The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Category: Living with MS

Overdosing on Vitamin D Supplements? It’s possible.

vitamin d

Many people with multiple sclerosis use vitamin D supplements. I’ve been popping a 2,000 IU tablet of vitamin D3 each morning for many years. And with good reason. Studies show that having an adequate blood level of vitamin D may lower a person’s risk of developing MS. Research also indicates the vitamin may reduce the severity of MS symptoms and lengthen the time that it takes to move from relapsing…Continue Reading

Walking is Easy When I’m Dreaming

walking is easy

When asleep, many people dream they can fly. Some dream about being naked in public, failing an exam, or (gasp!) about sex. The other night I dreamed that I was walking. I have that walking dream a couple of times a year. I’m walking along and all of a sudden I realize that I’ve left my two canes behind. My short dream a few nights ago, however, was better than…Continue Reading

Marijuana May Complicate Surgery

marijuana complicate surgery

If you’re using marijuana and have surgery scheduled, take heed. In Colorado, where medical marijuana was legalized in 2000 and recreational use was okayed in 2012, medical personnel are discovering that marijuana may complicate that surgery. The concern, according to an article in Kaiser Health News, is that marijuana use may “affect patients’ responses to anesthesia on the operating table” and “either help or hinder their symptoms afterward in the…Continue Reading

Why I Write The MS Wire

Write The MS Wire

I’ve been writing The MS Wire for about three years now and it isn’t always easy to come up with fresh subjects. The other night my “idea well” was bone dry but then I came across something that primed the pump. In a private social media group for patient advocates, someone asked, “How do you keep a positive attitude with advocacy when dealing with chronically ill people? My main advocacy is…Continue Reading

This is My MS

My MS thoughts

Have you ever read something and thought, “This is me, this is my MS?” It happened to me the other day as I read a post by Rachel Horne on the BartsMS blog. Horne writes about how some of us adapt to our MS diagnosis better, or at least differently, than others. She says that “some people with MS manage to adapt and even thrive despite all the disease takes…Continue Reading

CBD Oil: Will it Help My MS?

CBD oil

The other night in bed my calf muscles started cramping. Again. Usually, it’s just my left leg, but that night it was both. The pain wouldn’t ease with my usual stretching routine so I reached for my little bottle of cannabidiol (CBD) oil. I’ve been experimenting with CBD oil on and off for a few months. I rub it into my left calf muscle before bed and on many nights…Continue Reading

Lego Therapy Might Help MS Symptoms

Lego therapy

Legos, it seems, are more than just a kids’ toy. People with some neurological conditions, including MS, are using those little, colored building blocks to build better lives for themselves. It’s Lego therapy. An article in the latest issue of Brain & Life uses Kathleen Jordan as one example. Jordan, who has MS, bought a big bag of Legos for her granddaughter. But she began to play with them herself.…Continue Reading

Time to Get Your Disability Ready for a Disaster

Storm satellite image

BULLETIN Potential Tropical Cyclone Two Advisory Number 2 NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL022019 400 PM CDT Wed Jul 10 2019 …HURRICANE WATCH ISSUED FOR PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN COAST OF LOUISIANA… …HEAVY RAINS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE CENTRAL GULF COAST… With a serious storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast I’m re-publishing a post which I wrote a year ago.  Hurricane season began…Continue Reading

Reading Your Doctors Notes Might Help Your Health

doctor notes

I’ve been living with MS for nearly 39 years and I’ve never read the doctors notes my neurologist has written during my office visits. She did hand me a thick folder of notes several years ago with material dating back to my diagnosis in 1980. But, I filed it away and when my wife and I downsized a few years ago I shredded it. I wish I hadn’t because, after…Continue Reading

Making a Solid Case for Using a Mobility Aid

Mobiliy aid

I’ve used an electric scooter for nearly 20 years. At first, I only used it when I knew I’d be walking a lot. Now, it’s every day. I used a cane for several years before the scooter. I resisted using both, however, and I’ll bet that many of you who are reading this are putting up your own stiff fight right now. I’ve tried to sell the benefits of mobility…Continue Reading