News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis
Oops! I took a turn too fast in the parking lot of my condo the other morning and tipped to the left. And with that, my mobility scooter and I headed for a fall. Do you know the feeling when something bad is about to happen and there’s nothing you can do to stop it? I had that feeling. Five seconds seemed like 50 as the 325-pound scooter began to…Continue Reading
Biogen has been a top dog in the multiple sclerosis treatment field for decades. The pharmaceutical giant developed Avonex (interferon beta-1a), approved in the U.S. in 1996 as one of the first disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for MS. I remember how excited I was to be participating in its Phase 3 clinical trial. “Finally, there’s a medication that might stop my MS,” I thought. MS medications, such as Avonex, have long…Continue Reading
Many people with multiple sclerosis have experienced a urinary tract infection (UTI) at some point. It’s a common problem with MS and can be caused by a number of things, such as the inability to fully empty the bladder or the need to self-catheterize. Symptoms can include urinary frequency and urgency, a burning pain while urinating, abdominal pain, and foul-smelling urine that looks milky or cloudy. Urinary tract infections can…Continue Reading
Is treating multiple sclerosis only about being treated with a medication? At least one neurologist thinks so, and probably more. The other day, posting in an MS Facebook group, a woman named Debbie wrote about her first visit with a new neurologist: “He asked if I was on a DMD [disease-modifying therapy] and I told him not anymore. I’ve had bad experiences. He told me that he wouldn’t treat me…Continue Reading
Have you ever heard of an ABLE savings account? I hadn’t until a couple weeks ago. The acronym stands for the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, a law passed by the U.S. Congress in 2014. It created special savings accounts that allow disabled Americans, including people with multiple sclerosis, to save money without jeopardizing their public benefits such as Medicare, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and food stamps. People in…Continue Reading
“I was told I’m in a flare-up,” a newly diagnosed person with multiple sclerosis wrote to a Facebook group the other day. She said the flare-up had been going on “for a while now” and wondered when she could expect it to calm down. After I calmed down from the thought of an MS newbie not knowing the basics of what an MS flair is all about, I realized that…Continue Reading
My condo was hit by Hurricane Ian in October. Less than a month later, it was hit again by Tropical Storm Nicole. I have a dog whose bark is shattering and a cat who likes to bite. The car dealer can’t find the title for the minivan I’m leasing, and about two weeks ago, someone scratched the side of it while it was parked — a hit-and-run. Oh, and Christmas…Continue Reading
I was amazed when I read a comment from one of my “MS Wire” readers recently about brain shrinkage. “I’ve had MS since 2011. I had no idea about brain shrinkage,” she wrote. But I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. A survey taken in 2018 by the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America reported that, of the 1,337 people affected by MS who responded, only 20% considered themselves to be…Continue Reading
What’s in a name? Does it really matter if your MS is called relapsing or progressive, or secondary rather than primary? I’ve never thought so, and it seems as if the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in MS agrees with me. In recommendations published in The Lancet Neurology, the panel calls for new methods to classify MS — methods that reflect the disease’s underlying biology, rather than differences in…Continue Reading
For the past few years, the company that brings us everything from books to basketballs has been experimenting with bringing us Amazon healthcare. In 2018, the company launched a project called Haven in partnership with a pair of financial giants, with the goal of providing healthcare services to over a million employees. The idea behind the project was “to make primary care easier to access, insurance benefits simpler to understand…Continue Reading