." ......Mother Theresa
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