First, I was prescribed amantadine for fatigue, which did absolutely nothing for me. Then, I was given Provigil (a "wakefulness" agent that is regularly given to fighter pilots in order to keep them alert), which helped for a little while, but it soon became clear that it only precluded sleep. I wanted to nap, but couldn't. It did nothing to the lingering need to sleep; it simply stopped me from doing so. After it became clear that the crux of the underlying fatigue was not being treated, my doctor prescribed Adderall. It's an amphetamine that combats the awful fatigue that's one of the most common symptoms of MS. Over time, I've been forced to increase my dosage because this lack of energy has grown. Besides that, I did not enjoy the same allure that it offered recreationally. Without it, I'd remain unconscious for the majority of the day. Not voluntarily, mind you. The need to lie down has grown even stronger over the last year or so. Adderall doesn't make this need abate, because the impulse also stems from a lightheadedness that it does not specifically address. Nevertheless, it provides me with a steady infusion of energy that allows me to function reasonably well. (The extended release does this; a regular tablet provides a short burst of energy, followed by...nothing.) Whereas before this had been used recreationally, now it's used pragmatically.
The same can be said about marijuana. Yes--marijuana. In college, it had never been a major part of my day-to-day. It was available, mind you, but I never particularly cared for it. After all, alcohol was prevalent, so I stuck mainly with that. When I was diagnosed with MS, I familiarized myself with literature about it, & nearly everything I read mentioned marijuana as a beneficial supplementary form of treatment. I gave it a whirl (my exposure to it was gained by a now-forgotten avenue; interestingly, I make bizarre connections without really trying very hard), & experienced firsthand the medicinal attributes that I had read about. It really did help spasticity, & dramatically helped my appetite, which disappeared once I began the stem cell rigmarole. (I was hospitalized for two weeks, & there was a period of about a week where I ate no solid food, & subsisted on Ensure solely. How crazy is that?) While in the hospital, one of my doctors prescribed Marinol, an unimaginatively-named pill that contained synthetic THC. Imagine marijuana without any of the psychedelia, ie fun.
Mainly, it just made me sleepy, which I was anyway. An insurance change made Marinol unavailable (because the price was exorbitant), which was fine because I didn't much care for it. I was subsequently forced (really, "allowed") to go back to the non-pill kind of marijuana.
That brings us pretty much up to date. I still rely heavily on it to deal with the everyday minutiae that is actually onerous to me.
& I still hate reggae.
R
