Bearygood

Yup, I find all this stuff very interesting. I had mono when I was about 22 and my lymph gland on the side of my neck never completely went down. Hardly noticable now but for many years after if I was sick it would swell up a little. The neurologist thinks my symptoms might have even started as a teenager -- this is all really hard to tell since I was just diagnosed. It's amazing to think of all these things I've had -- except for maybe 3 things, all my friends have had things that for me can now be attributed to MS. (Except they've never had ON and might not have brain lesions!) Anyway, Nik, you might be right -- it's kind of like which came first, the chicken or the egg? Anyway, don't know if any of you ever get a gut feeling -- this is certainly not based on ANYTHING scientific but I feel they're related; that somehow a similar virus has something to do with it. I am also hypothyroid -- diagnosed when I was in my early 30s and although it's hereditary (Hashimoto's) it IS autoimmune.

Re: supplements, if you believe (as I do) that things can help, it comes with the territory that you have to believe things can hurt. I mentioned this in the "natural" thread but my neuro warned me about taking things that stimulate the autoimmune system since that's the problem, ours are so good it attacks things it shouldn't! No echinacea, golden seal or astragalus for sure -- still researching other things that puport to enhance (as opposed to balance.) Woke up in the middle of the night (as has been the case for weeks now), turned on the radio and what was on? The news, reporting a new study that again confirms a link between the omega oils and brain/nerve function! There's also a lot of interesting information about the anti-inflamatory properties of tumeric out there. I've always been interested in this stuff and had a very good result with treating gallstones homeopathically. ( Still have my gallbladder and haven't had an attack for 9 years.) Having seen it work for me before, I have to at least try to approach it this way first. A big part of this is about personal choice -- but I AM big on knowing ALL possible options. Information is often the best weapon we have...