Category Archives: MS and Bill Walker

MS and Does MS Cause Sciatica

Leave a reply

Sciatica is pain from an injured or irritated sciatic nerve. This is the longest, thickest nerve in the body. It starts in your buttocks area and runs down your legs into your feet. People with sciatica have mild to severe pain along the path of the nerve.1

Many people have sciatica, including some people with multiple sclerosis (MS). About 40 percent of people in the United States have sciatica at some point in their life. People who feel this type of pain may wonder if they have sciatica or MS. Some may think their sciatica is a symptom of MS.1

Experts once believed sciatica and MS were unrelated. But new research suggests there may be some links between the two.2

Symptoms of sciatica

People experience sciatica in different ways. Common symptoms of sciatica include:1,3

  • Lower back pain, usually on one side of the body
  • Pain that travels down the leg, typically one leg at a time
  • Leg weakness
  • A burning feeling in the buttocks
  • A tingling or pricking feeling that goes along with the pain
  • Pain that gets worse with movement
  • Loss of movement

Several of these symptoms are also common in people with MS.4

Causes of MS pain versus sciatica

Both sciatica and MS can lead to pain. However, the main causes are different. This is because the 2 conditions involve different parts of the nervous system.1,5,6

Your body’s nervous system has 2 parts:7

  • Central nervous system CNS – Your CNS includes your brain and spinal cord.
  • Peripheral nervous system PNS – Your PNS is everything else. It includes nerves that travel from your spinal cord and brain to every other part of your body.

MS is considered a disease of the CNS. In people with MS, the immune system attacks the protective covering that surrounds nerve fibers in the brain, eyes, and spinal cord. This protective layer is called myelin. MS “short circuits” nerves that carry signals from the brain to the body.5,6

On the other hand, sciatica is not a disease of the immune system. The pain comes from direct pressure on the sciatic nerve, which is part of the PNS. Certain people are more likely to have sciatica than others. This includes those who have:1

  • Herniated or slipped discs
  • Diabetes
  • Physically demanding jobs
  • Osteoarthritis

Possible connections between sciatica and MS

For years, experts believed that MS affects only the CNS. However, some studies suggest that it also affects the PNS. For example, research has shown that people with MS have more damage to their sciatic nerves than those without the disease. This may mean the PNS is involved more often than experts once thought.2

More studies are needed to better understand how MS may impact the PNS, including the sciatic nerve. This could lead to new ways to diagnose and treat MS.2

Treatment for sciatica

Whether or not sciatica is related to MS, the condition can be painful. If you or a loved one has sciatica, speak to a doctor.

Fortunately, many people with sciatica get better with time and self-care. Treatment might include:1

  • Icing
  • Hot packs
  • Over-the-counter drugs like ibuprofen
  • Gentle stretching

If this does not provide relief, your doctor may recommend other options. They may include prescription drugs, physical therapy, and spinal injections. Surgery is not often needed. But your doctor might consider it if your symptoms do not improve within a year or so. Your care team can help you find the cause of sciatica and the best treatment.1

Reprinted from MS News Today

Spring & Summer Allergy Attack Season

Leave a reply

Spring & Summer Allergy Attack Season

It’s that time of year again, the spring and summer allergy sufferer’s season. A time when people start their day with an allergy pill to ward off the sniffling and sneezing that comes with the increased pollen from trees, weeds, and grasses. And you’re probably aware that little pill contains something called an antihistamine. But are you aware that antihistamines are diuretics?  Diuretics are compounds/drugs that cause the body to eliminate excess fluid from the body.  And when you add that on top of coffee, dark or green tea, and many sodas that also contain caffeine, which is also a diuretic, you can see where your body might have a hard time retaining enough fluid to maintain a healthy balance through the day.

      And there are some side effects that you need to be aware of while taking an antihistamine. If you also have dry skin, like I do, taking an allergy medication will most likely increase the itching and flaking of your dry skin. Your skin needs fluid to maintain its normal daily function as one of your organs. Another symptom that antihistamine/diuretic use can make much worse, is dry eye syndrome. If your body doesn’t have enough fluid your tear ducts may not be able to produce enough tears to keep your eyes moist during hot summer days. And swimming in chlorinated water can make that much worse as well. I used to hate the feeling of having something in my eyes like an eyelash that caused me to rub them all day long. That’s how it feels when your eyes aren’t producing enough tears.

     Don’t suffer through allergy season if you don’t have to. Drink plenty of fluids that don’t contain caffeine if you want to maintain a healthy balance of bodily fluids throughout these spring and summer days. And this hopefully should make allergy season just a little more tolerable.

Bill Walker Publisher

msandbeyond.com

An MS Blog

evergreenstatejournal.com

A political Blog

MS and the Holy Grail of MS Neural Repair

Leave a reply

A picture of me.

Bill Walker

MS and the Holy Grail of MS Neural Repair

A couple of days ago I got the latest edition of MS Focus Magazine. I found two paragraphs that brought me renewed hope for an effective treatment for MS. They are reprinted below.

Medicine & Research:

Of a slightly different mechanism than the previously mentioned monoclonal antibodies, temelimab targets a specific protein that is believed to have a role in the development of MS. MS is caused in part by increased inflammation in the central nervous system, and the intended mechanism of action for temelimab would be to relieve this inflammation to prevent progression. The medication should work to help fix the damage to the myelin sheath that occurs in MS.

By Ellen Whipple, Pharm.D.

Life with MS:

The Holy Grail of MS care is neural repair. By repairing areas of damaged myelin and axons or rerouting information around areas of damage, the hope is that we may be able to reverse disability. Numerous research projects around the world are focusing on this. It could be that the answer to reversing disability ends up coming from a non-MS field, such as spinal cord injury. Currently, phase II studies are ongoing with a molecule I’m excited about, elezanumab. If this monoclonal antibody does what we hope it will, it should regenerate axons in the brain and spinal cord.

By Dr. Ben Thrower, M.D.

It is this second paragraph that excites me the most. If it works, you would still have MS. But the chances are you wouldn’t experience any, or at least not as sever, symptoms as many of us currently suffer from. There is hope on the horizon!

MS Muscle Spacticity and a Soft Mattress

4 Replies

A picture of me.

Hey that’s me!

MS Muscle Spacticity and a Soft Mattress

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of many symptoms and no two people are the same. However many of us who suffer from this horrible condition experience muscle spacticity where are muscles tighten up from lack of use.

In my case I mostly feel these effects first thing in the morning as I’m waking up and getting out of bed. Fortunately I have found a few things that seem to help with this condition. The first one my doctor prescribed and that’s cyclobenzaprine 5 mg as needed. It works pretty well and also has the extra benefit of helping me sleep. The drawback is that it helps me sleep to well sometimes making it hard to wake up when I want or have too. And I don’t like taking a lot of pills either.

The second thing I’ve found that helps is a very soft mattress. I have about six inches of egg crate foam mattresses on top of my regular mattress. This seems to work pretty well for me as I can mostly sleep through the night without getting up to stretch. I was also told that I could try a memory foam mattress that would achieve the same purpose. The draw back with memory foam is that it reflects heat back into your body even more so than egg crates. And we all know that heat is an enemy of multiple sclerosis.

And if you also occasionally get charlie horses where your muscles tighten up into what feels like a very painful ball I suggest drinking a cup of tonic water everyday. This little piece of advice came from an old golfer I met a few years ago. And it also might help with spacticity as the quinine helps to loosen up overexerted muscles. He told me that lots of athletes drink tonic water just for that reason. And if you decide to add a shot of vodka or gin and a lime to it, that might help your muscles relax as well? In moderation of course and only when you don’t have to drive anywhere.

Peace to all of my ms and beyond readers!

Bill Walker

MS PAIN AND ICING DOWN THE SPINAL COLUMN

1 Reply

MS PAIN AND ICING DOWN THE SPINAL COLUMN

A picture of me.

Bill Walker

 I need to start by saying that I am not advocating that anyone do what I did and, in fact, still do. I’m only telling you my story of what I did quite frequently especially early on in my first initial attacks. And yes, it did and still does, help quite a bit if my pain becomes too intense.

     My first major attack was downright brutal. My legs locked up to the point where I was walking like I was standing on stilts. And my feet burned made even worse by the

hundreds of needle like pricks that I felt with every step I took. But the worst pain was in my sciatic nerves running up and down both my right and left legs. And it didn’t take long for this nearly intolerable pain to move up into my lower back making every bend and twist an agonizing experience.

     And it wasn’t long after these first symptoms that my MS moved into my hands causing my fingers to curl up to the point where I could barely get my hand to open. And finally came the flashing in my eyes and the dizzy spells that more than once sent me to my knees on the floor.

     And these were just the physical symptoms. I also had to deal with the fear of being attacked by something that even my doctor was totally perplexed about. Oh, and did I mention that I was between jobs and had absolutely no insurance at the time?

     In the beginning my doctor put me on 800 mg of Ibuprofen every six hours. And I’m sure the fact that did absolutely nothing won’t come as a surprise to any of you who also have multiple sclerosis. And since I didn’t have insurance and couldn’t really afford to see a neurologist right away I was left with only one solution that I felt might bring some relief. I went to a hardware store and purchased several of the blue icy packs that you freeze and put into coolers to keep food and drinks cold when traveling or going camping. 

     As soon as they were frozen I started laying on them with one or two of them positioned along my lower back for literally hours at a time. And thankfully it started to relieve my pain almost immediately. And then after a few days I noticed that both my legs and my hands began to loosen up to the point where I could stand and walk almost normally again and stretch my fingers to their fullest extension.

     I kept this up for weeks as the attack slowly subsided overall. At one point I had my spinal column so cold I could feel my nervous system rattle inside my body. This was a very strange experience because I could feel my nerves buzzing inside my brain.

     Fortunately after my initial attack I have never had one that severe again but I still used ice for years after this whenever I had an exacerbation with intense pain. And every time I did it my pain subsided to a point where it was at least tolerable. And I still do this though not anywhere near as much as I used too.

     The surprising thing about this over all of these years, is that none of my neurologists have ever said not to do this, though they’ve never really said that it was a great idea either. The two things that I will add here is that it’s cheap and it’s drug free which you can’t say about most other MS treatments on the market!

By Bill Walker

 

REQUEST FOR SPECIAL PET STORIES

I’m requesting stories from any and all of you who have ever had a pet die and than return in any way to let you know that they survived death and came back to ease your fears about their crossing. I think I’m going to write a book about pets surviving death as I have had like at least three of my pets return after death to comfort me after their transition.

What I would like for you to do is to first write the experience you had out in long hand and put it down for a day, or a little while, and then type it out and send it to me at the email address below. If and when I write the book I will certainly let everyone know especially if their story made it into the book. This is kind of a nonscientific study that I am undertaking so I would love to hear from you all if you’ve got a story to tell. The reason for having you write it out twice is that usually after you write something once and wait a little bit your mind starts to recall the experience and you often remember more than you did in your first draft. And I want the stories to be as in-depth as they possibly can be.

Please send your stories to: wc.walker@yahoo.com

Thank you in advance. And please ask around family and friends to see if they have stories to contribute. Please put, Pets surviving Death, in the subject box!

MS and Stem Cell Particles

Leave a reply

A picture of me.

Bill Walker                                                                   

This is a reprint from a recent study:

Dr. Metcalfe, who is based at Cambridge University in England, is currently looking for funding to further develop her theory that using a stem cell particle called a LIF would switch off the body’s auto-immune cells and help repair the brain.

In addition to being able to switch off the body’s autoimmune response, LIF also protects the brain and spinal cord — the areas affected by multiple sclerosis — and aids in repairing tissue, including brain tissue.

The research has not been smooth sailing. Metcalfe has found that LIF cannot survive outside the cell for more than 20 minutes before being broken down by the body, making it difficult to use as a therapy. However, she has found that nanoparticles could be the answer to the problem, as they can be used to help deliver the LIF therapy. By using antibodies with the nanoparticles, the therapy can be directed to certain areas of the brain — helping to repair damage caused by multiple sclerosis.

Metcalfe is now looking for research funding and hopes that one of the big pharmaceutical companies will step in. She hopes to begin clinical trials of the therapy by 2020.

MS and Gut Bacteria

Leave a reply

A picture of me.

Bill Walker

This is a reprint from a recent study.

A study has found that microbes in your gut may influence the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS). It could be a key step towards specific treatment, and help solve what causes MS.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, two different teams conducted separate research and made the same findings. One was from the University of California, San Francisco, and the other from the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

The first team investigated the gut microbiomes of 71 MS patients and 71 control subjects. They identified specific species of bacteria that were more common in the former than the latter. Next, they exposed these bacteria to human immune cells, and found that two species triggered cells to become pro-inflammatory. One found at lower levels triggered immune responses.

In tests on mice, they found that these bacteria had a similar effect. Replacing mice microbiomes with those from an MS patient caused the mice to lose immune-regulatory cells and develop neurodegeneration, a pathway to MS.

The second study came to a similar conclusion, finding that microbiome transplants could increase symptoms in mice.

“Two different groups, using two separate cohorts of patients and controls, and two distinct mouse models of the disease, saw very similar results,” Egle Cekanaviciute said in a statement, who was involved in both studies. “This is very promising evidence that we’re on the right track.”

MS affects about 2.5 million people across the globe, and is known as an autoimmune neurodegenerative disorder. It can lead to loss of vision, weakness, and even paralysis. It’s caused by the immune system attacking the insulation around nerve cells, called myelin, but scientists have been at a loss to explain why this occurs.

These latest studies could provide an answer. While the microbiome probably isn’t the only trigger, it could play a role. This could lead to some new treatments in the future to help tackle MS.

“The microbiome is very malleable,” said Sergio Baranzini, also involved in both studies. “You could relatively easily change it in an adult who has MS or is susceptible – something you cannot do with their genetics. This is not a magical approach, but it is hopeful.”

MS and Reducing Summer Car Heat

2 Replies

A picture of me.

Bill Walker

We all know that summer heat and humidity are absolutely brutal on people with multiple sclerosis. And escaping it is almost impossible to do. But one area where everyone, ms or not dreads is getting into a car that has been sunbathing for a few hours and the internal temperature is usually somewhere in the 120 degree range.

There is a somewhat easy choice to reduce some of that direct sunlight. You’ve probably already seen them and perhaps laughed at some of the more goofy ones. If you’ve ever wondered if those car screens in the front window, and occasionally in the back as well, work? They do, and are very effective in keeping your car from becoming a roaster oven.

You can buy these screens at Walmart and other similar stores. And also keep your windows cracked open just enough to let any heat that may build up to escape. You can also invest in solar powered window fans that run off the power of the sun while your not in the car keeping the air moving so the heat moves out any cracked windows.

Try to stay cool and have a great summer everybody!

Bill Walker

Do you know a literary agent or book publisher that would be willing to read my book? If so please email me and let me know. 

MS a Child with Cancer and a Kitten

Leave a reply

A picture of me.

Bill Walker

The power of having a pet, in this case a kitten, can change people’s lives forever. The following true short story was published in Parade Magazine a few weeks ago. And though it is not about multiple sclerosis it is nothing but pure love, so I decided to share it here. It brings hope that any disease can be cured!

 

ONE LAST WISH

 

Robin and Mark Myers, of Suwanne, GA., are grateful for the rescue that came into their family’s life when their 12-year-old daughter, Kylie, was battling cancer.

     “Cancer stole a lot from Kylie, but she was determined it wouldn’t steal her joy,” says Robin. When the family got the news that Kylie was dying. She looked up with a weak smile and a twinkle in her eye, asking her dad, “Now can I finally have a kitten?” Sharing their story on what would have been Kylie’s 15th birthday, Robin recalls, “We would’ve said yes to anything.”

     A friend swung by the local shelter and rushed to Kylie’s bedside with a kitten. Kylie named her Liza and the kitten curled up in the crook of her arm. “Liza just stayed there and didn’t leave her side at all in the few days until we lost Kylie,” Robin recalls through tears. “The last thing Kylie said was, ‘I want you to help find a cure for childhood cancer, and please take care of my kitty.’

     “But it’s Liza, who takes care of me, “says Robin. “When I cry, Liza comes running. She has an uncanny understanding. She rescued our family and keeps Kylie’s spirit alive.” (Visit Parade Magazines website for a video. Sorry, many sites that I publish on will not permit links.)

    

     (The FDA just approved a way to enhance the body’s own immune system to attack, Lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, which has been effective in curing 85% of the patients that have received this new breakthrough treatment. It is hoped that this treatment can one day soon be developed for use in all types of cancers for both humans and pets as well. Making cancer a disease of the past!)

 

Please support your local shelter and adopt whenever you can. And always get your pets spay or neutered.

Bill Walker

MS Turmeric and Inflammation

Leave a reply

A picture of me.

That would be me!

     Turmeric is derived from the spice curry used extensively in India. It’s health benefits range from helping to treat constipation to also being a huge anti-inflammatory agent. I personally had read so many great things about turmeric , including that some people believed it have something to do with India’s very small incidence of Multiple Sclerosis, that I just had to give it a try. 

     That was over a year ago and unfortunately I did not experience the health benefits that I had hoped to achieve. I am certainly not saying that it doesn’t provide benefits to other people but it doesn’t seem to do much for me except cost money. It may come down to each persons own body chemistry being a factor in whether turmeric has a positive effect or not. I know that researchers are discovering that many cancer drugs can work wonders for some people and have absolutely little if any effect for others.

     In closing, if it works for you, by all means keep using it as long as your neurologist and general practitioner are aware of you using it as many supplements like turmeric can have undesirable effects when used with other prescribed drugs!   

by

Bill Walker

 

PS. I am still in search of a literary agent/publisher for my book if anyone can help by putting in a good word for me!