It started out with a lumbar puncture and suspected inflammation of the spine. They prescribed steroids and her condition seemed to improve. They have now stopped the steroids as they focus on her lungs, and her legs have gotten worse. Then they knocked her out and stuck a tube down her throat and into her lung to take a sample. That wasn’t conclusive enough so now they are going in, either through her side or her chest we don’t know where yet. She’s had lumbar punctures, brain scans and MRIs. We took reports of everything they have done so far to our GP and, after a thorough read through, came to the conclusion that it’s complicated. They are trying their best but it looks like a fishing expedition.
My girl friend is a Navy vet so she gets her medical care from the VA. She was diagnosed with MS long ago.
More recently she’s been diagnosed with RA, Sjogrens and the latest, adrenal fatigue. All are autoimmune diseases.
With her medical background; DVM, PhD & MSFNP, she’s often more up to speed than her medical providers. It’s a conversation of equals. That’s helped move treatment along.
The VA does research. One report from the Portland VA was a study that found Alpha Lipoic acid helped those with neuropathy. She recently started taking R Lipoic acid for her neuropathy.
The myelin won’t regenerate overnight. She’s already experienced some beneficial changes.
Ongoing research is finding correlations with the gut microbiota and autoimmune disease. She thinks all autoimmune issues have the same source, the gut, and differ in effect due to genetics and environment.
That’s where diet and possibly probiotics and prebiotics may be of benefit.
The knowledgeable VA doctors we’ve talked to are aware of the research into the gut microbiota. It’s being viewed as the next big advance in medical knowledge.