Friday 7 June 2013

Week 39

Well, guess who's having a right crap time at the moment? Yeah, your's truly. It's the weather. It has made a mess of of my legs and my hands are so numb, I can barely hold a knife and fork. My legs are rigid most of the day. I can only bend them at the knee using my arms. 

I tried to combat this by increasing   my anti spasticity drug Baclofen from 40 mg a day to 60. This has made no difference whatsoever. I'm reluctant to go any higher as the drug does have a bad press. You see, Baclofen relaxes ALL of the muscles in your body. It doesn't just target the area's that need it. Prolonged use can make your muscles weak, eventually causing muscle wastage. I want to hang on to what I've got for as long as possible. I even know of some people's claims that Baclofen has put them in a wheelchair! I don't know about that, but it is considered a very controversial drug to take in some circles. You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't. Anyway, I've gone back to my original dose of 40 mg of the Baclofen. There's no point taking the extra if it isn't helping me. 

So why the change? It happens every year. It's the weather. Although I am worse this year. It's not even particularly hot. It's just hitting 20 degrees, but it has literally changed overnight. We had snow at Easter on the Costa-del-Southend, and in some parts of the UK they had snow in May! It's the sudden change in the weather that's done me. That's my opinion anyway. 

Fortunately the Gilenya is still doing its bit. I had wondered if my body was starting to build up antibodies against it. Fatigue has made sporadic appearances, but it's still only minimal and I am keeping my eye on it. However, I am expecting to see more of it as the temperature rises. I haven't had to go to bed at any stage since I've been popping this daily pill, so when it does crop up, it is manageable. 

It's just a shame that this treatment never made an impact on my ability to walk, or even the spasticity. That's one symptom I could really do a bit of relief from at the moment. 

Dan




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