Hi there, I’ve recently had a bad disabling relapse after 15 years relapse free. I had my 5 days of high dose steroids a month ago which slowed the relapse but I’ve had continued slow deterioration so asked about a second dose of steroids. I’ve been told this is too risky and would only be considered if I was completely immobilized or hospitalized. My attitude to M.S has always been to take the risk now to avoid worse disability in the future. Has anybody had two doses of steroids so close together like this?
Assuming you are in the UK there appears to be a change in how steroids are viewed.
The evidence is that six months on they make no difference to where you have got back to with your recovery. There is no difference whether you have had them intravenously or tablets. They are only prescribed for ON or severe mobility issues. They should be prescribed at most three times in a year. They can have bad side effects if used too often. They should not be prescribed for pseudo relapses as they can worsen the situation.
I have only had steroids once when I had a major relapse that led to my hospitalisation and diagnosis within the day. They did me a lot of good and returned me to my feet quite quickly.
There was reluctance to prescribe when I had a relapse before Christmas because of lowering my resistance to infection.
More recently my mobility crashed and I thought it was a major relapse. There was a reluctance from the GP to prescribe. As it turned it was a pseudo relapse brought on by COVID and it had impacted my mobility before the symptoms of COVID were apparent.
Obviously see what your team says and be guided by them, but it does seem to be in accord with NICE guidance.
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