Oooohhh.... I wrote a whole post and LOST it!! Here I go again!
Hi! I'm new to this board. :-) Little about me: I'm 35, mom of 2-year old (my joy!), marketing manager. Was diagnosed with M.S. 6 years ago along with the onset of a harrowing bout of optic neuritis in both eyes, which thankfully cleared up after steroids. Subsequently I went on Betaseron. Move forward through time and I married, had baby, after another optic neuritis (less acute), went back on meds until 10 months ago while DH and I try to conceive #2.
I didn't think it would take this long to conceive, and the past 2 weeks I had another optic neuritis, left eye, and this time it hasn't fully gone away. I'm still hopeful for that, but am managing. My dr. has ordered another MRI for comparison, and I'm fearful that he will recco going back on medicine for another year...putting off TTC until I'm almost 37. In my heart, I do feel the medicine helps me.
So, I don't know what my question is... but I KNOW that there are people out there who have M.S., conceive, have babies, live full lives! And I want to hear about your choices. I want so badly to expand my family...to bring more laughter and joy into the house, to give DD a sibling! On another note...I also want to hear about folks with optic neuritis. I have a hard time reading a computer screen, which is something I do on a daily basis, but I know there are ways to manage this. I feel like an eye-patch would help. Seeing big things is not too much of an issue...focusing on a computer screen is. While I'm still hopeful this will mend, I also feel like if this is my new vision...it's not the end of the world and I just need to learn how to manage it.
Long post--sorry! I wish I had joined an M.S. community a long time ago. It's taken me 6 years to realize that I hadn't arrived at a place...that this is a journey! Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from others.
I can't reply to the pregnancy issue, since I developed my MS after having my son. But with the Optic Neuritis, it took several months (almost a year) and I would say my vision is back to where it was.
I am a computer programmer so I know what you are dealing with with the computer screen. An eye patch might help, I ended up closing 1 eye a lot. It seemed to be a lot worse towards the end of the day and to help things I increased the font size on my computer. I had a really good optic neurologist and I did a lot of research on the web. Both sources agreed that steroids don't do anything except help you get better faster. You will end up at the same point. I skipped the steroids as I could cope with what I had.
Thanks very much for your reply, CliftonLady. Makes me feel better to think that maybe it's just a matter of time. I also worry because it's the third time... surely it can't be good to have recurring bouts. But, it is manageable, so for that, I'm happy.
For anyone reading, I'm thinking that DH and I might put off trying to conceive while I go back on medicine. I'm clearly in a relapse phase. That bums me out, though, since time just marches on and I'm not getting younger!
But, it is manageable, so for that, I'm happy.
