I second Kyle's welcome. Sorry you had to find us, but so glad you did. You will find alot of information and support here. I too agree if you are asymptomatic no reason to submit your body to steroids. Finding a MS specialist is important. I was dx'd by a general neuro and she referred me to two different ms specialists. While she had alot of the answers, I wanted more specialized care and have found a wonderful neuro.
Keep us posted on your journey to finding a dmd and how you are doing with all of this. It is fairly overwhelming at first - heck it is overwhelming all the time!
Take Care
Tracy
So it's official! You're one of us :-) I would still skip the high dose steroids if you're asymptomatic. They only work to reduce current, serious inflammation.
Kyle
Thanks for your responses. I hate to bore you too much with my history but here it goes... I have had on and off weakness on my right side for years, drop things, knee would give out. I just chalked that up to being clumsy. This past summer I had a visual disturbance- about a third of my vision in my left eye was shadowed. That lasted about six weeks. Went to my dr, he ordered an MRI. That showed 2 lesions that were characteristic of ms, he referred me to a neuro. I had the evokes done, they were in the normal range but with differentials, so then I had a spinal tap, that showed 6 O bands, thus leading to the diagnosis. I have had tingling on and off down an arm or leg, but more commonly somewhere on my head, weird, not sure if that's ms or what. I am currently trying to get into an ms clinic for more specialized care.
I'd be checking back with your neuro to find out his rationale for high dose steroids. I'd also be talking to him about a referral for a consult with a neuro who specializes in MS treatment. The field is presently evolving at a fairly rapid pace and we need to have contact with docs who are familiar with what's in development and what's best for our particular situation (those aren't always the same thing).
sslowe posted a comprehensive list of DMDs presently available and coming soon to a neuro near you. Well, it's a link to the list to be exact. I'll bump it to the top of our 'recent posts' list but here's a link to the link to the link - just in case some birds came and ate those breadcrumbs.
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/DMD-List---Most-comprehensive-in-one-spot/show/1789999
The list is just a list but we have members who have current and/or past experience with a variety of the list options. Most are happy to answer specific questions.
Welcome to the MS community at MedHelp. A good place to be even if it is for all the wrong reasons. lol
oooh, don't do the solumedrol if not in a flair or relapse......
google medications for MS and you should get a list of the DMD drugs out there. Put them side by side and compare the side effects, costs, and what they do so that you can make a decision.
also try the national ms society website, they have a ton of information to help you sort out which drug you might want. You might also want a 2nd neuro who specializes in MS for advice.
welcome to the club no one wants to belong to
Hi NMK -Sorry you found us, but glad you're here :-)
If I were asymptomatic I would not do the Solumedrol thing. It is not a DMD and is used to aggressively address inflammation. If you are not having symptoms, the chances are you don't have any serious inflammation.
What lead to your diagnosis? If you have lesions that are 'glowing' in an MRI with contrast maybe that's why he wants to start steroids.
Tell us your story :-)
Kyle