Starman
Adventurer
Back in November 2006, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I had been getting numbness off and on for a few months on the right side of my body. Sometimes it was just my hand. Sometimes it was my entire arm and leg. I knew it was something neurological, but put off going to the doctor until my mom saw me stumble a few times and insisted I go. I was luckier than most with MS in that my doctor diagnosed it rather quickly after hearing my symptoms and looking at the MRI he ordered for me.
I also lucked out in that the neurologist I was referred to was the local coordinator for a large scale study being done that is testing to see whether or not two proven MS drugs work better together than separately. It is a three-year study and the meds and brain scans are all free for the duration. It is a blind study but I am guaranteed to be getting at least one real drug. There are three groups, one getting both, and two getting one drug and a placebo.
I have had two minor exacerbations of my symptoms since my diagnosis, but for the most part, I have no day-to-day difficulties. I do struggle with fatigue which I take Provigil for. I also tend to get cold much more easily than I ever did. I don't have any physical debilitations, yet, so I am grateful for that.
I got more great news last week when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, another autoimmune disease. I had lost 25 pounds or so over the previous month, was urinating constantly, very thirsty all of the time and much more tired than usual. The day I went in to see my doctor, my blood sugar was 849, just slightly higher than normal. One of the nurses told me that they couldn't believe I was still up and walking around. My doctor wanted to hospitalize me until it was under control and I saw the diabetes educator, but that really wasn't an option as I live with my mother to help take care of her. So, he gave me a bunch of syringes and a bottle of insulin, told me how much I needed to take and when and I was on my way.
Since then I've met with the educator and been learning about all of the little lifestyle changes I have to make to stay healthy now. It can certainly be managed. In fact, most of the time it's going to be more of an annoyance than anything else. For instance, I happen to have a bit of a sweat tooth and now I can't just eat half a bag of candy whenever I feel like it. Honestly, though, I have to say that my mood is pretty good about both diseases. There's nothing I can do about it, so I just have to live with it. In fact, it's kind of funny when I'm telling someone about it and they say something like, "You're smiling and happy. If that happened to me, I'd be depressed." I could get that way, I suppose, but there's not much point. Not that I don't have moments of feeling down, but those happen to everyone. I am a happy person.
Anyway, enough rambling about me. Who else out there has an autoimmune disease and wants to share their story?
I also lucked out in that the neurologist I was referred to was the local coordinator for a large scale study being done that is testing to see whether or not two proven MS drugs work better together than separately. It is a three-year study and the meds and brain scans are all free for the duration. It is a blind study but I am guaranteed to be getting at least one real drug. There are three groups, one getting both, and two getting one drug and a placebo.
I have had two minor exacerbations of my symptoms since my diagnosis, but for the most part, I have no day-to-day difficulties. I do struggle with fatigue which I take Provigil for. I also tend to get cold much more easily than I ever did. I don't have any physical debilitations, yet, so I am grateful for that.
I got more great news last week when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, another autoimmune disease. I had lost 25 pounds or so over the previous month, was urinating constantly, very thirsty all of the time and much more tired than usual. The day I went in to see my doctor, my blood sugar was 849, just slightly higher than normal. One of the nurses told me that they couldn't believe I was still up and walking around. My doctor wanted to hospitalize me until it was under control and I saw the diabetes educator, but that really wasn't an option as I live with my mother to help take care of her. So, he gave me a bunch of syringes and a bottle of insulin, told me how much I needed to take and when and I was on my way.
Since then I've met with the educator and been learning about all of the little lifestyle changes I have to make to stay healthy now. It can certainly be managed. In fact, most of the time it's going to be more of an annoyance than anything else. For instance, I happen to have a bit of a sweat tooth and now I can't just eat half a bag of candy whenever I feel like it. Honestly, though, I have to say that my mood is pretty good about both diseases. There's nothing I can do about it, so I just have to live with it. In fact, it's kind of funny when I'm telling someone about it and they say something like, "You're smiling and happy. If that happened to me, I'd be depressed." I could get that way, I suppose, but there's not much point. Not that I don't have moments of feeling down, but those happen to everyone. I am a happy person.
Anyway, enough rambling about me. Who else out there has an autoimmune disease and wants to share their story?
