The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

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Lemtrada: Is this MS Drug HSCT “Lite?”

(This is an updated version of my column that appeared earlier this month on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) My neurologist calls Lemtrada “HSCT lite.”  She says that not only is the drug able to reduce exacerbations and limit the overall progression of Multiple Sclerosis, it’s actually reversed some symptoms in some of her patients.   I guess I’m going to find out if she’s right about Lemtrada because I’m getting ready to start…Continue Reading

Pilates for M.S.?

(This post first appeared as one of my columns on www.multiplesclerosistoday.com) Have you tried Pilates to improve your mobility?  When my wife and I tried it, a few years ago, I thought that it was sort of like doing yoga stretches using exercise equipment.  It felt good and, for the short time that I did kept it up, Pilates seemed to improve my flexibility, somewhat. Pilates is a stretching and…Continue Reading

Getting Older With MS – Some Tips from MS “Seniors”

(This was first published in my column on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) I hate to admit it, but I’m getting kind of old. That’s not to say that 68 is really old, but I’m probably older than a lot of the people who are reading this.  I’m also 36 years old in “MS years.”  I was diagnosed the month that Ronald Reagan won the Republican nomination to run for U.S. President and I’ve…Continue Reading

Laugh with Ads That “Get” Disabilities

[This post first appeared as one of my columns on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com] You don’t see people with disabilities very often in TV ads.  And when you do, the person with the handicap is usually playing a secondary role, or the ad uses the disabled person for an emotional appeal.  It’s not real-life.  It’s not us. So, a tip of my hat to the candy company Mars Chocolate UK for producing some…Continue Reading

MS Marathoner: 1 Continent Down, 6 to Go

Cheryl Hile running a marathon as a workout.

Cheryl Hile runs a marathon in South Africa. Pic courtesy C. Hile

(This is an update of my column posted last week on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) Tripping, falling and bloody knees. Been there. Done that. (Who with MS hasn’t)?  But this wasn’t me.  This was Cheryl Hile and it was happening to her as she was running a half marathon in Carlsbad, California. Cheryl had been running marathons for half a dozen years when, in 2006, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  She says…Continue Reading

A 9/11 Re-visit

Ladder 3

Today, on the 15th anniversary of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, I’m re-posting a story that I posted a few months ago. It’s about a trip that I made to visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City last Spring…a trip that will resonate with anyone who makes it.  And I encourage everyone to make it. ** I grew up in Lower Manhattan. Though I’ve lived…Continue Reading

Can you measure how tired I am?

[This post first appeared last month in my column on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com] Feeling tired? No surprise there. Fatigue is as much a part of living with Multiple Sclerosis as sand is a part of the beach where I live. It’s interesting, then, that neurologists seem to have no good system for measuring levels of MS fatigue or any treatments that are really effective over the long term. Physiologists at Colorado State University…Continue Reading

Volunteers wanted for MS diet study

People with MS often wonder if their MS is affected by what they eat.  Articles about the reported benefits of various diets appear regularly. Now, researchers at the University of Iowa are going to study two of the most well know MS diets to see what impact they have on MS symptoms, specifically on the level of a patient’s MS-related fatigue. Both MS Diets Eliminate Meat The diets to be…Continue Reading

Copaxon MS drug approved for tri-weekly use in Canada

It’s no fun jabbing yourself once-a-day if you’re using the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone.  I, eventually, hit a brick wall self-injecting when I was using Avonex and that was just sticking myself once-a-week. But now Teva Pharmaceutical has what should be good news for Canadians using Copaxone.  Health Canada has approved a three-times-a-week version of the drug. Three-times-a-week Copaxome 40 mg/mL is expected to become available to patients there, by…Continue Reading

Don’t let multiple sclerosis ground you

(This post appeared as my regular column on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) Flight is freedom in its purest form, To dance with the clouds which follow a storm; To roll and glide, to wheel and spin, To feel the joy that swells within; To leave the earth with its troubles and fly, And know the warmth of a clear spring sky — Gary Claud Stokor I’ve been there.  I’ve done that.  I’ve climbed…Continue Reading