February 3, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Listen to the Music of Multiple Sclerosis You may not have heard this song, but I bet its lyrics will strike a chord. I cannot feel my body. I cannot feel my face. My legs are pins and needles…
January 31, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS and Falling the ‘Right Way’ Uh oh! My cat, T.J., is under my feet trying to nibble my ankles as I stumble toward the bathroom in the middle of the night. I know what’s about to happen. As I try not to…
January 27, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias My Lemtrada Coaster Has Been Rolling About two weeks ago I wrote about my roller-coaster ride being pretty smooth since my first round of Lemtrada infusions ended in early December. Well, the loops are now looping. Month two post-infusion began with a good lab…
January 24, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Pills, Shots or Infusions for Your MS? Oral multiple sclerosis meds appear, more and more, to be the first choice of patients who are just beginning to receive an MS treatment. A recent report by the independent marketing research firm Spherix Global…
January 20, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Bicycle is Designed to Mimic the Symptoms of MS Want to know what living with MS feels like? Take a ride on this bike. Those of us who have MS know that our disease has lots of symptoms. There are the legs that feel like they…
January 17, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Looking for a MS clinical trial? Here’s an Online Tool for That Many MS patients are in the hunt for multiple sclerosis clinical trials for which they can volunteer. But those trials are not always easy to find. On the other hand, researchers complain it also can be…
January 13, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Drug Treatment Costs Start the Year Headed Up I don’t think this will surprise you. Multiple sclerosis drugs, some of the most expensive drugs there are, are getting even more expensive. Drug industry analyst Eric Schmidt, quoted in the Boston Business Journal, reported that…
January 10, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Lemtrada for My MS: First Month Report It’s been a month since I completed my first round of Lemtrada infusions, so it’s time to bring everyone up to date on how things are going. I was told to expect a roller coaster of side…
January 6, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Are You In or Out of the MS Closet? An MS patient who reads my column sent a personal message last week. It began: “Sorry about the secrecy. I’m in the closet! Seriously, I haven’t told many people about my RRMS diagnosis, for many reasons. I really don’t…
December 23, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Still Waiting on Ocrevus Several months ago I wrote a blog on my personal website about Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), the first drug that’s designed specifically to treat primary progressive, as well as remitting, multiple sclerosis. The clinical trials for Ocrevus posted excellent…
December 20, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias MS, Mercury and My Mouth When I was a child my teeth had a lot of cavities So, I had lots of fillings in my mouth. The fillings were silver amalgam, which contain about 50% mercury. Mercury is a pretty toxic metal. In fact,…
December 16, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Lifting a Toast to Andrew Barclay I don’t want to write about Andrew Barclay. But I have to. Because Andrew Barclay could be you or me. Barclay died in early December. He was a former civil servant in the U.K. and a grandfather. He…
December 13, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias My Lemtrada Infusion: Five Days Done I’ll admit I was nervous as I sat in the infusion chair for Day 1 of Round 1 of my Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) infusions. I’d read a lot, and talked with my neurologist a lot, about the drug. I…
December 9, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Volunteers Needed to Make MS Research Project Meaningful Have you ever wondered how your MS experience compares with others? Your ability to go out and do things? The therapies you’ve used? Your symptoms? Your age and ethnic background? Researchers from the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple…
December 6, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Starting Down My Lemtrada Road Here we go. This is the week my Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) infusions begin. A few weeks ago I wrote about how Lemtrada has been successful in stopping disease progression in folks with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, and those who have…
December 2, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Beating the MS Clock I’m 68 years old. I’ve had multiple sclerosis since I was 32. I’m not sure where I expected this disease would take me when I was diagnosed 36 years ago, but I hoped that MS wouldn’t steal too…
November 29, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Let the Sun Shine (Moderately) on Your Multiple Sclerosis I love it when the sun is shining. I spend a lot of time outdoors in the summer, despite the impact of the heat on my multiple sclerosis. I love the warmth and the brightness. So, I lather…
November 22, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Information Overload Precedes Lemtrada Infusions You know the saying about having too much of a good thing? I think that’s me, right now, as I think about starting infusions of the multiple sclerosis drug Lemtrada on Dec. 5. Lemtrada is supposed to…
November 18, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Have Scooter, Will Travel (Part 2) My column, earlier this week, about traveling with a scooter, generated a couple of questions. What do you ride? Where did you get it? How much did it cost? Here are a few answers for the group. Less…
November 15, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Have Scooter, Will Travel “Round, round, get around. I get around.” I was humming that classic 1960s Beach Boys tune this morning (yes, I’m that old) as I thought about a feature story that I saw on one of the TV…
November 30, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Is multiple sclerosis everywhere, or am I just more aware of it now?
