I was diagnosed on the 24th of October and for me the decision was easy. I will be accepting DMD’s with both hands. At present I am physically,relatively undamaged but I have seen inside my brain and have seen all of the lesions and who knows where or when it will strike next and what damage that might do. To me it’s a ‘no brainer’ (see what I did there?) I have to try and prevent future relapses and damage if I can. Maybe it will make no difference but this way I won’t look back with regret for not taking medication sooner e.t.c. It is your decision though and your body and I completely respect your decision if you choose not to medicate and as I think Sue said there is nothing to stop you from changing your mind at a future date if you want to,
Definitely look into the options. Mostly, look at the possible side effects against the possible positives. Different drugs are best for the many different symptoms. Drugs are not the only things you can do. For example, avoid stress as much as possible. Perhaps diet. Gentle exercise. And don’t underestimate the value of talking to your MS nurse. I have found them to be great and very easy to talk to. My own experience? Diagnosed 1984. Still ambulent. No drugs for the first 20 years. So you can see how variable things can be. The neurologist is the most knowledgeable, but still cannot see into the future I am afraid. Good luck!
Plenty of advice here but first see and chat to the neurologist. You may not be OFFERED any medication. It depends entirely on the type of MS you have and the neuro concerned.
Hello Steve. I hope you are fine. I need to know more how you made this decision because i want to also not having any medication. There is only one neurologist in my country who believes the DMDs are the cause of disability after long time.he says The drug companies prefer that we take medication and these companies support research centers too! He had found unpublished researches about MS. He said the drug industry doesn’t let publish any articles which are against drugs! What’s your idea? What kind of MS do you have? I’m 37 and diagnosed RRMS 6 years ago, attack to my eye and i did palse therapy for 3 days in hospital. I haven’t take any medication yet. During these 6 years i had attack every 4 months and i took 40 milligrams Dexametason (corton) during 1 week but recently my attacks are every 2 months and i have some problems in my eyes. I afraid so much of blindness more that disability in hands or legs.
Hi, I was like yourself.
First relapse led to my diagnosis in January 2019, had another relapse July 2019.
I believe I had a relapse before I was diagnosed Summer 2018.
Since July 2019 I have stayed relapse free however I’m keen to start taking medication after my MRI scan showed up that it is active.
Will be starting Tecfidera. I’m nervous but I guess I don’t want to regret not starting meds when I was recommended by my neurologist to start as soon I was diagnosed.
I was really against taking medication because each medication comes with its own side effects. But you know what made me change my view on this, the words of my neurologist. He told me “don’t think about the side effects of the medication, focus on the side effects of this disease in the long term”.
I have to say that did get me thinking!
