In response to my previous post “After Diagnosis”

Want2bike wrote on Sun Jan 20 2013 on thisisms.com (Re: It’s MS)

"You might want to look at studies showing the effectiveness of
drugs before starting them. Make it your decision since you will suffer the results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJyQTTZr .  _embedded#!

http://www.facebook.com/notes/ccsvi-in- ...
1295097210

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/healt ...
html?_r=3&

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ...
nking.aspx"

The following comments were made on the CCSVI Locator site.

Comment by Deb Teitelbaum on Friday 

Thank you for summarizing all the modalities that should be considered....I wish every neurologist would read this!

Comment by ken birzneck on Friday 
"good advice ....GET CHECKED FOR FLOW IN YOUR VEINS IMMEDIATLEY"
....
Comment by Faith on Thursday 

Thank you for simply pointing out the more information which all
patients with MS should be given. The newly diagnosed can search and find
endless amounts of info but little to none, which can more safely direct them to
the issues and how to possibly contribute to their improved health. It's sad how
doctors have evolved away from the basics in health care. Science is best when
followed with nature as the primary element."

It's good to get  positive feedback.

 After much hesitation I’m now going to continue writing my personal experience living with and treating MS. My main concern is in seeing what I did correctly and the errors I made now that I understand the CCSVI blood circulation dynamic in MS. So many regrets. It enrages me to read all the nonsense and bad advice MS patients are being given. So in my next post I'll write Chapter Three of my personal story and hopefully my history will be help to someone..
.

Once the diagnosis has come down, it's a demyelating disease, probably MS, step back and relax, at least you don't have a brain tumour. And stress and anxiety will only make matters worse. Imagine the blood backing up, flooding your brain and/or central nervous system. You have to stop that reflux as soon as possible. That means RELAX. All the diagnosic tests in themselves are stressful, so step back from all that and begin to inform yourself.
Marc Stecker of Wheelchair Kamikaze believes that the immunosuppressive drugs developed over the last 20 years are the best treatment now available since they appear to have slowed disease progression for relapse/remit cases.(Once you hit the Progressive stage, you might as well turn to alternatives since nothing else is available.) Nonetheless reports of drug efficacy are contradictory and reported side effects often serious, even fatal.  Drugs are not the only option available although it's likely the only one the Neurologist will offer. Neurologists are treating an immune system reaction to a blood reflux. They are treating a secondary problem. Consider treating the original problem instead. But to do that you will have to take matters into your own hands.

I believe a major illness is a call to change. Either one participates in the transformation, or one will be transformed against one's will. I also believe true healing requires a healing partnership. The best healer acts as a faclitator in one's own self transformation, not as a director. The worst thing one can do is act like a passive object on whom an omnipotent Doctor  works his "magic".  An alternative healer (naturopath/nutritionist/kinesiologist???) who can help you think through the various options can be an important complement to "official" medical contacts. Now is the time to act.

Refer to the previous blog entry  - MS Cure or Control: A Review

1) First, Stop the "attack" which is actually a blood reflux. I've found a neck massage forcing the blood down towards the heart is enough to stop one for me. An Acupuncture trreatment - the Gall Bladder Meridian and Bladder Meridian must be treated (see Acupuncture blog entry) - has worked for me. Your problem may be structural, so a Chiropractic or Osteopath's adjustment on the Atlas and upper cervicals might release the brain fluids. The Neurologist might have a drug which will stop the attack, though I wouldn't take something that you can't get off of after the crisis is passed. (My own early experience of an MS attack meant 6 weeks - 2 weeks of "attack" (the blood must be flooding the CNS), 2 weeks of "scarring" when the myelin dries up, and 2 weeks to recover most of lost function, leaving some deficits.)

2) Once the crisis is passed, get busy on finding a practical solution. First off, analyse what stress factor triggered off the attack. Was it emotional, professional pressure, or some kind of poisoning such as too much aspartame? An accident which injured the head-neck,back? Keep a journal and note whatever issues trigger off a problem, play the detective in your own life. Then make the necessary adjustments.

3) Consider the TOXICITY factor. Stop Aspartame and other food additives at once. (Don't bother with the mercury dental amalgams, at least not at first. Having them removed can even increase the toxicity if badly done, and there are many other factors to consider first. )  I include food intolerances in the TOXICITY category.
DIET: Assume you have a gluten intolerance. Check out the Paleo-Macro diet page on this site. I favour Kinesiology to determine the ideal personalized diet, but a good therapist may be difficult if not impossible to find and for some the method (muscle testing) may appear too subjective. I have just learned there are 4 labs in Paris which determine food intolerances through a blood analysis. They study up to 250 items. (As my Kinesiologist has said, a food intolerance is not the same as an allergy.) So find someone who can order such a test.  The Paleolithic Diet developed by Roger MacDougall can be found on Wikipedia. Jimmylegs on the ThisIsMs.com site is their on site diet expert who gives referrals to other resources. He is keen on blood work as well.
DETOXIFICATION should be part of the therapy. 
SUPPLEMENTS Besides the vitamins A, B Complex, C, D, E, include Calcium Magnesium, Omega 3, Zinc, Evening Primrose Oil, Seek good advice and do your own research.
INFECTION: Some believe that infections such as Chlamydia Pneumoniae, Lyme, Epstein-Barr or other infectious diseases actually damage veins and their valves. Is the Infection still ongoing, or has it passed leaving a damaged vascular system? Some believe by treating the infection through antiobiotics the inflammatory reaction to the infection can be halted, thus restoring the vein to its proper function and preventing the blood reflux. Again the veins are implicated. However, long term treament with antibiotics obviously requires a Medical expert  I was treated for a chronic infection using Standard Process Cataplex A-C, Collagen C, Calcium Magnesium and Zinc (among other things.) I believe a naturopathic protocol superior and less toxic than antibiotics. (imagine how the intestinal flora reacts to all those antibiotics.)  
IMPORTANT: I believe that in the early Relapse/Remit phase one has the greatest chance to entirely heal the myelin sheath/nerve damage before it has actually dried up into a "scab" or scar. Dr. Sclafani, the Interventional Radiologist, has observed as well that recent onset cases experience the most dramatic recoveries. My dramatic healing through detoxification, diet modification and electro-magnetic energy work occurred within 4 years of the first big "attack". But now for me (26 years later) it is more  a question of preventing further degradation.

4) Consider the SKELETAL factor.  This means consulting with body manipulators such as Chiropractors or Osteopaths. Dental misalignment may be an issue. Once the area of blockage is identified, you may be able to treat yourself regularly with massage, stretching etc.

5) Consider the BLOOD CIRCULATION factor. Acupuncture, Self Acupressure, Ayervedic Massage, Osteopathic, Chiropractic, Swimming can all enhance blood circulation without the risk of angioplasty. I am now able to control the blood reflux through self acupressure on a daily basis. Acupuncture treatments must focus on the meridians which pass from the head, down the neck and across the shoulders or down the back, the gall bladder and bladder meridiens. Otherwise they probably won't be effective on the blood circulation.

 6) ANGIOPLASTY decision. Begin by seeking NON-INVASIVE diagnosis of your veins. A quick look on Google brings up a clinic called Privatescan in Brussels which claims to use non-invasive CCSVI investigation techniques and diagnosis protocols - CT Scanner from G.E., CT venography with contrast agent, EchoDoppler Duplex from GE, 3.0 tesla MRI Scanner (MRI venography) with G.E. contrast. (I need to research this further, but so can you.  I'm not promoting any clinic or therapist for angioplasty. If anything, I believe angioplasty should be tried only if all else has failed. see Angioplasty Decision blog ) If you decide on angioplasty, it is imperative that the Doctor use an INTRAVENOUS ULTRASOUND to open the stenosed veins so he can see what he is doing and avoid injury to the vein wall. Also, be assured of follow-up care.
If one has a serious vein obstruction, deformation or the vein is simply missing, angioplasty may be the only solution. It of course would be grossly unfair to imply one hasn't tried to heal if the veins are defective or even missing. It would be like admonishing an amputee that if he really works on it the arm will grow back. Of course it won't. Annette Funicello very generously and courageously published a video showing how far her disease had progressed as well as the results of an angioplasty procedure. One jugular had been entirely blocked, the other 70% blocked. She and her husband Gene Holt believe this is the only treatment which has helped her over the past 25 years of illness and she wants to promote the CCSVI theory to help others, believing if she had been treated years ago she wouldn't now be paralyzed.

IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUGS- If one has a serious physical vein blockage which causes a blood reflux, probably one will require medication to minimize CNS damage until angioplasty can release the blood flow. In this case the Neurologist would seem to be the best therapist. Tricky issue.

I want to encourage the newly diagnosed to act in their own self interest. MS isn't a death sentence, it's a call to change, the sooner the better and with you as an active participant.
These remarks are above all an admonishment to myself for having  let myself fall apart after my first dramatic healing. A kick in the butt you might say. But now that the CCSVI theory is on the table, we have every possibility to take control of our fate. And in the first instance, that means ME. I'm now going to finish my personal history with particular emphasis on MY MISTAKES.