Our 30 year old daughter was told yesterday that her doctor believes she has MS. Has had all types of symptoms for several years, and we have all put it down to being a hypochondriac, as she has always craved attention, and when younger, faked illness whenever it was convenient for her. She is often not able to go to work, because she just "doesn't feel well". Is tired all the time, achy, etc. Does anyone have any experience with natural or holistic methods to deal with this? She is probably at the begining stages, and doesn't know what "type" she has. Won't stop smoking, no matter what, so that is out. Her doctor just told her to check the discovery channel's website, for info. She doesn't have any medical insurance, so is looking for alternate ways to handle this, so that she can at least work. Thanks for any advice or info you might have. Jan

-- Jan in Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), December 02, 2000

Answers

Hi, I'm sorry about your daughter. I've been helping my sister, who was diagnosed with MS several years ago, find various alternative options for curing MS. Conventional doctors don't have much hope to offer. The very first thing I would do for your daughter is have her go to a qualified dentist and get all the mercury out of her teeth! I know that sounds ridiculous, but I can almost guarantee she has mercury poisoning, the symptoms of which are very like MS. You might have to search quite a bit, but these dentists can be found. Do a search on the internet for mercury. You'll be surprised. Mary

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), December 02, 2000.

I've heard that Essiac/Floressence can help; also there is a whole treatment based on getting bees to sting you - their venom has some homeopathic type affect. Must be more info on the web on these things.

-- Christina W (introibo@address.com), December 02, 2000.

Quit smoking. Period. Not an option to continue. I'm surprised her doctor hasn't been more insistant on that one.

A few years ago a researcher was working on a link btwn severe allergies, arthritis, and MS.I didn't keep up,though.

But this is why I said for her to quit smoking.That's a big allergenic item for people, and if there is the link, then the smoking really needs to go.I have extremely bad allergies,at times life threatening, so that's where my perspective lies.

Also get allergy tested to see what pops up.Not a cure,but avoiding allergens can really improve quailty of life if that is an underlying factor.I personally opted out of shots, but to each his own.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 02, 2000.

I don't smoke, so I don't know first hand, but my acupuncturist has a course of treatment for quitting smoking. There are tests to confirm mercury poisoning, hair analysis being one of them, before you go to the expense and pain of having all your fillings replaced. Did you know that the phrase "mad as a hatter" came to be because the mercury used in hat making poisoned the hatmakers?

My acupuncturist would probably say that MS can be helped with acupuncture. You might check in your area for a good acupuncturist.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), December 02, 2000.

Wish it were that simple, that she would just agree to quitting or at least trying to quit smoking, as it really effects her general health. She is always coughing. Right now she is in the mode of feeling sorry for herself, and I don't blame her for feeling angry and sad about it, but she isn't a strong person, or one to do what has to be done to help herself deal with this. I am hoping she will at least try some of the suggestions. No, the mercury removal doesn't sound crazy, I've heard a lot about it. Thanks for the input, and I will keep trying to find out what I can for her. Jan

-- Jan in Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), December 02, 2000.

Jan , my dad has had ms for probally 20 years .There are all kinds of new treatments .First get her on state insurance no matter how you do it .Stop smoking and drinking and get on an exercise plan .The stronger your muscles the better .Contact the national chapter for ms and have them send you everything they can .If she has the will she can live a relatively normal life for a long time.

-- Patty (fodfarms@slic.com), December 02, 2000.

BEE STING THEREPY ! It works on people that are not allergic. It has brought somewheel chair bound MS patients back to walking and "cured " others. It requires 5 stings a day forever and ever though. Worth a try.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), December 02, 2000.

There are some great suggestions here! Only one I would respectfully disagree with would be Patty's (no offense), at least as far as the MS association goes. Their therapies are right in line with the medical establishment's, and do little good as far getting to the root of the disease. I too would recommend removal of mercury amalgam fillings first. Be sure to use someone who is well versed in the proper procedure, or you can do more harm than good. It is difficult in some areas to find a dentist brave enough to do this, since many are constantly threatened with losing their license for daring to break accepted protocol. If you need help finding a dentist, contact the HUggins Institute in CO; last number I have for them is 800-331-2303; or perhaps the Price-Pottenger people can help (www.price-pottenger.org). I would also agree with detoxification (i sound like a broken record sometimes, but I really do believe in this for a myriad of conditions, and just for general health). It is great that she is in the early stages; it is much easier to reverse if attention is paid to natural healing modalites from first diagnosis. Jan, it is very heartwarming that you recognize the emotional aspects of this disease, because IMHO, they are paramount. You seem to recognize that there is only so much you can do to help someone else; we all unfortunately must eventually get in touch with our own power to heal ourselves. When I am dealing with MS patients, I always emphasize the work that needs to be done on a spiritual level along with the physical stuff, cuz I havent found that it works otherwise. It is my belief that MS in particular is one of those life- challenging events that we bring to our lives because of its power to change our thinking , and to therefore change our lives. In other words, as weird as it sounds to some people, I believe it is a gift from God. In eastern religions, conditions that are muli-systemic like MS have to do with awakening wisdom, and that can be a very beautiful and life-changing thing. Many people believe that MS has a direct connection to hardness of the heart,iron will, inflexibility, which of course is all based on fear. I feel she has wounds, as do we all, that need some hard spiritual work to heal,to learn to love herself, just as she is, with no conditions, but of course she needs to come to that place on her own, no one can do it for her. As far as natural physical therapies: stay away from phony fats (margarine, hydrogenated oils); take ginkgo biloba thrice a day, about 50 mg each time; 1 TBSP flaxseed oil/day; 800 IU Vit E;eat lots of fish, or take organic fish oil caps;400mcg selenium; make sure she is getting lots of B12, depending on her diet; pancreatin (10X) 500 mg thrice a day on empty stomach. You have my heartfelt empathy for wishing we could change the habits and thinking patterns of those we love; best of luck to you, and I am puttin your daughter on my spiritual group's prayer list. There is always hope for a beautiful tomorrow!! Blessings, Earthmama

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), December 02, 2000.

I believe that what we eat plays a very important part in our overall health. I recently went to a web site about the paleolithic diet as was suggested by someone on this forum just because I am looking for a healthy way of eating and I noticed that one of the sites was about a man who was extremely crippled by MS and changed to the paleolithic diet and became symptom free and lived to be in his 80s. Those of you who know about MS will know that it typically causes much quicker deterioration in men than in women and the fact that this man lived to be 80 is unheard of. I strongly recommend that she examine her eating patterns, not from the perspective that it caused MS but that it caused her body to not be able to overcome the effects of it. If she changes her diet, it will help her body to cope with it.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), December 02, 2000.

Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Neurology, has an excellent online forum for people with MS as well as other neurologic disorders. There are all kinds of forum questions and responses which deal with "natural"as well as conventional treatments. The MS Foundation is also online and for people with no health insurance coverage, they offer free medical consults with MS experts as well as free medicine if indicated. As an aside, just because her physician has indicated that she MIGHT have MS, it is far from a definitive diagnosis. MS is primarily a diagnosis of exclusion; neurological deficits, occuring at least upon two separate occasions which cannot be explained by any other illness, as well as an abnormal MRI of the brain or spine. The catagories are: Possible MS, Probable MS, and MS. Some of the other illnesses frequently misdiagnosed as MS are; complicated migraine without headache and "mini" strokes, especially in smokers or women who are on oral contraceptives; also Lupus and other collagen diseases and Lymes Disease. Tests to rule out all of these other disorders must be done before any physician can diagnosis MS. Without insurance, these are quite costly.Since your daughter cannot work, perhaps as someone already suggested, she could obtain the necessary medical tests/care through a clinic environment via state-aid. Again, it is nice that her physician was honest with her and shared his/her concern that she MIGHT have MS (it's always great to have a doc who discusses things), yet I'm certain that the doc would agree that all of the above is necessary to actually arrive at a diagnosis of MS. It is impossible to treat something that you don't know for sure that you have. God bless.

-- Lesley (martchas@gateway.net), December 02, 2000.

Jan,

You said that the doctor "thinks" she has MS. I thought I was starting to get MS and had a great doctor who did the brain scans that showed it was not so. (I know, you said your daughter can't afford it but I'm just saying what happened to me) As it turned out, It was my chemical and food allergies that made it appear that I had some of the symptoms. IS THIS YOUR CHILDS WORLD? by Dr Doris Rapp may be a good reference to this.

Everyone seems to agree that she should stop smoking and change her diet. Good luck

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), December 03, 2000.

I have read numerous times that aspartame can cause MS type symptoms. I've read medical articles confirming that this is true, if she uses aspartame (is she a diet Pepsi drinker?) and you are interrested I will try to find the article for you.

-- Julie (julieamc@excite.com), December 04, 2000.

So sorry to hear about your daughter. Is your daughter willing to visit a holistic practitioner, say a local community herbalist or nutritionist that operates on a sliding scale basis? If so, it might be the best approach given the complexity of MS and the need to meet her individual needs. A good program should include quiting smoking (this is imperative), dietary changes (cut out the processed foods, no junk/sugar, no wheat), herbs, supplements and exercise in order to maintain physical function. Certain nervine and tonic herbs come to my mind for MS--oatstraw, St. John's Wort (great for nerve damage which in essence is what is happening with MS), Nettle, Gingko... Dealing with MS takes some serious lifestyle changes. I wish your daughter all the best. Amy

-- Amy C. (acook@in4web.com), December 06, 2000.

Out of curiosity - has she received a hepatitis B vaccine in the last year?

-- andrea smith (a-smith@mindspring.com), December 06, 2000.

As an update, after talking more with our daughter, she admits that she just freaked out when her doctor told her about the possible MS, and that was all she heard from then on. She has been back, and was told that she "ruined" the MRI, and that it needs to be repeated, and some other possible illnesses ruled out. She says no way will she quit smoking, as it "relaxes her" and she just can't deal with things, otherwise. She hasn't had a Hepatitis vac. for several years, if ever, she says. I just am going to "go with the flow" until more testing is done, or something more definite comes up from the doctor's end. Thanks everyone for your ideas and input. I really appreciate it. There is so much diverse knowledge on this forum, you all seem to come through with something whenever anyone needs a question answered. Thanks again, and God Bless. Jan

-- Jan in Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), December 07, 2000.

I was searching the Internet for Natural Dentists because I want to remove the mecury in my mouth and ran across your story. I realize it's mid-April and you posted your notes back in December, but would definitely suggest having your daughter remove the mercury in her mouth. If you found a good dentist, I would much appreciate the referral. Some people had suggestions re: diet and I would like to also emphasize that we truly "are what we eat." I know it's a cliche, but food has amazing healing properties. Two excellent books that will literally change your life are: 1. The Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates 2. The EI Syndrome by Dr. Sherry Rogers Also: ONE cigarette has over 4,000 chemicals in it; not just carbon monoxide, tar and nicotine, but arsenic, formaldehyde, and other very toxic substances. The smoking absolutely must go. Best wishes to you-

-- Terri (headoverheels28@hotmail.com), April 14, 2001.