Life After Downsizing: Coping

[percryston]

Hello Everyone,I hope that everyone is doing well or at least as well as can be expected. I have not posted on here for a few weeks for several reasons. It has been busier at my place of emloyment to to downsizing I get to do the work of two people instead of one, lol. I have to admit also I was trying not to fixate so much on all of my symptoms and do so much searching on the internet and at least for now the 10mg of Baclofen three times a day has brought my symptoms down to a manageable level. I am suppossed to get back in touch with my neuro in late October to set up a second MRI at a facility that has a more detailed machine. It seems that the neuro just wants to be sure that nothing is there that either was not caught by the first older and less powerfull MRI machine or that something has not developed or progressed since then. I don't think that he and I know that I have no worries what so ever that I have *** do to the strength that I maintain day in and day out. A perfect example of both how my strength has not declined as well as how beneficial the Baclofen has been is the little weekend excursion that my girlfriend and her eight year old daughter and myslef took last Saturday and Sunday. We spent two days in Natural Bridge Virginia walking the trails which consist of about a mile and a half one way trip and about 142 steps and even visited the Caverns which at the lowest point are fourteen stories underground. And after a full day of hiking/walking on Saturday the little one was zapped and I carried her the mile and a half and up the 142 stairs back to our hotel so although I was very tired I new that I do not have any strength issues what so ever,lol. I guess that the second MRI is precautionary so I am not opposed to having it done and expect that it will be clean and that I will just have to deal with what I have and do the best I can and be thankful that it is not worse for it could be so much worse. We are all very lucky that we have what we do and not what we could. Everyone take care and remember to keep fighting and never give up for their is too much to be thankful for and too much life to live to spend our days sad/depressed and or scared.Huggs To All,Mike

 

[Krackersones]

Can you tell us more about the benefits of the medicine you take? What symptoms does it address? How soon did you notice improvement?Krackersones

 

[percryston]

I had been to my neuro about the tight leg muscles and in particular the "pre cramp" sort of feelings that I was getting in my right leg, foot, and hand and he first gave me Skelaxin which I took 800mg three times a day and I will have to say that it did make a difference but it did not seem to last long enough until I could take another dose plus it made me feel really drowsy and like my head was in the clouds, although that did get better after the first few days. After a week on the Skelaxin I returned to the neuro because I now had tightness and cramping in the right side of my face as well which is when he prescribed me the Baclofen which I started with 10 mg twice a day and took that way for the first ten days or so. It did much better at releiving my symptoms to where I could tolerate them but it still wore off between doses so he advised me that I could take it three times a day at 10mg each time and I started to do so at breakfast, lunch, and dinner and have for a couple of weeks now and it has made a great difference. I still have aches and pains and my joints still make some noise on the right side and if I look close I can still see the calf twitches but the cramp like feelings and the pressure in my face and jaw have been all but done away with. I can tell when I am getting close to time to take my next dose beacause I can feel all of the little things creeping back in but they never make it all the way back before I can take another dose at least up until this point. Another good thing about this medicine is that it is cheap, a thirty day supply for me was only ten dollars at Walmart. They did not even run it through my insurance since it was so cheap it would have cost me more to do it that way. It seems that this drug is used often for people with MS to help alleviate the tight muscles and cramps that they can have and it has also been used with success to treat trigeminal neuralgia as well. It may be worth looking into sometime for some of you who may not have tried it before. As far as side effects the only thing I noticed was that it made me drowsy for the first couple of days but at least for me there have been no other ill affects since then. I hope this information may be of help for some of you.

 

[Krackersones]

Your very detailed response is appreciated. It is very encouraging that you found a medicine that makes a significant difference in your symptoms.