Newly Qualified Teacher and now an MS diagnosis!

I don’t really know what my aim is of posting this but I’m a 22 year old teacher who’s just been diagnosed with RRMS! Trying to put things into perspective, I’ve been quite fortunate as my first symptoms that caused real concern for me occurred at the end of August 2021! I’m due to start Ocrevus and was wondering about what people do to distract themselves during treatment? I’m not great with needles etc so I know I will need another focus! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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Audio books or radio worked for me.
Good luck

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That is really rotten luck for you as you start out on your career after years of study, and I am very sorry for it.

Those high-efficacy disease modifying drugs really can stop RRMS in its tracks, and I am glad to hear that you are getting started on one of htem. I have had RRMS for 20+ years and the past 10+ of them, while I have been on Tysabri, have been relapse-free. In my case, a fair bit of damage had already been done, which is why I’m so pleased to hear that you are starting soon, and that there is a good prospect of damping down your MS before it does you too much harm. Those drugs give a person the best chance of staying as well as she can for as lng as she can, which is the only show in town, really. Good luck with it all.

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Hey,

I’m a 30 year old secondary school teacher and was diagnosed with RRMS in 2020 but have had symptoms since 2017 (I think the stress of qualifying triggered a series of relapses!) How are you managing with work? I’ve just returned on a phased basis after 6 months off following two relapses and I’m exhausted every day at 2pm!

I also just started on Ocrevus in March and had my 2 split doses. I bought an iPad specifically for the infusions and I download a lot of movies and tv shows on Netflix before I go to the hospital (the WiFi is usually pretty rubbish). I also use it to read (if my eyesight is up to is) and I play games on it too.

I presume you’ve had your first infusion. How did it go? I’m nervous for the first full dose in September because I had a reaction to the first split dose and they had to slow it way down (it took 5.5 hours!!) so I’m worried I’ll be there all day with the next one.

All the best with the new treatment and with work. I know teaching isn’t an ideal profession for those of us with RRMS but the best piece of advice I have for you is to enjoy your weekends (don’t even think about work for a second) and plan something lovely for the holidays, even if it’s just going to lunch with friends.