I’ve had 4 attacks, and brain scans after the 2nd and 4th. Lesions on the brain is the primary test for MS and the MRI scans are non-intrusive (but pricey). For certainty I wanted the results to show lesions, because otherwise there is no prognosis for:
- unsteady on my feet
- general fatigue
- sometimes extreme fatigue
- sometimes passing out when urinating standing up
- tingling in fingers and toes
After two failed scans, my doctor and I concluded that the more likely possibility, as unlikely as it seems, is the coincidence of chronic fatigue returning, and alcoholic neuropathy. Even so, it doesn’t not account for the MS-like attacks, and alcoholic neuropathy never improves.
I no longer have the tingling, even though it lasted a year beforehand. The unsteadiness has mostly gone. I credit this to completely changing my diet, and followed the advice of some experts who believe MS revolves around vitamin D and saturated fats.
I decided to get more sunlight and take large doses of vitamin D. That aspect made sense because I am pale and I had low levels. Two months in Turkiye and Egypt without sunscreen seems to have helped as well.
These are things I removed from my diet. As it happens I had never been consuming so much saturated fat in my life – and I had been enjoying it so, so much!
- yoghurt
- cheese
- ice cream
- chocolate
- milkshakes
- milk in coffee (oat milk is better anyway, I reckon)
- lamb and pork
- steak
- bacon
- pies and sausage rolls
- Hungry Jack’s burgers (=Burger King in Australia)
- hot chips cooked in beef fat (unusual but I had it regularly)
- margarine or butter
The guidelines from the books I read suggested a max of 20ml of saturated fat per day. Some days I have none, and 10ml in a day is rare for me.
The myelin that protects your nerves from damage is directly created from the fat you eat. Saturated fat creates a brittle coating that is more easily damaged. The good fats provide a flexible coating that is stronger. So I started having:
- more fish than ever before (I’ve always had a good amount), especially salmon, tuna and mackerel, most days
- Flax oil tablets, 4500mg on days I do not eat fish
- using more olive oil in my cooking
While I still get fatigued regularly, the other symptoms have gone and I think if I stick to the above I have it beat. I can only call “it” MS symptoms, because I am not diagnosed and perhaps never will be.
And then today this was reported:
The review published in Acta Neuropathologica synthesized findings from recent neuropathology and imaging studies, concluding that diffuse alterations in tissue that looks unaffected on routine scans represent a “clinically relevant, pathological entity distinct from demyelinating lesions.”
Yep, good timing. The study says you can have MS symptoms and not have lesions show up in a regular MS scan. So while I am unable to be certain, I feel reasonably confident that I had early-stage MS, it is still there to some degree, and my fighting it is working.
Which leads me to wonder if early intervention with diet and vitamin D is all so many sufferers needed. And if that is the case, it saddens me that the focus is on horrible, expensive medications that barely make a difference, instead of just sunshine and better food.