Tips for People Newly Diagnosed With MS

Last Updated on November 17, 2023 by Cathy

Getting diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) is scary and there is a lot of information out there. You are on the right track by being here and learning as much as you can to stop MS from progressing.

The first thing you should know is, that MS is not a fatal disease. Having MS is not a guarantee you will end up severely disabled. But, you do need to get it under control to prevent permanent disabilities.

Most people with MS are not in a wheelchair or bedridden. Only about 15% of people with MS become bedridden. The majority, about 85%, start with relaxing remitting MS. This means they will experience a flare, then go into remission for weeks, months, or even years. With little or no permanent symptoms.

Keep reading for a free Symptom Questionnaire to Track Your Progress

Types of MS:

• Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), first attack of MS but not diagnosed with MS
• Relapsing-Remitting MS (RRMS), 
• Secondary Progressive MS (SPMS) 
• Primary Progressive MS (PPMS)

Some people may need a cane, crutches, or a rollator, 60% stay ambulatory without assistance. As many as 1/3 of MS patients go through life without any permanent disabilities. 

People who have fewer attacks and complete recoveries in the first five years tend to do better. People with primary progressive MS (PPMS) have early disabilities as the disease progresses. 

Note: attack, exacerbation, and flare all have the same meaning.

How is someone diagnosed with MS?

Before MRIs, a doctor would use a “hot bath” to diagnose someone with MS. A hot bath is just what it sounds like. A person would sit in a hot bath if they showed any neurological signs they had MS. 

For me, even though MRIs were available my neurologist did a quick examination. I was experiencing numbness but he had me touch my nose, walk straight, and lift my knees which I could do with no problem.

Then he ran a sharp stick along the bottom of each foot. Because my toes curled up instead of down he diagnosed me with MS. He told me to “hope for the best and plan for the worse” and that was it. No next appointment, no further information – nothing. It wasn’t until years later I finally had my first MRI.

That was a long time ago, today a doctor would start with a thorough medical history and examination. They would then send their patient to visit a neurologist who specializes in neurological conditions. Followed by an MRI or spinal tap (lumbar puncture) before receiving a diagnosis of MS.

What causes MS?

Recent studies found Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) to be the main cause of MS. However, 95% of all adults have EBV and only a small percentage have MS. This means EBV alone is not the main cause. It is a combination of things that triggers the onset of MS. Studies have proven chronic environmental inflammation is the cause of MS. This means you need to work on lowering your inflammation. You do that by eating and living a clean, healthy lifestyle. 

If you smoke stop, smoking is linked with MS. If you are a heavy drinker stop or you are a junk food addict stop. It is time for a change.

What you eat will make a huge difference in the quality of your life. Just like any chronic disease such as heart disease or type 2 diabetes, it’s related to nutrition.

“It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car.” – Michael Pollan

Stop eating junk food, processed foods, refined sugar, and drinking soda. They are extremely bad for your health whether you have MS or not. Have you ever dropped a french fry in your car and found it months later looking the same as the day you bought it?

That is not normal, real food rots. 

Start Eating and Living Healthy

First, you need to stop eating and living the way you are currently. The onset of MS happens due to chronic inflammation meaning…

Something you did or were unknowingly exposed to caused your MS.

You were not born with MS. Even if you have a genetic predisposition for MS that does not guarantee you will have MS. Researchers discovered this when they studied identical twins.

They also discovered genetics play a small role. It is your environmental factors that caused your MS. You can’t change your genes but you can change your gene expression by living a healthy lifestyle.

It is important to try and slow the disease progress down no matter what type of MS you have. Even if you’ve been living with MS for decades. The sooner you can get started the fewer flares you will experience.

Don’t get discouraged if you’ve been living with MS for a long time. I had heat intolerance for about 20 years. Temperatures over 65º F and my whole body would shut down. It would take hours for me to cool down and get back to “normal.” After three months of doing a Candida diet, my heat intolerance disappeared.

Years later, I can still sit outside for more than an hour on 100° F days without my body shutting down. Yes, the heat still affects me a little, I can feel a slight “heavy boot” sensation in my feet. But, that’s after a couple of hours in extreme heat like 100º F.

Keep reading for a free Symptom Questionnaire to Track Your Progress

Eat an Anti-inflammatory Diet

Start eating an anti-inflammatory diet to lower your inflammation. Eat a wide variety, mostly vegetables, to get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs to thrive.

Foods to include:

• Vegetables except for corn (it’s a GMO grain)
• Fruit
• Healthy fats such as avocados, olive oil, and fatty fish
• Herbs
• Nuts 
• Seeds
• Wild-caught fish
• Pasture-raised poultry
• Grass-fed and finished meat

Eat organic as much as possible. You will be avoiding pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones, GMOs, grains, and soy. Whatever the animals eat passes onto you. If they are eating an unhealthy diet so are you. 

Eat a high-fiber diet, most Americans don’t eat enough. Include a healthy protein, it should be at least 40% of your total caloric intake at each meal.

Learn How to Start an Anti-inflammatory Diet

What I Eat

I follow a Paleo-based diet that fits MY needs. I follow the recommendations of The Wahls Protocol by eating 9 cups of vegetables each day. But, I had to change the diet that my body needed more of or needed to avoid. 

For example, I’m sensitive to coconut and avocado so I don’t eat them. Eggs have always given me gut pains for as long as I can remember so I never eat them. Instead of eggs, I make flaxseed eggs or chia seed eggs. This is the handy coffee/seed grinder I bought and use from Amazon to grind the seeds.

Simple chia seed/flaxseed egg recipe for one egg:

• 1 tablespoon of fresh ground chia seeds or flaxseeds
• 2.5 tablespoons of water
• Mix thoroughly then let it sit for five minutes before using

It is best to avoid eggs while you are healing. Dr. Terry Wahls, the author of The Wahls Protocol, found people with MS tend to have more problems eating them.

The main cause of my MS is due to fungi (mold and yeast). For that reason, I eat a low carbohydrate diet because fungi feed off of sugar/carbs. My functional medicine doctor had me tested for mycotoxins (mold). The results showed I had an extremely high level so I avoid foods high in mycotoxins such as pistachios. (A normal high is 5-50, mine is at 9,147.20.)

I also have histamine intolerance, it’s not necessarily the foods I eat but how I prepare my food. Histamine buildup in foods when cooked on high heat or in leftovers. 

This is why it is important to pay attention to your body and adjust your diet to fit YOUR needs.

Diagnosed With MS

Getting diagnosed with MS is scary and there is a lot to learn. I want to help you as much as possible so there is more information I couldn’t fit into this article. You can read part 2 here: Tips For People Newly Diagnosed With MS – Part 2

Symptom Questionnaire to Track Your Progress

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Photos by Andre Furtado and mart.production by Pexels, Image by Freepik

Tips for People Newly Diagnosed With MS