Multiple Sclerosis-Sol-medrol-Part7

Hi!
I want to tell you That when I got my MRI and all the other test that is when I knew for sure I had MS. They could not tell years ago if you really had MS. Until they found they could see it on the a MRI. So that was all about the time I was diagnosed 15 years ago. I was so lucky to find the right hospital and doctor and the right technology was available for me. And you are lucky because they have learned allot since then.
One medicine they gave me when I was very bad and other things were not working was Solu-Medrol. This helped me so much, after receiving it I thought like one more dose of that I would feel normal once again. But they can only give you it so much so I never thought I was bad enough to get it again. I am keeping that on the back burner because I may need it more later if I get bad.
The neurologist has ordered the medication methylprednisolone----(Solu-Medrol) for treatment of Multiple sclerosis. Methylprednisolone is a potent anti-inflammatory steroid that may improve your symptoms.
The treatment takes place at the Cleve. Clinic Mellen center each day for 1 to 5 days, depending on your treatment plan. I had it for 3 days and the visiting nurses came to my house and gave it to me intravenous. I live one hour from Cleve. so that is why I got to have it at home. The nurse would come give it to me it took about one hour, for three days.
What can you expect the day of your treatment?
---Plan to be at the Mellen Center for about one hour on the day-s- of your treatment. You may receive blood tests before the treatment to monitor your complete blood count, and sodium and potassium levels.
---The nurse will also check your blood pressure and pulse before and after the treatment.
---The medication is given by intravenous drip for 30 to 45 minutes or injected directly int a vein.
---After the treatment, you can return to your normal daily activities, including driving.
---Following the intravenous treatments, you will be asked to take an oral form of a steroid called prednisone. your nurse will give you a written schedule of when and how often to take the medication.
---You may also be given a prescription for a medication to reduce stomach irritation.

What are some possible side effects?

---Stomach irritation such as indigestion and heartburn
---Increased energy, which may result in difficulty sleeping.
---Rapid heartbeat
---Flushing of the face, neck or chest
---Retaining fluid (Avoid table salt and salty foods.)
---Mood changes (euphoria, irritability, nervousness, restlessness)
---Metallic taste in the mouth
---Stretch marks, especially with weight gain

Remember I only had a few of the side effects and I was only on it for 3 days and it helped so much.
Don't let it scare you!!

Insurance coverage USUALLY covers this Cleve. will get it for you if you need it I'm sure.???

Multiple Sclerosis Betaseron and MRI PART 6

Well I hope I may be helping some one who is reading my blog. I will talk about betaseron which was the first drug shot that I took. I talked about it in my last blog. I was lucky to take it and be aloud to take this drug .
To date more than 70,000 people worldwide have been treated with Beatseron (Interferon beta-1b) for SC Injection. This MS therapy has been shown to reduce the frequency of Ms exacerbation's and as well as offering other benefits.

Betaseron is injected under the skin every other day and has been shown to be safe in long term clinical studies. Significant side effects including flu like symptoms, menstrual disorders, and injection site reactions (redness, swelling, and blue-black discoloration) have been reported. I put Ice on and take Tylenol if needed. Serious adverse events include depression, suicide, and injection site necrosis which is breakdown of the skin. You need to rotate areas of injection with each dose. This is very important it will get worse if you don't . Remember they have to tell you everything that could possibly happen like any medicine even if it happen only one out of a million people. I am glad that they did not scare me off and I took the medicine and only had a few side affects.

I am going threw pain and hardening of the injection sights right now. I have been taking shots for 15 years. And I NEVER miss a shot. So the are telling me other things to do till the first of Aug. and at that time they will give me an MRI and compare it to the one I had three years ago. So I will tell you what happens in Aug.

Most of the side effects associated with Betaseron use can be managed easily. Flu-like symptoms (fever, chills muscle aches, sweating) decreased significantly with time on treatment. I had all these symptoms but it was not that bad and I Never missed a shot. I always think about what could happen if I don't take the shot. Go sit at Cleveland Clinic and watch the people that come in during a morning and that is enough to make me take my shot. I have done so good and I am so grateful to the Cleveland Clinic and God.

They will give you many test to rule out everything else that it might be and that is good. That is another reason I am glad I went to the clinic they do this in a short amount of time in just days or a few weeks and they figure out what is wrong with you. Because many problems can have the same symptoms, they rule out Lyme disease, Parkinson's there are allot of them. They are all autoimmune diseases. That is why if you give to a charity like aids, or what ever they help MS. They will check your spinal fluid they can tell if you have MS in some people. Men seem to get it in the spinal fluid. More women have MS than men so I've been told. But it is good they give you all these test so you can hurry up and get diagnosed and don't fool around for months or years using up valuable time that you could be getting the help you need before you get worse.

MRI- Magnetic resonance imaging has proven to be of great value to researchers who want to learn about the efficacy and safety of new MS treatments. It is a safe and painless procedure that is used routinely to provide objective, measurable information about the brain.
MRI is an important addition to evaluation methods also.
MRI is considered a useful way to visualize the changes in brain tissue that may account for some of the typical signs and symptoms of relapsing-remitting MS.
This will help you understand terms related to MRI technology.

Lesion: A patch of inflamed tissue in the central nervous system-also referred to as plaque.
Recurrent lesion: A lesion that appears at the same site at which an earlier lesion had disappeared.
Enlarging lesion: A lesion showing a significant increase in size from a lesion that had previous
seemed to be stable.
Active lesion : Any new or enlarging lesion seen on consecutive unenhanced scans, as well as those seen as enhanced lesions.
Enhanced lesions: Lesions seen with the aid of agents that create more contrast in MR images.
Active scan: Any MRI scan showing a new, recurrent, or enlarging lesion.
Disease activity: Measured by the number of active scans and appearances of new lesions.
Lesion load: The total volume of lesions as measured by MRI

Multiple Sclerosis Part 3

Well I need to tell every one that having MS. is not the end of the world. I think most people who has has known for a long time that there is SOMETHING WRONG and I was so happy to figure it out.

I have to say Cleveland Clinic is the best hospital. They have one whole building that is called the Melen Center. They do research there and they are so nice and so smart. The local doctors do there best but until they figure out what is going on with you PLEASE go to the clinic first. Other doctors see say several hundred patients. The clinic has seen I don't know probably thousands so it makes since they know more. The also get new meds. first like the Bestrewn was an orphan drug, I hope I am saying that right. That means until it has been on the market for a long time they put your name in a lottery and I guess they drew names to see who got to take the drug. But because I was already going to Cleve I got the medicine right away. And that is very important because when you have a new symptom I can't stress enough to get it treated right away. It could mean the difference between walking and crawling or seeing and only seeing lights and Dark's believe me I have seen it happen. Oh yes do go to the eye doctor the are the first to find MS. sometimes. The eye doctor I went to I kept telling her I was seeing a dirty spot like when I would go shopping for clothes the white ones would have a round dirty spot on them. Know wait a minute I told my self all these clothes can't have a the same dirty spot on them. The doctor told me I was describing a floater but she could not find it. Well one of the many test they gave me at the Cleve Clinic was I think it was called an Evoke eye test. You look in the head monitor at a white screen and there are dots and when every tine you see a little white star you push a hand button. Then at the end it shows you all these little dots on a paper well on the paper there are blank plane areas where there is nothing. Well there were stars in those areas but I could not see them. That means that the nerve in the back of your head could not see the light. Well that was my dirty spot I was seeing That was my Ms. You would think a regular eye doctor would know that but they did not. THAT IS WHY YOU GO TO CLEVE CLINIC. But allot of MS. is found in the eyes first. I do know one person who was having trouble seeing was getting blinder more and more. Finally went to Cleveland and yes she had Ms.

Multiple Sclerosis and ME

I was diagnosed with MS 15 years ago and I am doing well. I believe I have had it for the past 40 years or more and nobody was able to diagnosis it.
At 16 I noticed that I was dragging my left leg while trying to ski, and I have been tired ALL my life. Also while I was 16 I had a very severe case of step throat I also had previous cases of scarlatina. I believe that the MS started possibly could have started back when I first got scarlatina when I was in first grade. I know that my entire childhood I was tired, more tired than all my friends.
I was diagnosed at the age of 40 by the Cleveland Clinic to have MS. My symptoms at the time were, High blood pressure, memory problems, weakness on my left side, plus many more.
I have gone through many types of medicine, first with shots of BETASERON this I had to do every other night. I was very fortunate that because I was associated with the Cleveland Clinic doctors, I did not have to be put on the waiting list for the Betaseron and was able to receive it right away. When it first came out the medicine was on a lottery system and not all were able to get it, they were put on the waiting list.