Kicking MS to the Curb

Kicking MS to the Curb steps out of the box of multiple sclerosis with determination and humor. The MS journey brings challenges and concerns, stumbles and successes, triumphs and trouncings. We celebrate races run and battles won. And we stumble, reel and rise to try again.

Throughout, the orange thread traces our dogged determination to continue placing one foot in front of the other for as long as possible - until we win, until healing comes, or until the medical miracle is found.

Tuesday

Pain & fitness: Sometimes the answer is the last thing we wanna do

Feels like sciatica, I sighed. Actually, I may have used less scientific and more graphic terminology. And it may have been the all-too familiar nerve pain that can come with having multiple sclerosis.

But let’s not split hairs here.

My lower back was giving me agony. Bending, stretching, twisting, and even standing still hurt. Sitting and reclining were the worst.

I moaned and groaned (mostly to myself, but more than once to a couple of others) for two days. I spent two whole nights, squirming and wincing and trying to find a sleep-able position. Didn’t happen.

Ask any MSer what happens when we get overtired. It’s not pretty. And I was there.

Something had to change.

Finally, on the third day, I dragged myself out of bed, hobbling like a fairy tale monster. I forced my feet into my sneakers and made my way to the gym for a stretch/cardio/strength class. Honestly, I expected to limp out of the session early.

But it actually helped.

Moving was the last thing I felt like doing. The mere idea of stretching made me want to cry.

As it turns out, all that activity was just what I needed. Isn’t that often the case?

This can take all sorts of forms.

Maybe it’s physical therapy. It might be walking up and down the driveway once or twice. It could even be taking a shower, when symptoms are making the MS life extra tough. The thing that could help the most still draws our dread.

When we make that move, we may be surprised to find some relief.

Let’s not get carried away here, though.

It’s easy to overdo things, while battling MS. When we are able to get up and get going, we may be tempted to go all-out, making up for lost time (when we were sidelined). That’s a danger zone. We know it. But we still fall into that trap.

I’m not throwing shade at anyone who is immobilized today, with the MS MonSter attacking in full force. The battle looks different for each of us.

It’s just that sometimes I need the extra internal shove to work out some relief. Anyone else know the feeling?

Let’s hope I don’t regret today’s workout tomorrow (or even tonight).

Related items:

· Beware the MS hiatus hangover

· Despite MS, sometimes we just have to take it to the limit

· MS makes me clumsy sometimes.

Image/s: Adapted from public domain image/s.

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Friday

Should MS treatments stop after age 50?

Maybe you’ve heard this: Plenty of multiple sclerosis doctors seem to be halting patients’ disease-modifying treatments at or after age 50. Others point to 60 as the magic age when such prescriptions may cease. The popular theory says the efficacy of such medications commonly diminishes as patients age, while the risks of continuing with the drugs may increase.

However, recent research also reveals that up to a third of those included in the studies found their MS relapses and related disabilities increased after discontinuing their meds.

Holy moley. What’s a middle-aged MSer to do?

We have to wonder whether this is an efficacy issue (for the medications), an economical one (for insurance companies), an efficiency concern (for medical providers) or perhaps an ethical one (for all of us).

We have to be our own advocates.

Most definitely, each MSer needs to continue to research and learn and question his or her own care and treatment.

Some of us may be able to stop disease-modifying treatments without suffering for it. After many years of unchanged MRIs (e.g., no new lesions), this may be an option. But this tactic is clearly not for everyone battling multiple sclerosis. Those with the most progressive forms of the disease may be least likely to benefit from such a choice.

This simply cannot become an across-the-board standard for all MSers, regardless of health challenges, symptoms, and other conditions.

It’s not like the medical world can turn us out to pasture, as we age.

Some 50-somethings (or even 60-somethings, 70-somethings, and beyond) still pursue a wide range of activities and endeavors. We may still have careers in our later years. We juggle multiple responsibilities and chase all sorts of interests.

Don’t let them tell you it’s all downhill from here.

We still have mountains to climb and summits to reach. And if that means we need to continue disease-modifying therapies, then let’s make darn sure those remain available (and insurable) for us.

· Beware the MS hiatus hangover

· Changing meds: Safety tips for tossing leftover drugs

· Reviewing the four types of multiple sclerosis