Not really new, but new to this level!

[PositiveMS]

Hello,

I did join 2 months ago, but I wanted to reintroduce myself now that I am in the middle of a flare. Why? To share some of my story.

I'm 33 now, a young lady starting on her career path. Hmmmm. Well it's going fantastic, I'm a very hard worker and dedicated, but every once in a while MS decides to yank me out of my life. This is the third time I've been off work for more than a week in 2 years. The last time was last June. I was off for 2 weeks. Man, the humidity kills me!

It's a very different world to be home. This time the neuro has me off for a whole month. He said it's just a severe flare and will die down. I believe him. No new symptoms, I just walk like a zombie at the moment. All jerky and walking with my arms out for balance. Yes, I can see the humour.

It's very strange to be at work, a busy, bustling communications job, flying high and full of energy, surrounded by colleagues, to suddenly being home, where my world consists of cooking and eating, drinking coffee and surfing the web. Not that I'm complaining! I love to cook, and I love to eat. But today I googled photosynthesis just to see how plants made food from light. I just had nothing else left to do, lol. By the way, it did inspire me to put my one plant on the balcony for 30 minutes.

I have a lot of friends in my city, but other people still go to work, so the alone time is inevitable. And I can't really go out at the moment because, well, I can't walk correctly.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the only young person who's life is being interrupted by MS. I'd like to hear from others like myself.

[abeautifullife]

Hello! I love your username, PositiveMS I try to be positive as well.

I'm also 33 and work full-time. I was diagnosed in March. I've had two flares in the past 2.5 years, but each was quite mild. The sort of stagger walking I am very familiar with, though! I thought I'd just hurt my back each time, went to the dr. for physical therapy after the second flare and a month later, MS diagnosis. So I've been lucky in that I haven't had to take time off and MS hasn't really disrupted my life. But I'm sure, as my dr. says, there will be peaks and valleys with this dx.

Which DMD do you take? I hope that your flare resolves very quickly!

[PositiveMS]

DMD

I was diagnosed in 1999 at age 19. Never took anything until Sept 2012. I started Copaxone then. To be honest I thought I didn't have MS at all until my walking started getting strange around age 31. Now I've been using a cane basically from the day I started Copaxone. Probably a coincidence.

But I get to start Tecfidera in about 2 weeks! Can't wait!!

What DMD are you on, if any?

[abeautifullife]

Tecfidera is an exciting switch - it seems like an excellent DMD. I'm on Rebif and doing well with it, but haven't had a new MRI to judge progression.

I know that feeling of "this MS thing is just a fluke." I argued with my neuro about my diagnosis - he was so surprised! He said: "Wait! You're actually trying to tell me that you DON'T have MS?? Because you clearly have MS!" I guess he doesn't encounter many patients who deny his diagnoses, haha! He was very nice about all of it, though, and predicted an excellent prognosis for me. Unless I am given compelling evidence to indicate otherwise, I'm sticking with his prognosis.

I sort of feel like MSers our age are just hanging on until a cure, and I think it will come for us, so I will be positive in the meantime Feel better and welcome again to the boards!

[NerveBuzz]

And I love your username, abeautifullife. (Just saw that movie a couple weeks ago on Netflix; loved it!)

PositiveMS (great username, too), be sure to try to stay active while you are off from work.

Of course, I can't give advice to someone I don't know, or at least I shouldn't. But let me say that when my big MS flare hit me in Oct 2008, I had trouble walking, holding a fork, using a mouse, signing a check.

And for someone who would usually go to the gym 2-3 times a week to stay fit (somewhat), it was shocking to suddenly lose my ability to grasp a dumbbell, let alone lift it.

But within two months, I was back at the gym, tears in my eyes, as I painfully regained my ability to squat, curl and bench press, a few pounds each week.

Yes, I had pins and needles and was initially worried about hurting myself more, but I believe the nerve buzz I got with each lift was just the neurons reaching out across damaged nerves as I willed them to work properly again.

These days, I am lifting more than before getting MS.

Dare I say that I am stronger today, physically and mentally.

Stay fit, eat healthy foods and think positively!

[PositiveMS]

Good stuff

Abeautifullife, your story of arguing with the neuro cracked me up. I never quite did that, but I did used to laugh to my family members and say, "I guess they were wrong about me having MS, eh?" I never bothered to tell anyone at work until I started walking crooked, and then started using a cane, and then I sort of kind of had to explain myself. Nobody just uses a cane as an accessory. I also agree with you that we just have to hold on for a cure, and live the best we can in the meantime!

NerveBuzz, I really like the imagery of your neurons trying to regenerate. I spoke to a surgeon I know about positive frame of mind and healing, and he said that if a person truly believes they are getting better and healing, then they will invariably be up and about much more quickly than someone who believes "I am sick". He also was completely unable to explain why this is so, what the science behind it is. He only told me what he observed over about 30 years practice. So probably your imagery helped you!

And I really don't mind getting advice from strangers, because lets face it, we are members of a club that most of our friends and family don't belong to, lol, so people on this site have been there done that and would know best. I am trying to exercise and do physio, I just have to be very very vigilant of tripping again. I used to play ultimate Frisbee, but I can't do that anymore. My neuro suggested swimming, so I'll go try that when I can get around a bit better.