March 3, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias Let’s talk about MS fatigue and the effectiveness of treatment options Want to reduce your multiple sclerosis (MS) fatigue? Maybe we should talk about it. I’m talking about a fatigue treatment called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which usually involves changing a person’s thinking and behavior. By talking with a therapist, sometimes on the phone, a patient develops an…
June 24, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Why I’m Giving 3 MS Medications Another Try Over the many years I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis (MS), I’ve used several medications to treat my MS symptoms. Some have helped, some haven’t, and some worked at first but then lost their efficacy. I recently returned to three of them that I’d stopped using for various reasons.
April 8, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Crossing the Lemtrada Finish Line I’m marking a big anniversary this month. It’s been four years since I finished the second round of treatment with Lemtrada (alemtuzumab), my final disease-modifying therapy (DMT). That means that, after about 60 monthly blood draws, I’m finished being stuck. Lemtrada is usually a two-phase series of injections, with…
March 2, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah The Double-edged Sword of Fatigue Medications āI close my eyes/ Only for a moment then the momentās gone/ All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity.ā ā Kansas, “Dust in the Wind”Ā The dark cloud of fatigue first swept through my mind toward the end of 2018. I was no stranger to physical fatigue,…
February 11, 2022 Columns by John Connor The Big Blue Bag and a ‘Cast Away’ Bed Once upon a time, long, long ago, when I was very young, we British children would be asked, “Whatās through the round window?” The line was from a TV series called “Play School.” The swinging ’60s may have been breaking in London, but culturally, this was the happening show…
January 26, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah The Trials and Tribulations of MS Medications “Hey, man, I’m alive. I’m taking each day and night at a time/ I’m feeling like a Monday but someday I’ll be Saturday night.” ā Bon Jovi Multiple sclerosis (MS) medications can generally be separated into two categories: disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) and those that help to manage symptoms. While…
October 1, 2021 Columns by Beth Ullah I Think, Therefore I Am More Than My Mental Fatigue āA river cuts through rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence.ā ā James N. Watkins Fatigue is arguably the most disruptive symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS). At least it is for me. It has an awful lot to answer for. And it will.
December 11, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD MS Patients Urged to Enroll in Clinical Trial Assessing Chronic Fatigue Treatments Adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) are being urged to enroll in a new clinical trial ā now recruiting in Washington and Michigan states ā that aims to assess the effectiveness of different treatments to counteract the effects of chronic fatigue. The investigators are hopeful that data from this…
December 4, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias There Is No Magic Pill for MS Fatigue I’ve been tired all day, which is nothing new, as fatigue and multiple sclerosis go hand in hand. It’s been one of my primary symptoms since I was diagnosed in 1980. To counter it, I’ve taken Provigil (modafinil) for many years. Initially, taking 100 mg in the morning helped…
September 12, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: Should I Disclose My MS at Work? Editor’s note: “Need to Knowā is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “When do you tell your employer about your MS?” from Jan. 15,…
March 22, 2018 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Modafinil or Amantadine: Who Decides? Fatigue. That No. 1 symptom that a large majority of people with multiple sclerosis are affected by. MS fatigue. It can be crushing, numbing, and stop the hardiest person in their tracks. I know MS fatigue all too well because it affects me all the time. Combating MS…