Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis: An Evidence-Based Guide to Recovery Paperback – July 20, 2010

Life SaverI was diagnosed in April of 2012 after landing in the hospital with a severe MS attack that left me numb from my diaphragm all the way to my feet. I was unable to move without a walker. MRIs of my brain and spine revealed a lesion in my back, one in my neck and many in my brain.My husband ordered this book for me and I began reading it while I was still in the hospital receiving steroids. We both immediately adopted the OMS program and have been following it ever since.Now almost three years later, here is where things are for me:--I have not had any further episodes and my systems continue to get better over time.--I have repeat MRIs every 6 months, no new lesions have appeared and there have never been any active lesions.--I don't have any difficulty walking anymore and never need assistive devices, though I do take a hiking pole with me when I go hiking up a mountain side (which I do!).--Most of the numbness I experienced eventually wore off--I initially had severe neurological pain in my legs. It has gotten much better, though is still significant (for example, I can't tolerate fabric on my knees, so I can only wear shorts and short skirts). Very very gradually the pain continues to get better over time, which is making it easier and easier for me to participated in a full range of normal activities.--While I don't need assistance walking, I do still have a little bit of residual spasticity (increased muscle tension) in my legs. It tends to get worse when I am walking, overheated, or when I am sick. But it always returns to a negligible level afterwards.About my adherence to the program:--I am extremely strict about Jelinek's dietary recommendations, including supplementation with Flax Oil. It comes very easily to me, because the very thought of putting something in my mouth that violates his recommendations makes me imagine my next episode coming. That fatty muffin/croissant/burger/chocolate does not look the slightest bit tempting when you think to yourself: "Oh, yum yum, let me take this bite of muffin/croissant/burger/chocolate that is going to make me go blind and/or lose the ability walk and/or put me in chronic pain." Somehow that just doesn't sound delicious anymore!--I've also been very strict about keep my vitamin D levels (and B12) at optimum levels.--I am less good about meditating regularly,but I still recommend it highly. I felt very weird when I first tried it. Indeed I went through a whole introductory 8 week program not feeling anything at all. But then I did it again and started to love it. So I wish I could stick with it but haven't quite managed it yet.--I do exercise regularly. I can't recommend highly enough including vigorous exercise in your daily routine. It is so effective. The key is that it should be truly vigorous. It is SO helpful with mood and energy levels. Even if your body seems to be telling you not to exercise, do it anyway. You will not regret it. I think this is one of the most dangerous mental traps about MS--many MS symptoms feel like warning signals from your body that you are not fit to exercise. But they are false signals!! If you listen to them, they can set you on a downward spiral. If you don't move, you lose the ability to move. Your muscles atrophy very rapidly when you dont' use them. It is so important to learn not to let MS symptoms (especially fatigue) get in the way of exercise. After a rigorous hour of exercise I often am so spent that I have to flop down on the bed for a little while. But soon I recover and I am rewarded with dramatically increased energy for the rest of the day. If you can't get motivated on your own, join classes or hire a trainer--whatever it takes to get you really moving. I have a trainer who comes to my house twice a week and really puts me through the paces. He works with two other PwMS as well, who both have more physical challenges that I do, but he has helped them both enormously. One woman has severe spasticy in her arms and one hand was effectively pinned to the front of her torso. With his help she can now raise both arms overhead and out to the side. She has not regained the ability to walk (yet!) but she is able to MOVE both legs now, which she had previously believed to be 100% inert. The other PwMS gained the ability to walk an entire block after being unable to do so for many years (eight if I remember). All three of us agree that serious exercise brings serious rewards; most importantly it restores a sense of control and physical joy.Unlike some of the other reviewers, I am not medication free. I inject Copaxone daily, and I take number of medications to help reduce my neurological pain. For the first year after my diagnosis, I took Baclofen, but as of a year ago, I was able to stop taking it. (I noticed with Baclofen and with certain other drugs, I have to wean myself off of them very very gradually. Reducing the dose always increased my symptoms temporarily and I always had to stick with it for a while to determine whether I reallly genuinely still needed it.) I also take Concerta to assist with fatigue.In addition to Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12, and Flax Oil, I also take Glucosamine Sulfate--not because of MS, but because my doctor recommended it after I started to feel a little bit of arthritic pain in my knuckles. That is it though.If I continue to remain relapse free, I will eventually stop injecting Copaxone, but I am not in a hurry because the side-effects profile seems acceptable to me (unlike some of the other disease modifying drugs out there). I don't plan to ever stop with the Jelinek profile, because it why should I? It is healthy anyway.You don't need to buy this book to find out how he program works. He gives the information away for free on his website (of the same name). I do recommend reading the book though. The website does not go into nearly the same depth and I found it very valuable to read all the details. It helped me gain the firm conviction that this is the right program for me, and a firm conviction was need to give me the motivation to stick to the program. Reading the book showed me how clear-headed Dr. Jelinek is and summarized the evidence I needed to feel that I was following the best program available, and that the program was backed by a lot more than just anecdotes.Update 9/1/21: Nine years after Dx, I still have had no new episodes or lesions. Existing symptoms continue to improve over time, but extremely slowly at this point. I still have serious heat sensitivity and significant pain, although I no longer take any meds for pain. Fatigue if I get too hot or overdo things. I'm considering discontinuing Copaxone.

This is simply one of the best resources out there for anyone who has just been diagnosed with MS (or knows someone who has). I got this book a year ago and it has been the bedrock on which I started to put my life back together after the shock of my own diagnosis. It is a no-nonsense approach to managing this condition, written in plain English and broken down into a program which offers people with MS hope and a sense of control. The advice Dr Jelinek offers is pretty simple and frankly is beneficial for anyone, whether they have MS or not. It also explains the disease from all ends of the spectrum and is accompanied by the website/blog, app and (for those in the UK and Australia... not sure about the US sorry!) there is even a retreat.My diagnosis of MS (R-R) came out of the blue. No one in my family had it, and I didn't have any serious symptoms until last year when I woke up one morning to find that my entire left side had became completely numb. I thought I'd had a stroke until I realized I could still move everything and hadn't lost any strength or agility on my left... I just couldn't feel anything. It turned out to be MS - the absolute last thing I expected to hear at 38 years of age. I was prepared for diabetes, cancer or stroke (all of which run rampant on both sides of my family), but I sure as hell wasn't expecting the doctor to tell me I had Multiple Sclerosis...In those two weeks following this news I devoured journal articles, research papers from the university medical library, my old psych masters textbooks and medical neurological texts and amongst it all I stumbled onto three of the most comprehensive and helpful resources about MS (written for the lay-person) out there, of which Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis was the very best (the other two being the books by Swank and Wahl)!Dr Jelanik steps you through what MS is and the research around the lifestyle changes that can impact the course of the disease in an easy-to-understand way and combines this all into a program. Before starting Jelanik's program I was already vegan, so the adjustment I made was to revert to eating Fish high in the good fatty acids and basically 'no big deal', but some committed carnivores may struggle at first. I'm still working on cutting sugar down and exercising but overall I feel healthier than I ever have. I have thankfully been symptom free since the attack a year ago which landed me in hospital. I think part of that might be the adjustments I have made to my diet and lifestyle, but I suspect a lot of it is just that this is how my disease is going to progress.Bottom line, I am thankful I found this resource as quickly as I did. It has given me a sense of control which was stripped from me by the medical professionals and a sense of hope. This is the best resource you will find and until they come out with a book that provides scientific evidence saying chocolate, donuts and cake cure MS I'll be sticking with OMS.

This book has a tremendous amount of useful information once you get past the first few chapters. The author has MS and the book is primarily about the research he has done on MS and how he has effectively dealt with his MS. It takes him quite some time to get to the point, with discussions about his mother's MS and a "spirit" that I just did not get. Once you get to chapter 4 in the book, the author covers solid scientific studies and covers just about everything about MS. He reviews all of the various MS symptoms and all of the therapies for dealing with MS. His recommendations focus on customizing one's diet and exercising, but he is also open to all of the conventional therapies. The combination of conventional therapies with diet and focused exercise is exactly the tack that I have chosen in fighting back against my MS. The one subject where he seems to have a blind spot is in dealing with fatigue. He says that there are no drugs that are effective in dealing with MS fatigue. I am in contact with a number of people with MS, and many of them are using the generic modafinil, or Provigil or Nuvigil, as I have and have found them to be very beneficial for dealing with MS related fatigue. I recommend this book as an excellent resource for information on MS. The author has an unfortunate tendency towards verbosity, so you may not want to read it cover to cover.