Lady with the Cane.com

Okay, it is happening, just as I anticipated; my blogging activity is just as lame as it was before I committed to chronicling (That's an awkward word, if it is even a word at all.) my Tecfidera journey. WVU, my favorite college team and one of my Alma Maters, played in the Liberty Bowl yesterday and demanded my attention. With husband and his good friend (and WVU buddy), we huddled around the big screen downstairs to "tailgate" with our Mountaineers. It was a heart breaking couple of hours, full of ups and downs, nacho chips, cold beer (Yep, I was a bad girl, but did my best to keep things under control.), and comraderry (I have spell checked over and over again and I cannot find the correct spelling of this word, but I know it is a word!) Anyway, here I am again after taking dose thirteen and on the last day of 120mg installments of this new and mysterious MS treatment. I am very nervous about "upping" the dose tomorrow to 240mg twice a day. I want to have fai

Okay, it is happening, just as I anticipated; my blogging activity is just as lame as it was before I committed to chronicling (That's an awkward word, if it is even a word at all.) my Tecfidera journey. WVU, my favorite college team and one of my Alma Maters, played in the Liberty Bowl yesterday and demanded my attention. With husband and his good friend (and WVU buddy), we huddled around the big screen downstairs to "tailgate" with our Mountaineers. It was a heart breaking couple of hours, full of ups and downs, nacho chips, cold beer (Yep, I was a bad girl, but did my best to keep things under control.), and comraderry (I have spell checked over and over again and I cannot find the correct spelling of this word, but I know it is a word!) Anyway, here I am again after taking dose thirteen and on the last day of 120mg installments of this new and mysterious MS treatment. I am very nervous about "upping" the dose tomorrow to 240mg twice a day. I want to have f

I was a little worried this morning when I realized that I had slept until nearly 9:30 because my drug routine scheduled me to take my Tec at 8:00; but I swallowed a baby aspirin and prepared breakfast for my son and husband to give the aspirin a head start. After a bowl of Rice Chex and a cup of coffee I took dose 9 and I have suffered so side effects today. It's been a busy day and I am happy with my little accomplishments. I thoroughly cleaned my laundry room and shampooed the rug where the litter box is located. My cat's "space" is clean again. I hope she appreciates it. When I was younger I used to take on cleaning projects with a vengeance, scrubbing, dusting, vacuuming, shining, tossing old stuff...I have discovered with a few years o me and the inconvenience of MS that I am much more productive taking my tasks in small measure with little rests in between. So, after the basement cleaning, I picked up a borrowed library book and allowed Joy Fielding to suck me

I was a little worried this morning when I realized that I had slept until nearly 9:30 because my drug routine scheduled me to take my Tec at 8:00; but I swallowed a baby aspirin and prepared breakfast for my son and husband to give the aspirin a head start. After a bowl of Rice Chex and a cup of coffee I took dose 9 and I have suffered so side effects today. It's been a busy day and I am happy with my little accomplishments. I thoroughly cleaned my laundry room and shampooed the rug where the litter box is located. My cat's "space" is clean again. I hope she appreciates it. When I was younger I used to take on cleaning projects with a vengeance, scrubbing, dusting, vacuuming, shining, tossing old stuff...I have discovered with a few years o me and the inconvenience of MS that I am much more productive taking my tasks in small measure with little rests in between. So, after the basement cleaning, I picked up a borrowed library book and allowed Joy Fielding to suck m

Well, I am still breathing and am experiencing no weird symptoms other than the horrible flushing  that seems to have abated; possibly due to the bay aspirin; possibly due to multiple doses and my body adapting to this new intrusion of chemicals. Such is the way with MS. Everything is an hypothesis (one of my students favorite vocabulary words as they find it comes in handy at times of class argument). So, to clear up the mud a bit, "Tecfidera [dimethyl fumarate] is a prescription medicine used to treat people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis." Got that? Tells you everything needed, right? Tecfidera is a pill form of MS treatment that is far less painful than the alternating-daily needle of Beta Seron that I once  enjoyed. Just because it is less painful to consume makes it no less scary, though. I mean, putting any alien chemical in one's body is not  and had never been on my bucket list of life experiences. I will admit that I like beer and thoroughly enjoy a

Well, I am still breathing and am experiencing no weird symptoms other than the horrible flushing  that seems to have abated; possibly due to the bay aspirin; possibly due to multiple doses and my body adapting to this new intrusion of chemicals. Such is the way with MS. Everything is an hypothesis (one of my students favorite vocabulary words as they find it comes in handy at times of class argument). So, to clear up the mud a bit, "Tecfidera [dimethyl fumarate] is a prescription medicine used to treat people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis." Got that? Tells you everything needed, right? Tecfidera is a pill form of MS treatment that is far less painful than the alternating-daily needle of Beta Seron that I once  enjoyed. Just because it is less painful to consume makes it no less scary, though. I mean, putting any alien chemical in one's body is not  and had never been on my bucket list of life experiences. I will admit that I like beer and thoroughly enjoy

My son seems to fell a bit better today. The pediatrician advised me to fill him with clear liquids, use Motrin as needed for fever, and adhere to the BRAT diet when his appetite returns. He ate a small ball of chicken broth and noodles for supper and all is going well for now. I, on the other hand, am tolerating dose four with much more success. Thanks to my FB MSers for their advice of using baby aspirin prior to taking my Tec and encouraging me to drink plenty of water. It didn't really help last night, but today I feel more like myself. Of course, each event will undoubtedly result in a differing reaction.  After thirteen years of living with MS, my symptoms are becoming more mainstream and recently I have been introduced to random pains that I had read about but not experienced. My drop foot has been consistent since 2001, but so far it has only affected my right foot. Sometimes lately my left foot seems to want to join the party. I use a can more often than not and even when

My son seems to fell a bit better today. The pediatrician advised me to fill him with clear liquids, use Motrin as needed for fever, and adhere to the BRAT diet when his appetite returns. He ate a small ball of chicken broth and noodles for supper and all is going well for now. I, on the other hand, am tolerating dose four with much more success. Thanks to my FB MSers for their advice of using baby aspirin prior to taking my Tec and encouraging me to drink plenty of water. It didn't really help last night, but today I feel more like myself. Of course, each event will undoubtedly result in a differing reaction.  After thirteen years of living with MS, my symptoms are becoming more mainstream and recently I have been introduced to random pains that I had read about but not experienced. My drop foot has been consistent since 2001, but so far it has only affected my right foot. Sometimes lately my left foot seems to want to join the party. I use a can more often than not and

Merry Christmas to all! The flushing began this afternoon hours after swallowing my third dose of Tecfidera. It was awful. My skin (full body) turned a nice Christmas red and I felt like a swarm of fire ants had taken over as a new skin covering. I was hot to the touch and the chills set in for nearly an hour. It is difficult to separate the sensation from that of what my son is feeling with his holiday bout of the flu. Once the heat diminished and the chills abated, I felt certain it wasn't the flu (not yet, at least) and directed my panic to the internet to question other Tec users about my symptoms. It seems this is nothing unusual and I was gifted with several suggestions. I plan to take a baby aspirin twenty minutes prior to my next dose and was told to drink lots of water. We'll see... Other than my crazy pal MS and my son's flu, this has been a nice family day. I just hope that he didn't give too much of himself to the rest of the family. I am truly sorry that hi

Merry Christmas to all! The flushing began this afternoon hours after swallowing my third dose of Tecfidera. It was awful. My skin (full body) turned a nice Christmas red and I felt like a swarm of fire ants had taken over as a new skin covering. I was hot to the touch and the chills set in for nearly an hour. It is difficult to separate the sensation from that of what my son is feeling with his holiday bout of the flu. Once the heat diminished and the chills abated, I felt certain it wasn't the flu (not yet, at least) and directed my panic to the internet to question other Tec users about my symptoms. It seems this is nothing unusual and I was gifted with several suggestions. I plan to take a baby aspirin twenty minutes prior to my next dose and was told to drink lots of water. We'll see... Other than my crazy pal MS and my son's flu, this has been a nice family day. I just hope that he didn't give too much of himself to the rest of the family. I am truly sorry tha

I will be taking a 120MG capsule twice a day for seven days before graduating to 240 MG twice a day. Tecfidera is very much recommended by my neurologist, but I do not know how excited I am about it. It is frightening knowing of the unanswered questions about  what this drug could do to my brain. Two hours after taking my first dose, I experienced a severe hot flash , which I assume is the flushing  side effect of Tecfidera. Accompanying this sensation my skin started burning and itching, especially the back of my neck and my forearms. The skin on my arms became bright red and splotchy. Then I was overcome with a full body chill . Everything but my face felt cold, probably due to the rise in my body temperature. It was all really quite awful. Supposedly these side effects will lessen with time. I can only hope. I have prayed about my involvement with this drug for some time and I realize that it is wise to "be on something", as my doctor says, but I am still uncomfortable con

I will be taking a 120MG capsule twice a day for seven days before graduating to 240 MG twice a day. Tecfidera is very much recommended by my neurologist, but I do not know how excited I am about it. It is frightening knowing of the unanswered questions about  what this drug could do to my brain. Two hours after taking my first dose, I experienced a severe hot flash , which I assume is the flushing  side effect of Tecfidera. Accompanying this sensation my skin started burning and itching, especially the back of my neck and my forearms. The skin on my arms became bright red and splotchy. Then I was overcome with a full body chill . Everything but my face felt cold, probably due to the rise in my body temperature. It was all really quite awful. Supposedly these side effects will lessen with time. I can only hope. I have prayed about my involvement with this drug for some time and I realize that it is wise to "be on something", as my doctor says, but I am still uncomfortable