#multiple sclerosis relapse

[hiyaluronic]

Fuck every single person that voted for Trump, fuck every Democrate that cow-towed to the Republican party (looking at you Schumer) to get this CR Bill passed. I hope every single one of them gets primaried.

[irresponsible-masochist]

Today is the third anniversary of me being officially diagnosed with MS.

It’s kind of a fucked up thing to keep track of, I guess, but…it feels like it hasn’t been that long, but at the same time, it feels like it’s been much longer.

It’s a weird thing to live with, MS. I feel like I just got to a point where I can accept that I have it. I still mourn the days before-life before I had infusions and medical debt and a fucked up immune system that makes it hard to fight off even a simple ear infection. I hope it will get easier with time, but who knows?

3 damn years I’ve been putting up with MS. 3 years my wife has been putting up with me having MS. I can say that as scary as it is, I’m glad that I’ve always had her. Her love and support have never wavered. Even on my bad days, my hard days, my worst days, she’s been there to love me through it and I have no idea how she’s done it.

3 years of MS Living. I’ll be on this fucked up ride for the rest of my life. At least I’m what they call “stable.” No new lesions, no PML, I’m doing as well as a person with MS can be, and I’ve learned to accept that.

I just hope that I can continue to be “stable.”

[sparrow-prophecy]

I have relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. I filmed this to spread awareness about MS. It hits me hard a few times a week, but most of the time I'm perfectly ok. This was on October 25th (two weeks ago). It's not normal for me to talk like this when I'm having a flare up, but severe movement issues, including speech issues and difficulty breathing are normal for me.

[jamiesonwolf]

A Dance with the Waves

A neighbour gave me a gentle telling off today. For the past three weeks, I’ve been going through a multiple sclerosis flare up. I thought I was just tired at first and suffering from burn out. Then that tiredness became exhaustion. I booked a couple of days off work and was looking forward to getting some much-needed rest. When I woke up on the next day, the fatigue has increased. I had slept…

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

The story I'm writing has several characters with vitiligo (extremely large cast) and I'm worried that I might have gone a bit too far with how it disables one of them. Liz is sixteen and, as well as having vitiligo was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was fourteen (relapsing remitting,) and, after getting hit by the flu around six months ago, developed GBS that she's since mostly recovered from. She's in assisted living due to the progressive nature of MS and because the GBS caused damage to her heart that leaves her prone to irregular heart rhythms and cardiac arrest, plus she's obviously a fall risk. Her skin sunburns very easily and she's noticed a slightly irritating trend of sunburn making her vitiligo patches spread, making it even easier for her to sunburn, so she always needs to cover up when she goes out during the day (UPF 50+ plus sunscreen, a hat, and sunglasses,) and has times where it's safer to go outside during the day mapped out. I'm kind of worried that I've made this so severe it's unrealistic. She is the only named character where it's this major, making her the only one of twelve, but still. I don't want to go from the extreme of "vitiligo never disables anyone ever" to making life with vitiligo seem way worse than it is.

It's actually SUPER realistic! When I was first diagnosed my mother was super worried about the negative effects that can occur with vitiligo. So we definitely were doing stuff taking note of what the UV index and what time I should or shouldn't be outside and was constantly applying things like sunscreen even if I was only going to be outside for less than an hour. Since she has a lot of other health conditions/concerns I think it makes a lot of sense that she would be very cautious!

[times-carcass]

2.2

First - Previous - Next

So, Edith’s mom doesn’t actually have syphilis. She has relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. However, in the past, MS was often misdiagnosed as neurosyphilis because they can have similar symptoms. It wasn’t until the antibiotic era that doctors realized how common MS is.

Maxwell suspects that Edith’s mom doesn’t actually have syphilis because the symptoms started before Edith’s brother Cris was born, and Cris doesn’t have congenital syphilis.

[kikingback]

This Pride month didn't start exactly how I predicted 😅😂

I'm currently (and just provisionally, don't worry!) on my wheelchair again, due to a bad relapse of my multiple sclerosis, BUT it doesn't mean I don't get to show off my flags ✨✨

It's a good time to make people aware of the huge (both material and cultural!) barriers the disabled LGBTQ+ community has to face everyday. There's so much work to make sure we're not forgotten, and we have the right to feel empowered in our true colors ❤️🌈

Happy Pride month to everyone from your friendly neighbourhood Kiki 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤

[thornfield987-blog]

I know this has been done before but here’s my headcanons for LU Chronic illness/Disability boys:

Legend(he/they): Hypermobile type Ehlers Danlos syndrome. Frequently dislocates joints and doesn’t see why the others make such a big deal about it, it happens all the time! Primarily suffers from widespread join pain, instability and chronic fatigue. Has as many different mobility aids as they have magical artifacts.

Time(he/him?): Early onset osteoarthritis and partially blind. All of the time travel and shifting forms was not kind to his joints, so the connective tissue was damaged and BOOM. Arthritis. The old man jokes are becoming less and less of a joke every day. Also experiences debilitating migraines.

Hyrule(they/he): Sensory Processing Disorder (often associated with autism but can be caused by other conditions). Their magic sensitivity can often cause overstimulation in their other senses, and they are very sensitive to light, sound, smell and touch. They are semi-verbal because even his own voice can overstimulate him sometimes, but they don’t know sign very well. Also has anemia.

Wild(genderfluid he/she/they): hypertrophic contractural scarring, partially deaf, semi-verbal because of vocal cord scarring. Also prosthetic arm(set after TOTK). She switches between sign and speaking, whichever is easiest for him that day. They have to perform daily stretches and apply scar lotion to be functional, but they aren’t very good at remembering to do so. Often blows out his voice because he gets excited, but can’t tell how loud he is speaking.

Four(plural they/them): Dissociative Identity Disorder(but not really because of magical reasons), damaged growth plates because of Minish magic. They have very similar symptoms to DID, but there are slight differences because it was caused magically and traumatically, not like in the real world. They sometimes struggle to walk correctly because their growth plates are damaged, causing their legs to be slightly different lengths. They wear adaptive shoes to correct this.

Sky(he/him): POTS(Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), chronic fatigue. He struggles to breathe the denser air on the Surface, but he struggled with it on Skyloft as well. He has a chronically higher heart rate that causes dizziness and (rarely) passing out when moving from sitting to standing, after eating, and after adrenaline rushes. This causes his stamina to be fairly low, and also causes chronic fatigue.

Twilight(he/him): RRMS(Relapse/Remission Multiple Sclerosis). This is caused magically by the Twilight curse eating away at his body’s nerves, but is kept mostly under control by his shadow crystal. Occasionally, he goes through relapses and experiences anything from tingling and numbness in a limb to temporary loss of vision in one or both eyes, balance issues, vertigo and slurred speech. These flares are almost always debilitating, but thankfully they only happen every couple of months and last from a few days to about a week.

Wind(he/him?): A little cliche, but he has a peg leg. He likes to tell outlandish stories about it getting bit off by a kraken or eaten by a cannibal, but the truth is that he got an infection, couldn’t treat it in time and had to amputate. This happened sometime after his quests had finished, and he’s still a little ashamed of the actual circumstances, so he doesn’t open up often.

(edit) I FORGOT WARRIORS

Warriors(he/him): Speaking Disfluency (Stutter). Often repeats sounds, such as “G-g-g-guys”, or extends sounds; “Llllllll-Iove you”. He grew up poor, so he was never able to get treatment for it, so he communicates using sign while Proxi translates verbally, though this isn’t as necessary with the Chain since most of them know sign.

[beetlejuice-fan-zone]

About me

Greetings from the Neitherworld!

The Beetlejuice Fan Zone is my page dedicated to Beetlejuice- the movies and animated series, as well as cosplay, impersonators, fan art and more.

I am an autistic adult who is also disabled. I have remitting/relapsing Multiple Sclerosis, fibromyalgia and other chronic conditions which cause me to live in chronic pain. I do not use medication as there are no options that I can tolerate. Fandom is my escape from life.

I first wanted to create a Beetlejuice costume back in 1990 when the cartoon was on television, but it just never happened. I had too much going on in those days and I didn’t want a cheap Halloween type costume, (which given my crude skills then, it would have been).

I wanted to make one in 2024 for the new movie but the stars didn’t align for that either. I was very sick from long Covid. Now in 2025, I finally am able to put it together and I know this time, its meant to be, starting with the fact that I found the cartoon version boots and spider brooch in a free cycle box! What are the odds. The boots even fit, despite being marked two sizes too small! Here’s my post about it: https://www.tumblr.com/beetlejuice-fan-zone/774324198462128128/sometimes-the-universe-sends-us-a-sign-this?source=share

I have done many costumes and cosplays that were considered by others to be exceptional, including Jim Carrey’s Grinch and Lady Loki from the Marvel Comics. I hope that I will eventually live up to that legacy with my own version of Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice. For now, I am still putting elements of the cartoon Beetlejuice together, focusing on his alter-ego, Bettyjuice. Beetlejuice (in multiple incarnations) will be my last cosplay and I hope to really make it my best work ever.

It is my deepest wish that my cosplay will resonate with other people. My inbox is open and I love to interact with fans and RP.

[does-truth-matter]

The CDC has quietly changed who should AVOID the MMR vaccine.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mmr/public/index.html

They now state that ANYONE that “Has a parent, brother or sister with a history of immune system problems” should AVOID THE MMR VACCINE!

What exactly is an 'immune system problem?" Every autoimmune disorder.

* Achalasia

* Addison’s disease

* Adult Still's disease

* Agammaglobulinemia

* Alopecia areata

* Amyloidosis

* Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrigs)

* Ankylosing spondylitis

* Anti-GBM/Anti-TBM nephritis

* Antiphospholipid syndrome

* Autoimmune angioedema

* Autoimmune dysautonomia

* Autoimmune encephalomyelitis

* Autoimmune hepatitis

* Autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED)

* Autoimmune myocarditis

* Autoimmune oophoritis

* Autoimmune orchitis

* Autoimmune pancreatitis

* Autoimmune retinopathy

* Autoimmune urticaria

* Axonal & neuronal neuropathy (AMAN)

* Baló disease

* Behcet’s disease

* Benign mucosal pemphigoid

* Bullous pemphigoid

* Castleman disease (CD)

* Celiac disease

* Chagas disease

* Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)

* Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO)

* Churg-Strauss Syndrome (CSS) or Eosinophilic Granulomatosis (EGPA)

* Cicatricial pemphigoid

* Cogan’s syndrome

* Cold agglutinin disease

* Congenital heart block

* Coxsackie myocarditis

* CREST syndrome

* Crohn’s disease

* Dermatitis herpetiformis

* Dermatomyositis

* Devic’s disease (neuromyelitis optica)

* Discoid lupus

* Dressler’s syndrome

* Endometriosis

* Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE)

* Eosinophilic fasciitis

* Erythema nodosum

* Essential mixed cryoglobulinemia

* Evans syndrome

* Fibromyalgia

* Fibrosing alveolitis

* Giant cell arteritis (temporal arteritis)

* Giant cell myocarditis

* Glomerulonephritis

* Goodpasture’s syndrome

* Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis

* Graves’ disease

* Guillain-Barre syndrome

* Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

* Hemolytic anemia

* Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP)

* Herpes gestationis or pemphigoid gestationis (PG)

* Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) (Acne Inversa)

* Hypogammalglobulinemia

* IgA Nephropathy

* IgG4-related sclerosing disease

* Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)

* Inclusion body myositis (IBM)

* Interstitial cystitis (IC)

* Juvenile arthritis

* Juvenile diabetes (Type 1 diabetes)

* Juvenile myositis (JM)

* Kawasaki disease

* Lambert-Eaton syndrome

* Leukocytoclastic vasculitis

* Lichen planus

* Lichen sclerosus

* Ligneous conjunctivitis

* Linear IgA disease (LAD)

* Lupus

* Lyme disease chronic

* Meniere’s disease

* Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA)

* Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD)

* Mooren’s ulcer

* Mucha-Habermann disease

* Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN) or MMNCB

* Multiple sclerosis

* Myasthenia gravis

* Myositis

* Narcolepsy

* Neonatal Lupus

* Neuromyelitis optica

* Neutropenia

* Ocular cicatricial pemphigoid

* Optic neuritis

* Palindromic rheumatism (PR)

* PANDAS

* Parkinson's disease

* Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD)

* Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH)

* Parry Romberg syndrome

* Pars planitis (peripheral uveitis)

* Parsonage-Turner syndrome

* Pemphigus

* Peripheral neuropathy

* Perivenous encephalomyelitis

* Pernicious anemia (PA)

* POEMS syndrome

* Polyarteritis nodosa

* Polyglandular syndromes type I, II, III

* Polymyalgia rheumatica

* Polymyositis

* Postmyocardial infarction syndrome

* Postpericardiotomy syndrome

* Primary biliary cirrhosis

* Primary sclerosing cholangitis

* Progesterone dermatitis

* Psoriasis

* Psoriatic arthritis

* Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA)

* Pyoderma gangrenosum

* Raynaud’s phenomenon

* Reactive Arthritis

* Reflex sympathetic dystrophy

* Relapsing polychondritis

* Restless legs syndrome (RLS)

* Retroperitoneal fibrosis

* Rheumatic fever

* Rheumatoid arthritis

* Sarcoidosis

* Schmidt syndrome

* Scleritis

* Scleroderma

* Sjögren’s syndrome

* Sperm & testicular autoimmunity

* Stiff person syndrome (SPS)

* Subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE)

* Susac’s syndrome

* Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO)

* Takayasu’s arteritis

* Temporal arteritis/Giant cell arteritis

* Thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP)

* Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS)

* Transverse myelitis

* Type 1 diabetes

* Ulcerative colitis (UC)

* Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD)

* Uveitis

* Vasculitis

* Vitiligo

* Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease

Wonder how many doctors are paying attention?

~shared from Jodi Wilson

[mindblowingscience]

A simple sugar, N-acetylglucosamine, reduces several inflammation and neurodegeneration markers in people with multiple sclerosis, suggest study results. In addition, the researchers also report that this dietary supplement improved neurological function in 30% of patients. The study appears in the Journal of Neuroinflammation. According to the World Health Organization, MS affects more than 1.8 million people, and while there are treatments to prevent relapses and improve quality of life, there is no cure.

Continue Reading.

[jamiesonwolf]

The Weather - A Poem

When she asked me how I was feeling, there was concern in her voice. I began to tell her, listing the places my body has taken me, the hills and valleys that I have had to climb, mountains that I have had to scale just to get out of bed. She stops me and I imagine myself like the mountain climber, the one from The Price Is Right that yodels as he makes his way up a rockface, stopped…

[bunnywip]

𝘼-𝙕 𝙇𝙄𝙎𝙏 𝙊𝙁 𝘿𝙄𝙎𝙀𝘼𝙎𝙀𝙎/𝙄𝙇𝙇𝙉𝙀𝙎𝙎𝙀𝙎 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙎𝙄𝘾𝙆𝙁𝙄𝘾/𝙒𝙃𝙐𝙈𝙋

— A

Anemia.

Adenomyosis.

Asthma.

Arterial thrombosis.

Allergies.

Anxiety.

Angel toxicosis ( fictional ).

Acne.

Anorexia nervosa.

Anthrax.

Atma virus ( fictional ).

ADHD.

Agoraphobia.

Astrocytoma.

AIDS.

— B

Breast cancer.

Bunions.

Borderline personality disorder.

Botulism.

Barrett's esophagus.

Bowel polyps.

Brucellosis.

Bipolar disorder.

Bronchitis.

Bacterial vaginosis.

Binge eating disorder.

— C

Crohn's disease.

Conjunctivitis.

Coronavirus disease.

Coeliac disease.

Chronic migranes.

Coup.

Cushing syndrome.

Cystic fibrosis.

Cellulitis.

Coma.

Cooties  ( fictional ).

COPD.

Chickenpox.

Cholera.

Cerebral palsy.

Chlamydia.

Constipation.

Cancer.

Common cold.

Chronic pain.

— D

Diabetes.

Dyslexia.

Dissociative identify disorder.

Dengue fever.

Delirium.

Deep vein thrombosis.

Dementia.

Dysthimia.

Diphtheria.

Diarrhoea.

Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder.

Dyspraxia.

Dehydration.

— E

Ebola.

Endometriosis.

Epilepsy.

E-coli.

Ectopic pregnancy.

Enuresis.

Erectile dysfunction.

Exzema.

— F

Fusobacterium infection.

Filariasis.

Fibromyalgia.

Fascioliasis.

Fever.

Food poisoning.

Fatal familial insomnia.

— G

Gonorrhoea.

Ganser syndrome.

Gas gangrene.

Giardiasis.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Gall stones.

Glandular fever.

Greyscale ( fictional ).

Glanders.

— H

Hookworm infection.

Hand, foot and mouth disease.

Hypoglycaemia.

Herpes.

Headache.

Hanahaki disease ( fictional ).

Hyperhidrosis.

Heat stroke.

Heat exhaustion.

Heart failure.

High blood pressure.

Human papillomavirus infection.

Hypersomnia.

HIV.

Heart failure.

Hay fever.

Hepatitis.

Hemorrhoids.

— I

Influenza.

Iron deficiency anemia.

Indigestion.

Inflammatory bowel disease.

Insomnia.

Irritable bowel syndrome.

Intercranial hypertension.

Impetigo.

— K

Keratitis.

Kidney stones.

Kidney infection.

Kawasaki disease.

Kaposi's sarcoma.

— L

Lyme disease.

Lassa fever.

Low blood pressure.

Lupus.

Lactose intolerance.

Lymphatic filariasis.

Leprosy.

— M

Measles.

Mad cow disease.

Mumps.

Major depressive disorder.

Malaria.

Malnutrition.

Motor neurone disease.

Mutism.

Mouth ulcer.

Monkeypox.

Multiple sclerosis.

Meningitis.

Menopause.

Mycetoma.

— N

Norovirus.

Nipah virus infection.

Narcolepsy.

Nosebleed.

Nocardiosis.

— O

Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Osteoporosis.

Ovarian cyst.

Overactive thyroid.

Oral thrush.

Otitis externa.

— P

Pancreatic cancer.

Pneumonia.

Pelvic inflammatory disease.

PICA.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Psoriasis.

Parkinson's disease.

Panic disorder.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Plague.

Postpartum depression.

Pediculosis capitis.

Psychosis.

Post-traumatic stress disorder.

— Q

Q fever.

Quintan fever.

— R

Rubella.

Rabbit fever.

Rotavirus infection.

Ringworm.

Restless legs syndrome.

Rhinovirus infection.

Rosacea.

Relapsing fever.

Rheumatoid arthritis.

Rabies.

— S

Shingles.

Sore throat.

Stutter.

Separation anxiety disorder.

Smallpox.

Scoliosis.

Septic shock.

Shigellosis.

Sepsis.

Social anxiety disorder.

Stroke.

Scarlet fever.

Schizophrenia.

Sleep apnea.

Sun burn.

Syphilis.

Sickle cell disease.

Scabies.

Selective mutism.

Salmonella.

Sensory processing disorder.

— T

Thyroid cancer.

Tuberculosis.

Thirst.

Trichuriasis.

Tinea pedis.

Tourette's syndrome.

Trachoma.

Tetanus.

Toxic shock syndrome.

Tinnitus.

Thyroid disease.

Typhus fever.

Tonsillitis.

Thrush.

— U

Urinary tract infection.

Underactive thyroid.

— V

Valley fever.

Vertigo.

Vomiting.

— W

White piedra.

Withdrawal.

Whooping cough.

West nile fever.

— X

Xerophthalmia.

— Y

Yersiniosis.

Yellow fever.

— Z

Zygomycosis.

Zika fever.

Zeaspora.

[justkidneying]

Multiple Sclerosis

This is a demyelinating autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS). It involves the destruction of myelin from around nerves, chronic inflammation, and the development of plaques within the neural tissue. This disease can be progressive or relapsing, and the plaques typically develop during different times and in different areas (hence why MS is referred to as disseminating in time and space).

Myelin Basics

Myelin is a coating around nerves that helps them conduct signals faster (called saltatory conduction). It covers some nerves in the peripheral and central nervous systems. In the periphery, Schwann cells myelinate axons. In the CNS, Oligodendrocytes myelinate axons. The CNS contains the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. For reference, white mater is myelinated and gray matter is not.

What is Affected

For demyelinating diseases, you have to see what it affects. MS affects the CNS, so this means we will see lesions in the brain and spinal cord, and that vision can be affected. As these axons are demyelinated, they are not longer able to conduct signals correctly, which leads to the impairment of the nervous system.

Something called gliosis also happens. This is due to the proliferation of glial cells. This eventually leads to the formation of a glial scar. These areas with no myelin are the sclerosis of MS. You can see them on the brain with the naked eye.

So why does this happen? The full extent is not currently understood, but it has to do with the immune system attacking the nervous system. This can be due to recent infection (such as with EBV), immune dysregulation, genetics (not fully, but it does increase risk), and geographical location (farther from the equator increases risk, maybe due to Vitamin D deficiencies?).

Symptoms

There is a huge range of symptoms for MS. Some people never show any or few enough symptoms that they don't ever seek medical treatment (about 0.1% of autopsies will show an asymptomatic individual). I'll divide the most common symptoms into a few groups.

Sensory symptoms can present as tingling, painful burning, reduced sensation, and a bandlike feeling around the torso. Patients may also feel like parts of their body are raw, wet, or swollen. You may see these symptoms symmetrically, or asymmetrically but find signs on both sides. If there is a level at which the symptoms start, then we can deduce the spinal cord level of the lesion.

Weakness can be in the limbs or face. In the limbs, this can be seen as a loss of strength, speed, or dexterity. The patient may also have an unsteady gait and experience greater symptoms after exercise. Facial weakness is due to a pontine lesion.

Ocular symptoms include optic neuritis and blurry vision. Optic neuritis causes decreased saturation of color, low visual acuity, and dimness. This can include one or both eyes. The patient may also find it painful to move their eyes. Diplopia can cause visual blurring and may be due to the palsy of several of the nerves that allow eye movement.

Spasticity usually presents sin the legs, and can be painful and interfere with walking, or in some cases it can actually help with walking. Ataxia can also result from damage to the cerebellum, and can manifest as tremors, which can also affect speech pattern (called scanning speech).

Other symptoms include vertigo, an electric shock sensation when looking down, facial contractions, bladder dysfunction, constipation, sexual dysfunction. depression, fatigue, memory loss, and impaired attention.

Diagnosis

There is no single diagnostic test. Typically, you would start with a review of symptoms. Episodes of symptoms (two or more) need to show lesions to different areas of the CNS and last for more than 25 hours. They also must be separated by a month or more.

MRIs are really important here, as more than 95% of patients show abnormalities. Although more than 90% of those lesions seen are asymptomatic.

You may also see abnormalities in the cerebrospinal fluid. It will include mononuclear cell pleocytosis and increased IgG (an immune system molecule).

Types of MS

MS can be progressive until death or come and go. Acute MS progresses and leads to death within a year or two of symptoms appearing. This is the most aggressive form, although it is rare.

Primary progressive MS progresses steadily, and does not have periods of remission. It is a less common form.

Secondary progressive has remissions, but each episode gets worse and worse as time goes on. Eventually, the remissions are shorter and still include sysmtoms.

The most common variant is relapsing-remitting MS, which has episodes separated by mostly or completely symptom-free remissions.

Treatment

There are a lot of drugs to treat MS and the symptoms related to it. The most important are glucocorticoids. They promote ant-growth, anti-inflammatory, and immunosuppressive actions. They do this by activating lipocortin and inhibiting phospholipase A2, which blocks the synthesis of prostaglandins (inflammation molecules). These drugs include prednisone, methylprednisolone, and dexamethasone. These are used to treat acute attacks, and there are a lot of side effects associated with long-term use.

Another important class of medications are monoclonal antibodies. These basically stop the immune system by various different methods. They can be made from human proteins, mouse proteins, or be a mix of the two (chimeric or humanized). Alemtuzumab, Natalizumab, Ocrelizumab, and Ublituximab (who the FUCK named these) are a few of them.

Supplemental drugs can include those for incontinence (oxybutynin or botulinum toxin), spasticity (tizanidine), depression (SSRIs or TCAs), and to improve walking (dalfampridine). Of course, there are many other drugs that can aid in MS symptom management, but I'm not going to name them here (but they will be on the exam).

Prognosis

Prognosis has become better in recent years. Before the treatments we have today, only 20% of patients had no functional limitations after 15 years of onset. Today, the turnover from RRMS to secondary progressive MS is only about 1% per year, when it used to be 2-3%.

It is very difficult to establish a prognosis in individuals, and it is certainly hard to make generalizations. Everything depends on how many episodes they have had, how their brain scan look, and the age of onset. Older onset and motor symptoms in the first year generally give a worse prognosis. Less brain atrophy during the first few years is associated with a better prognosis.

While the likelihood of benign MS is less than 10%, there are still patients with lesions who never develop any disability. After someone has their first episode, those with three or more lesions are about 80% likely to develop MS. Those without lesions are about 20% likely to develop it.

[powerfulpheonix]

I officially have a diagnosis: relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis