Monday, March 30, 2009
MS Walk 2009
I will be walking in the 2009 Tulsa MS Walk on Saturday the 4th of April. You can sponsor me at this link. Or if you like, you can join my team and walk with us! We'd love to have you along.
Status after a few days
I've traded calls with Dr. M and it turns out that I need to take my MB12 at 1000mcg 3 times a day for the first month or so to get my body 'up to speed' and then I should be able to back off to a maintenance dose. I've been taking 1/day since I got them but have only started with 3 / day, (7am, noon, 7pm) this past Saturday. I cannot say that I've had real noticeable / attributable effects, but I certainly have had no side-effects.
I played with the kids in the snow Saturday and ended up hurting my ankle somehow so I'll see someone after I see how I heal over the next day or two. I have a good brace from my last ankle injury so it isn't nearly as bad now as it was overnight (as it woke me up every time I moved).
Oh I've also gone through my posts and other than Dr. Brouse (who has an internet site set up to deal with inquiries about his nutrition-based practice), I've tried to remove listings to my Dr.'s names and left them as initials. This works out at least for now since none of my doctors have the same last initial. I just don't want anyone to try and seek them out directly regarding anything I post here, since this is my story and not theirs. :)
I played with the kids in the snow Saturday and ended up hurting my ankle somehow so I'll see someone after I see how I heal over the next day or two. I have a good brace from my last ankle injury so it isn't nearly as bad now as it was overnight (as it woke me up every time I moved).
Oh I've also gone through my posts and other than Dr. Brouse (who has an internet site set up to deal with inquiries about his nutrition-based practice), I've tried to remove listings to my Dr.'s names and left them as initials. This works out at least for now since none of my doctors have the same last initial. I just don't want anyone to try and seek them out directly regarding anything I post here, since this is my story and not theirs. :)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Got my B12 yesterday
It finally got here! So now begins the logging for posterity. They are 1mg (1000mcg) tablets that dissolve under your tongue. I took one last night just because I was excited. I cannot say it made me feel any different, but Dr. M said that it may take weeks or months for me to get to a point of measurable results since the whole purpose if to simply arm my body with nutrients for it to do 'its own work'.
I took another this morning and will be calling Dr. M later today to tell him of my official start and about this blog so he can better keep track of me without phone calls all of the time.
Just for the record, I took it after I had my protein shake and vitamins that I do every morning. My daily vitamins include Vitalizer, 10 x Alfalfa, 4 x OsteoMatrix, 1x Saw Palmetto, 1xZinc. My protein shake is 1c. Vanilla Soy with Shaklee's Chocolate cinch added (but only 1/2 the normal Cinch shake volume).
The tablets themsleves taste like nothing even though they say they have some flavor added. Perhaps they would be terrible without the additive... As it dissolves it does feel a little grainy under the tongue, but it only takes about 3 minutes for it to be completely gone.
I took another this morning and will be calling Dr. M later today to tell him of my official start and about this blog so he can better keep track of me without phone calls all of the time.
Just for the record, I took it after I had my protein shake and vitamins that I do every morning. My daily vitamins include Vitalizer, 10 x Alfalfa, 4 x OsteoMatrix, 1x Saw Palmetto, 1xZinc. My protein shake is 1c. Vanilla Soy with Shaklee's Chocolate cinch added (but only 1/2 the normal Cinch shake volume).
The tablets themsleves taste like nothing even though they say they have some flavor added. Perhaps they would be terrible without the additive... As it dissolves it does feel a little grainy under the tongue, but it only takes about 3 minutes for it to be completely gone.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Signed Up
...For the 2009 Tulsa MS Walk! Sponsor me! Every little bit helps, even $1. It all adds up.
My Sponsor Page
My Sponsor Page
Monday, March 23, 2009
Home Again
Drove home yesterday from the lake; want to church, etc. I was very tired yesterday, SDC caught up with me. My calves were sore (and still are today), but it was nice to sleep in my bed last night. We hired a new guy Brian at work and I'm excited about that. Looking forward to getting to some projects. My new B12 said it shipped but it isn't here yet :(
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Silver Dollar City
Went there today. Took my walking stick for the first time in a 'real' place to use it. We went on the Marvel Cave tour which was a real test of my endurance in general, but also gave me a great chance to see how differently I may feel using my stick. At any rate, it was fantastic fun, perhaps my favorite trip of perhaps 5 or 6 times we've gone so far. The cave tour was not as difficult as they had made us believe, but was certainly as amazing! I made it through the day pretty well. I felt less fatigued than I did last time I went, at least I'm sure in part to my stick, but until summer is fully upon us, I won't be able to fully comment on how much it helped.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Getting Back to it...
Well there is not a whole lot to say other than I've been terribly remiss in posting here. There has both been a lot and then again, not much at all going on in my life. That is how it is sometimes. Some things are crazy and others change very little.
I'll start with what has not changed much, and that / those are my symptoms. Thankfully I have not had a lot of change although it is progressive MS so I do not anticipate having many material events. That said, I do notice that I am fatiguing a little easier and the whole walking / balance thing is still a real struggle at times, especially at the end of the day. I have been consistently seeing my trainer, which helps my confidence as much as it helps my abilities.
So for what _has_ been going on. 1) Doctors, 2) Vacation plans!
1) I've seen three new doctors since my last posts. I saw a Sports medicine doctor 'Dr. S.' (osteopathic / surgery / etc) because Marsha (my trainer, but she is actually a Medical Exercise Specialist so trainer is woefully inadequate a description for what she does for helping me) and I noticed that during certain exercises my left knee would drift outside of the natural 'over the toes' alignment we would expect. In that vein, Dr. S said that it the angles my joints want to be in, that may be a normal issue but with my MS affecting my right side it is being exaggerated. Off to Dr. K, a physical therapy specialist for MS / balance and the like. He said 'Wow, you are very slow to react visually and balance...' once again verifying what I've known for a while :) At any rate, he gave me exercises to do three times a day but I've been remiss in doing them for numerous reasons, including laziness, feeling silly doing them, and the fact that the eye reaction speed stuff gives me a headache. For this discussion we'll stick to laziness as the culprit. The other thing Dr. K mentioned is energy conservation. I heard that and said "I don't want a cane at 35!" and he says, "not a cane, a staff". My immediate response was "But I'm not Gandalf either". We both had a good chuckle out of that and he went on to explain that hikers use a walking stick or staff all of the time to steady themselves and since it takes a lot of energy for me to maintain balance, it would greatly assist me if I am walking more than around the house. I recently purchased a Swiss Gear collapsing hiking stick form Walmart for about $15. It really made me feel decrepit the first time I used it. BUT, on a trip to Eureka Springs for my anniversary, it made an enormous difference as after walking around in the hilly country, I was able to maintain a lot of energy through the day. It had made a huge difference.
I switched primary care doctors form Dr. W to Dr. M (as you can see I'm trying to not name them directly, and also I've been blessed with not having all of my doctors named Smith). Dr. W was fantastic and really the reason for switching is that Dr. M is about 20 miles closer to home and he is personally interested in trying new things (non pharmaceuticals since I have an aversion to that).
Dr. M and I have been looking at something that may help and I'll be posting daily or thereabouts when I 'start'. What we have been looking at what Vitamin B12, specifically METHYLcobalamin (as there are multiple kinds of cobalamin (B12)). Methylcobalamin is what your body ands up producing via some liver processes that I don't understand. What I do understand is that Methylcobalamin is used in the myelin repair process (woohoo for a repair process there). We've no idea if it will help, but it is a reasonable shot. I will be documenting my experience(s) here. Already we have found that inject-able mc has a two week shelf-life and is going to be too expensive to put it to any material test. I have found a sublingual (under the tongue) tablet form that is stable and inexpensive. I will doing my testing with this product (links to Amazon page). I don't have it yet, but this is the place to read about it as it happens.
2) VACATION! We are going to take the kids (and my walking stick) to Florida this June for a week at Disney World. We are all very excited about it.
OK. That is it for catch-up. Hopefully my new trial will start in the next week or so!
I'll start with what has not changed much, and that / those are my symptoms. Thankfully I have not had a lot of change although it is progressive MS so I do not anticipate having many material events. That said, I do notice that I am fatiguing a little easier and the whole walking / balance thing is still a real struggle at times, especially at the end of the day. I have been consistently seeing my trainer, which helps my confidence as much as it helps my abilities.
So for what _has_ been going on. 1) Doctors, 2) Vacation plans!
1) I've seen three new doctors since my last posts. I saw a Sports medicine doctor 'Dr. S.' (osteopathic / surgery / etc) because Marsha (my trainer, but she is actually a Medical Exercise Specialist so trainer is woefully inadequate a description for what she does for helping me) and I noticed that during certain exercises my left knee would drift outside of the natural 'over the toes' alignment we would expect. In that vein, Dr. S said that it the angles my joints want to be in, that may be a normal issue but with my MS affecting my right side it is being exaggerated. Off to Dr. K, a physical therapy specialist for MS / balance and the like. He said 'Wow, you are very slow to react visually and balance...' once again verifying what I've known for a while :) At any rate, he gave me exercises to do three times a day but I've been remiss in doing them for numerous reasons, including laziness, feeling silly doing them, and the fact that the eye reaction speed stuff gives me a headache. For this discussion we'll stick to laziness as the culprit. The other thing Dr. K mentioned is energy conservation. I heard that and said "I don't want a cane at 35!" and he says, "not a cane, a staff". My immediate response was "But I'm not Gandalf either". We both had a good chuckle out of that and he went on to explain that hikers use a walking stick or staff all of the time to steady themselves and since it takes a lot of energy for me to maintain balance, it would greatly assist me if I am walking more than around the house. I recently purchased a Swiss Gear collapsing hiking stick form Walmart for about $15. It really made me feel decrepit the first time I used it. BUT, on a trip to Eureka Springs for my anniversary, it made an enormous difference as after walking around in the hilly country, I was able to maintain a lot of energy through the day. It had made a huge difference.
I switched primary care doctors form Dr. W to Dr. M (as you can see I'm trying to not name them directly, and also I've been blessed with not having all of my doctors named Smith). Dr. W was fantastic and really the reason for switching is that Dr. M is about 20 miles closer to home and he is personally interested in trying new things (non pharmaceuticals since I have an aversion to that).
Dr. M and I have been looking at something that may help and I'll be posting daily or thereabouts when I 'start'. What we have been looking at what Vitamin B12, specifically METHYLcobalamin (as there are multiple kinds of cobalamin (B12)). Methylcobalamin is what your body ands up producing via some liver processes that I don't understand. What I do understand is that Methylcobalamin is used in the myelin repair process (woohoo for a repair process there). We've no idea if it will help, but it is a reasonable shot. I will be documenting my experience(s) here. Already we have found that inject-able mc has a two week shelf-life and is going to be too expensive to put it to any material test. I have found a sublingual (under the tongue) tablet form that is stable and inexpensive. I will doing my testing with this product (links to Amazon page). I don't have it yet, but this is the place to read about it as it happens.
2) VACATION! We are going to take the kids (and my walking stick) to Florida this June for a week at Disney World. We are all very excited about it.
OK. That is it for catch-up. Hopefully my new trial will start in the next week or so!
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