It's taken me a while to adjust to this diagnosis. I doubt anyone ever considers how they will react or feel when told they have MS. At first I barely thought about it, bought some books, read them in part, but mostly didn't want to accept the facts.
Reality bit pretty quickly though. My neurologist prescribed a four day course of IV steroids which I was able to do at home. He put me on Clonazepam to help the dizziness which really messes me up and makes life difficult for me some days. I was also started on Copaxone shots, once a day, which is a medication to help modify the way that MS progresses. It stings like crazy, like a bee sting, and I cannot say I love it, in fact I pretty much dislike it really. At first I would put the shot on the table in front of me and just glare at it, probably willing it to go away, but that never happened! I still glare at it on occasion, but now just have to grit my teeth and get on with it!
I was dreading the IV steroids but the actual process was fine, unfortunately I ran into trouble when the dose was stopped after 4 days. I was SO sick. Every bone in my body hurt to the touch, I couldn't even rest my chin on my hand because it was so sore. I could barely walk, wasn't sleeping and ached all over. For 8 days life was miserable and I vowed to never, ever do IV steroids again. But then things began to settle down, I started to feel better, had a little more energy and began to sleep again. Sadly, that phase lasted only about 2 weeks before I began to feel tired again and my joints began to hurt.
I am starting to read my MS books again, it's hard to accept this is never going to go away. I have had some tingling in my fingers and around my face, so while I dislike the Copaxone intensely I am hoping it's working hard in my system to prevent my MS from becoming worse. Only time will tell!
