Hi @milojka I too used to be a walker, hill climber ( Lake District and Scottish Munros) nature lover and photographer. I’ve had RRMS for around 19 years and for the first 8 years or so didn’t have any problems walking until one day walking around the city my right leg suddenly became hard to move. I could still walk for an hour or so but the amount of time gradually decreased and these days 30 minutes of clumsy walking is a struggle.
I have a vague feeling that things have stabilised a bit but time will tell.
My response to loss of walking has been to get myself two (!) mobility scooters. One is a Moving Life ‘Atto’: three wheeled , with very good ground clearance and pretty robust. It’s a fair weight but splits into two manageable pieces. I like it and have taken it along some rough tracks. Not the same as walking ( and it’s not going to take me up Lake District hills!) but it’s great to be out and perhaps get off every now and then to just explore the immediate area or sit down on a rock etc. I’ve attached a photo of me riding up a track on a Scottish island.
The other scooter is a Careco Minimus which wouldn’t be good in the countryside etc but folds down to a very small size and is great for taking into cafes etc.
As you say it’s impossible to say what will happen but I definitely recommend doing and enjoying what you can now - and making more memories !
Some scooters are a little pricey but I’ve been happy to spend the money to allow me to do things I enjoy ( it’s also worth looking out for used/ refurbished ones )
M
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Hi @ Hank Dogs, that’s a lovely photo, I would love to be there riding along, just great,
Jean
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That must have been so tough, to lose your mobility in these 3 years… sorry to hear this. Very unfair that people with progressive MS don’t get to use DMT’s 
And good for you to walk on the walking plate!!
I bought one myself 10 days ago, but I still have to get used to it. I seem to loose my balance when on it, unless I hold onto something - but that might be just because it’s new to me ?
On a different note - I don’t know people with MS personally that I can speak to - and this conversation, and all your reactions (Jean’s and everyone else’s) mean so much to me. To know that all of you, in one way or another, to a certain extent, have gone through something similar is very special. (My first time here on the forum 
)
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Hi @whammel I think this would still need to be resonably flat ground, right. Like some sort of a path.
Seeing these trycikles, I was wondering: Does not being able to walk mean you are not able to cycle too? If you can walk 15 minutes, will the same distance apply to a bycicle? I know these trycicles are electric, but my question came up randomly as a general, theoretical question.
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This is a beautiful photo, I love the vibe !! I can definitely feel it.
Can I ask you: if you only encountered leg problems after 8 years with RRMS, does that mean you were not on a DMD? Or did that not work. Or did they not exist 18 years ago, I know they are relatively new.
I can see your case for having 2 scooters, that makes sense.
Just wondering : I know there was someone with you there - or there wouldn’t be a photo. But would you fo this on your own too? Or would that be too risky?
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In my case, I could cycle significantly further than walking and that was without an electric motor, so suspect it will increase your range too. Of course, you would need to try one out first to confirm this.
I think the mountain trikes are designed for rough terrain and should be able to cope with the off road stuff ok. It might be worth sending them a mail with a list of your questions, to help clarify which model would suit you best.
Mountain Trikes | Adult Tricycles | Jorvik Tricycles | Jorvik Tricycles UK
Incidentally, you have clearly got this adapting lark sorted out and nothing wrong with your approach.
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Hi there. Yes I was on a DMD - one of the first 3-4 , Avonex. One of the first and when compared to more recent ones , one of the least effective. Interestingly ( or not) none of the annual MRIs of my brain have shown any new lesions . I was diagnosed after Optic Neuritis ( for a few weeks I lost pretty much all vision in my right eye ) and an MRI which showed ‘ quite a few lesions’ - I’ve never asked how many nor to see images from my annual MRI. I’ve never had a scan of my spine.
I’m not sure but I don’t think the sudden problem with walking was a result of new lesions so much as something more akin to secondary progressive/ progression independent of relapse activity or smouldering lesions ( professor Gavin Giovanonni is a good source of info and discussion of such things - worth looking him up).
I have talked with my MS Nurse about moving to a different and more effective DMD but the view of her and the neurologist is that I’m doing pretty well on Avonex . I will be 72 early next summer and generally doing ok - enjoying life. Apart from walking my other main symptom is bladder urgency which can be annoying!
The photo was taken by my wife ( we were staying in Arran off the central west of Scotland for a few days). Don’t think I would have done it on my own - not many people around if anything had gone wrong !
I’m lucky in that we live in a village west of Glasgow and can easily get into the countryside . There is a small hill just a few hundred yards away which is owned by the Forestry Commission and has good paths around it. I do go up there on my own and enjoy the wildlife ( mainly birds) and some excellent views
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Sometimes having a mobility scooter is just convenient, a helpful way of getting around but other times, like in the photo it’s pure enjoyment ( mixed with a slight nagging thought about ‘ Will the battery run out?’).
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Hi @ Hank Dogs, yes I know what you mean about the battery life, I’m the same. I never wanted to be on a scooter, or in a wheelchair, but needs must and if means me getting out, then so be it, now I just have to wait for Spring, as the cold really affects me (like most on here).
Take care, enjoy your day and keep smiling,
Jean
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Hi @Hank_Dogs Thanks. I loved your comment about the battery, haha, yes I can see that would be crossing your mind now and then 
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Now - I am new to all of this, and learning lots, but why did you never had a spinal scan? You say that your annual (brain) scans show no new lesions, but would bladder and leg problems like you have (and me too) not be spinal lesions? And if you never had a spinal scan - you could well have new spinal lesions? Please enlighten me!
I have not yet had my second scans, I am on the waiting list so will soon have one. (First one is a year old). It will be interesting to see if anything has changed. I take Kesimpta (dmd).
I must check out Prof Giovanonni, as I think I might be PIRA/smouldering. I say this because I have never had a new symptom for a certain time that disappeared on a later date - like you with your eye. My symptoms (mainly bladder, legs, balance, romp, bowel) have been there from the start, are still there, and are just gradually getting worse. My neurologist says he doesn’t think it’s PPMS, but says those names are not clear cut and says maybe we should not use them anymore. This was confirmed by what I’ve read and seen (eg on ECTRIM)
Other question for you, hope you don’t mind? You are 71 now, are people of our age (I am 61) usually not being taken off their DMD? I think this was mentioned by my neurologist - and think he said this might possibly happen in a couple of years.
Oh my goodness, the cold? Is this the same as with heat - like worsening of symproms with higher body temperature due to infection, exertion, higher temperature of environment, which I believe is called Uhthof phenomen, and which I seem to be having. I thought the cold would be good for us/me, and I was welcoming the winter for the very first time in my life. (Very mild winter so far)
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Hi @milojka Yes it’s the same with the heat, I really don’t like both, in the year there’s a very small window for me when things are ok, that’s if we have a mild Spring, this summer gone was a nightmare, I can no longer sit in the sun, haven’t done for years, it’s sets off my nerve pain, as does the cold. It’ also makes me feel like the tin man from the wizard of oz, so stiff and painful, sometimes I can hardly move, so roll on a mild spring.
Take care and enjoy your day,
Jean x
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It varies from persons person, but I think it’s fair to say that most of us do better in the cold than in the heat. I certainly do - the heat just floors me. I love cold weather! (Apart from ice…)
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Hi @greenhouse fortunately and so far I seem to be OK in the cold but e.g I made the mistake of sitting in the sun in the summer and found it really hard to stand up and get back inside. Never again!
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Hi @milojka . I did once ask the MS Nurse why I don’t get spine scans. The explanation was that spine lesions usually/ always result in noticeable symptoms/ problems like bladder control - no need or point in having a scan if you develop such symptoms. Lesions in the brain however can develop without any obvious symptoms. I’m not quite sure why but I think it’s partly to do with brain ‘plasticity’ I.e the brain is large enough and has spare capacity to find new routes along which to receive and send messages. Some symptoms might not be particularly noticeable e.g a slight reduction in cognitive abilities or strength in one arm. I think that the idea of a brain scan is to detect any new ‘hidden’ lesions.
I also asked about discontinuing DMT treatment in older age and was relieved to hear that the view of the neurologists where I am (the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow) is that people can still get new lesions in old age so they continue to provide them with DMTs .
The view of Professor Giovanonni is very much that ‘MS is MS’ and I also remember reading something like the reason why we have Primary Progressive etc is nothing to do with different types/ biologies of MS but simply that when the first DMTs were being developed, trialled and licensed there was some sort of quick route to licensing for conditions that affected relatively small numbers of people . Something like that - it’s bonkers but such is the costly and expensive world of developing drugs, trials and licensing. The names Primary Progressive, Relapsing Remitting have just stuck even though there seems to be growing recognition that they aren’t very helpful .
You can spend ages learning about MS and keeping up to date with the research and thinking but some of it gets a bit complex. Similarly with the latest types of DMTs , plus of course potential ‘remyelination’ therapies.
Remyelination will probably be possible in the future ( fingers crossed but I might be dead before then).
For what it’s worth I do try to follow a brain healthy/ supportive lifestyle with exercise, brain supportive diet and also meditation/ mindfulness to calm the mind and body. There is a website and publications by an Australian Professor of Medicine who has MS himself called Overcoming MS (living well with MS would be a better title). Plenty of advice and thinking about diet etc and some useful resources including mindfulness sessions.
It’s probably worth looking at the website of ‘Food for the brain’ which isnt about MS so much as keeping a healthy brain, including fending off dementia.
Vitamin Bs and D seem to be important not just for MS folk but the population in general ( I take Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D ). Unsaturated fats are also important
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Hi @ Hank Dogs, Oh I know it’s awful and the sad thing is, there’s nothing we can do. My hubby had a summerhouse built 2yrs ago for me, just so I could be out in the garden, even under a parasol it seemed to get to me, the the cold comes and that more of the same but in a different way 
Jean
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As I understand it, it’s a matter of the contrasting size of the brain and the spinal cord, the brain being roomier. Brain lesions in there can and do cause mayhem, of course, but there’s the possibility of silent lesions that aren’t causing obvious problems but nevertheless show that something bad is up. The spinal cord, by contrast, is a very constrained space; any lesion is bound to cause obvious mayhem and a scan is more to confirm what’s obviously amiss.
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Indeed and I’m becoming more aware of the need to Keep my brain as healthy as possible. I’ve never asked about my brain shrinkage but will talk about this with the MS Nurse at my next appointment in March.
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Hi @whammel It’s too soon for me to think about something like a trike, but I needed to tell you that I have access to a quad! In the last 10 years, I have been helping on a sheep farm in my spare time, and a quad is often used to gather sheep or bring them down from the hills to lower grounds, or during lambing. I just thought of this when reading your message 
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