:flowerforyou: Hey girl! So glad to have you on MFP! I too have MS and was diagnosed in 2006. I have an almost 7 yr old daughter, and an almost 5 yr old son. I was dianosed 2 weeks into my pregnancy with my son so I didn't start on any meds.
My dad lives in Cumming GA. So I do have ties to ATL but I live about an hour north of Kansas City MO.
I'd like to join you on your quest for wellness. I'll send you a request and good luck on this new adventure!!

Hi there--I'm not the best about MFP right now day-to-day but I'm trying to get back into it. But I was diagnosed with MS in 3/11, and honestly I hate to say it's been one of the best things to happen to me. It took me a few months, but once I accepted what happened, it really motivated me to finally lose weight. I've lost about 30 pounds since September, and recently plateaued (and reset my ticker to lose the last 20-some pounds, which is why it says I haven't lost anything!).

I am also a psychiatrist and have also had depression in the past, better now than before. Not giving medical advice but usually sertraline/zoloft isn't associated with weight gain or weight loss too much. It may just be a coincidence although everyone's different.

To answer some of your questions, you're right, there's a difference between "day to day" symptoms versus "new flares." That takes a while to figure out for yourself. For me fatigue is a huge daily struggle, no matter how much sleep I get or how much coffe I drink, but napping does help. Another thing is part of my initial flare was numbness from my feet to my waist, and it's been over a year and I still have very mild tingling in my lower legs. It is more noticable with exercise and drinking alcohol but it doesn't bother me too much and is usually just temporary. I think things like yoga are very helpful for MS and you should definitely try even a video if you don't join a gym, it's fairly easy to do on your own.

I have also noticed tension headaches but it's really just muscle tension and massages have made a huge difference!

I am currently on fingolimod/Gilenya, which is a new non-interferon, oral pill, it was FDA approved in 2011 so fairly new. Since I started taking it I haven't had any "new" symptoms, and haven't really noticed any side effects. There was some stuff about cardiac risk recently in the news but from what I could see it was mostly people who had previous heart disease. I'm not that worried about it (for me). I'm really grateful to be on it, but I will say it's very expensive and not covered by all insurances.

Anyway I have a blog with some MS and psychiatry related stuff if you're interested (getaheadwithdrg.wordpress.com), and you can always add me as a friend, although I have to preface that with my lack of activity sometimes! But not planning on quitting MFP at all, it's been tremendously helpful in the past almost-year for weight loss! Keep it up and you'll see results!

Take care,
Christina

I was diagnosed in March of this year and so it is all fairly new to me. I am taking Avonex and at my 3 month MRI they found two new lesions so I just finished a 5 day infusion of Solumedrol. I'm just now getting back into MFP after gaining back too much of what I had already lost. I have a little boy that just turned 5. I'm in Idaho - so no where near Atlanta but feel free to add me if you'd like.