Well yesterday was a visit to my neurologist. I want to thank my pseudo uncle for driving my van. I am not so comfortable driving on the parkways anymore. My first words to my neurologist were “did you miss me?” I have been coming to see him for almost 24 years. I just turned 50, that is almost 1/2 my life. He has been on my multiple sclerosis journey from day 1. He was the neurologist that told me I had the disease. What is great about our relationship is he knows me well. He might not remember every medication I take without looking but he will certainly notice a change in my symptoms. He even noticed I lost weight from my last visit. That was always a big plus to my efforts in that department. The increased spasticity, that I’ve been complaining about for a few month, he was somewhat concerned about. The ? face he made during the exam gave me a clue before he said a word.

He was surprised at how tight the legs were. I always had limited movement but never this extreme tightness. In 24 years of doing exams on me, I don’t think he really expected something new. Worsening of my symptoms that I’ve had, absolutely. This is new for me. Spasticity isn’t new but spasticity in my legs and hips certainly is. So now we were at the question….what to do? Originally he was going to prescribe Tizanidine. My insurance wouldn’t cover the medication. He prefers the baclofen to this anyway. He wants me to increase my Baclofen to 20 mg twice a day from the 10mg I’m currently taking. With that he also added Diazepam. Another muscle relaxer that I have to adjust my body too. This is a generic form of Valium. He is hoping we can get the muscles to release. I just can’t take the Diazepam to close to the Baclofen so I don’t get myself high on drugs. Fabulous!!! I just want to stop having such a hard time.

Like everything else it’s one day at a time. I also got a script for physical therapy. Maybe some specific exercise and stretching can alleviate some of this tightness. It is actually almost painful at times. Thankfully the bionic gym does help giving me the ability to bend my legs. My neurologist said it is stimulating the nerves and that’s a good thing. I have to report back to him in 2 weeks. Here is hoping that something works.