After the lovely spinal tap, I waited with bated breath for what seemed like forever that day. Two Neurologists (mine and I believe another in the practice) came in later in the evening to deliver my diagnosis from the spinal tap: RRMS. Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. Supposedly undoubtedly 99.9% sure. "Neurologists testing for MS are looking for the presence of oligoclonal banding (O bands) in spinal fluid, which can prove the presence of immune system abnormalities in the central nervous system. As many as 90 percent of people with MS exhibit O bands in their spinal fluid."
I was handed a pamphlet from the National MS Society that gave all the options for DMD's or Disease Modifying Drugs for my illness. The doctors suggested Copaxone or one other injectable medication. I panicked. Daily injections, what?! Here was the run down of options that sounded like another language to me at the time. I remember writing in my journal on that day that Copaxone had the least complications to the liver, but man, didn't they all seem like there were WAY too many bad side effects to HELP someone with MS, or was that just me?
Injectable medications
Avonex (interferon beta-1a)
Betaseron (interferon beta-1b)
Copaxone (glatiramer acetate)
Extavia (interferon beta-1b)
Glatiramer Acetate Injection (glatiramer acetate -generic equivalent of Copaxone 20 mg and 40 mg doses)
Glatopa (glatiramer acetate - generic equivalent of Copaxone 20mg and 40mg doses)
Kesimpta® (ofatumumab)
Plegridy (peginterferon beta-1a)
Rebif (interferon beta-1a)
Oral medications
Aubagio (teriflunomide)
Bafiertam (monomethyl fumarate)
Dimethyl Fumarate (dimethyl fumarate - generic equivalent of Tecfidera)
Gilenya (fingolimod)
Mavenclad (cladribine)
Mayzent (siponimod)
Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate)
Vumerity (diroximel fumarate)
Zeposia (ozanimod)
Infused medications
Lemtrada (alemtuzumab)
Novantrone (mitoxantrone)
Ocrevus (ocrelizumab)
Tysabri (natalizumab)
Instead of overwhelming myself, I decided to read each night when my family and friends had left. I dove in and joined some Facebook groups on MS, I researched other Neurologists, read many medical journals, bought every book on MS on Amazon, and then started unraveling what would be my truth: I did not want to put any of this in my body, my temple. I read about LDN therapy (not for me yet), CBD, MMJ, also read that acupuncture, cupping, massage, yoga, tai chi, and reiki along with a clean "modified Wahl's protocol diet" and taking certain supplements would be my "holistic approach" and possibly bring back MY STRENGTH. The fear left, and the brain took over. I wanted to know everything about this disease and how it took hold of my brain, and destroyed some of my myelin. After chatting with my nutritionist, we uncovered my two goals: avoid progression of the disease, and improve my quality of life. We needed to focus on decreasing flare ups and keeping inflammation down. Now that we had a goal, we needed to keep focused on the journey ahead.