Signs You Are Sabotaging Your MS Treatment – Skipping taking your medication(s)

MS is an autoimmune disorder, where the body’s immune system attacks myelin. Myelin, which forms a protective shield and insulates the lining of nerve fibers, is crucial to proper functioning of the nervous system. MS drugs are immuno-suppressive, which means that they work by suppressing, or altering, the activity of the body’s immune system, thereby protecting myelin and preventing further destruction of the myelin sheath. Once you stop taking them, you allow your immune system to return to full strength and to attack your myelin again. You may not have any sign that this is happening until it’s too late, and you have a relapse.

Your medications do not cure MS, but they do reduce the frequency and severity of attacks and the development of new brain lesions. In addition, some medications may slow down the progression of MS, reducing future disability.

“Clinical studies show that patients who had gaps in therapy lasting 90 days or more were nearly twice as likely to experience a severe relapse,” says Dr. Gabriel Pardo, director of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence.

“It’s important for patients to find a routine that works for them and that they can adhere to,” he says. “Patients might feel well between relapses, but in fact the disease is progressing and they might not recover from their next relapse. The disease is still progressing, although the patient doesn’t know it. The brain has a great ability to repair itself and find new pathways. But if you create a roadblock the brain can get around it some of the time, but not all of the time.”

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