The Proactive Patient of Multiple Sclerosis - Get it straight in your head what is best left to professional - Personal - http://maxpages.com/happymspage/A_proactive_approch_to_your

A PRO active approch means you spend more time learning and be prepaired to
inform your doctor what is happening in your particular MS affected body.
You will also have to judge the doctor's application of his physician's skills.
Do you feel he /she has your best interests at heart or is he just treating you
as just one of many that come to his/her office.

Don't get distressed with a doctor who tells you after the meds he /she has
prescribed for you that you see no progress or getting better.Getting better isn't
the way this disease MS acts.We are lucky if it just stays the same year after year.
I'm sure you have been told there is no cure. Don't just trade off doctors for new ones
when you see no improvement.Frequently I hear of some patients changing doctors even
several times a year.I see this like a person switching channels on their TV to get a more favorible weather forcast when some tell you its going to rain but you want to
go on a picnic and also want to hear there is going to be clear skies. If three
of your channels predict rain then expect the same on the fourth.
Like wise if three doctors tell you the same its not likely you will find
any change in the fourth or fifth one.

Weight all the doctor tells you.Once you and your physician become aquanted
with each other you will learn to appreciate the other and the remarks each will
make. Some doctors will view some of their patients as excessively worried and
will tend to discount what you say.If you want to be taken serious by your physician
then you must refrain from over statements.Tell it like it really is not
a bit more or less.

Some of the tough decisions will be yours to make.Like do I need a cane now?
When do i need a wheelchair just for long distances like malls? If you use the ones at the malls they never fit right.At least I found them that way.
Would my fatigue be less with a wheeled walker than a cane? Usually the cane is just for light disability. I chose crutches instead of the wheeled walker as they take up less space.

When you first see you have drop foot,will you get a AFO brace? Most people will have to plant the idea in their doctor's head and they seldom will suggest it as affistive devices is looked upon by many doctors as a sign they can't do much more for you.

WHAT is BEST done BY yourself;
Your own diet and your responsibleity to take your meds can be nobody's
decision but yours.
1. Do the diet with low fat.
2. eat a lot of fish ,preferred broiled Salmon being the best but cod is good too
the value of fish is the omiga 3 oil they contain
3Try to eliminate wine ,beer and liquor they add calories with out much food
value.
4.watch out the amount of sun light you get as it will dehydrate you.
5.You needed advoid the sun intirely .You do need some vitamin D
There is a story of a woman who lived close to me who read that heat
was bad for MSer.She had PPMS never hardly ever left the house.I tried to get
her out and about on cloudy days and those not over 70 which are frequent in
Ohio.She just mad herself miserable until her death.
I suggested once we go to church together .Her church was but 5 block away.I offered to go with her and even let her use my scooter,and I would use her wheelchair.
she declined every time I mentioned it.
Her problem was she didn't want her former friend to see her in a wheelchair.
The only reason she would receive me was I too was using my scooter.I wouldn't
dare coming to see her just using my crutches.
Her husband would call me on the phone when she took naps and wonder
what i could do to bring her out of her shell.She was a very intellgent woman.
6. You can get a nice straw hat that keeps a lot of sun off of your
head.It will help more than you think.

Dress in a festive mood;
This keeping up your moral is very important.Festive clothing will usually not
cost any more than dull clothing.Wear your jewelry and change it often.
Try to keep doing some sport like bowling or I like bocce ball.I also
like fishing .I'm not at a disavantage for either.

You are still incharge of your own actions and attitude.
True with MS you like most of us have depression which comes with the territory.
We get anti depression meds and most of us can smooth it over.But as
uncertain a sMS can be you must make plans.Don't go into any new housing
without considering your probably pregressive MS.
Look at housing from the stand point of wheelchair accessibility.Now I've said
it.Its taboo in some MS circles.But I was happy for my scooter early on
in my MS life .I too have been happy also for my ultra light weight wheelchair
I bought for a song(cheap)I have long accepted how weak my legs really are
these days.

KEEP READING AND LOOKING;
There are isolated things or alternate meds that have greatly helped some.
We realize they would work for all.But many are wortha try.Some will even sound
ridiculus such as caster oil applied to a cloth and soaked with the oil. This rag applied to affected area. Another is balancing your calcium by enough vitamin D

There is a wild theory that the number of people with MS comes mainly from
the northern latitudes. Here the sun is not abundant in the winter. If Vitamin D
has any valadity then getting some more sun and that famous reaction your skin has
when exposed to the sun gentlely,the formation of vitamin D
The caster oil taken internally in small amounts will also keep you regular.
Clean outs if not too severe are good tonic when poisons of the body are eliminated.

This next item you may have trouble believing but there are a few persons have
advoided progression by taking grape seed extract. They also took one of the ABC drugs.
Here is another way out idea passed along to me by someone who said it sort of
froze the condition of MS for years in a need a cane once in a while.
She is now 69 and has only occassional problems brought on by the MS.She has had MS over 38 years,so bad at times she has spent long periods in a wheelchair. Several years
in a wheelchair she claims.
She took to swimming every day,wearing Clawson rocker shoes and eating almost a veggie diet.She is also devoutly religious with a deep sense of a close prayer life with God.

Eileen Lukeman and Richard Tanner

FL.

Eileen(Lobosgirl) and Richard (RET1000) both at aol.com

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Page Updated Wed May 7, 2008 9:45am EDT