Should I do Steroid IV Therapy or Not?

[Nise96]

Thank you all for making me feel so welcome!! It's nice to chat with people who are dealing with the same things. I'm still having numbness and tingling on the left side of my mouth and tongue. Is it normal for my mouth and tongue to swell every time I eat or talk? This is getting very annoying.I've had tingling on the left side of my face but not numbness or swelling. I had a wisdom tooth pulled on the right side last Friday. That seems to be healing fine so I guess that wasn't causing my issues.

The neurologist doesn't seem to really want me to do IV steroids until my right side is healed more. She left it up to me to decide whether next week I should do the IV therapy. I'm undecided she made it sound like the IV therapy wasn't going to speed up the recover from the relapse by much. I've done the IV stuff twice before and it's not pretty. My stomach was in knots for a couple days. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nise

[Erin0313]

  I have to agree with the others. If the neuro thinks it's better to postpone the roids than I would do just that.

  I am not a fan of the yucky IV steroids but will admit that they have gotten me through some big flares. I figure if the neuro pushes the issue that's when I know it's time to pull up my panties and go for the big guns. Until then I usually postpone, postpone, postpone!

Good luck. I hope that you are feeling better soon with or without the steroids.
Hugs,
Erin :)

[Lulu54]

Hi Nise,
I'm with WW and think that the neuro's advice sound reasonable if your symptoms are not too troublesome.  

The steroids will help your body to bounce back quicker than if you don't take the IV 'roids, but your condition is going to return to whatever point it will go to, whether you take them or not.  I hope that makes some sort of sense to you. Sorry, it has been a long day.

The swelling of your mouth and tongue are puzzling because that doesn't fit the pattern of MS.  Could this be related to your other dental work?

Welcome again to this community.

be well, Lulu

[willowwoman7]

I'd kind of lean with trusting your neurologist. Mine didn't hesitate to put me on iv steroids when he saw I needed it. It was my first time on them. I know they can be very hard on the body in many ways and unless your neurologist thinks you really need it, well, if it were me, I wouldn't push for it if she is hesitant to use them. I do know that anytime I've had an infection, or even a toothache, symptoms seem to flair.