St. Luke’s ER – this was written last week

I’ve always been very reluctant to go to the ER. After I have been diagnosed with MS it is been worse. I was always afraid they would just say you have MS go see your neurologist. Last few months I have gone there twice. I have found out my attitude was totally wrong. The first time was after Christmas of 2015. We had a PA I think her name was Baxter. She was fantastic. They looked at me as if I didn’t have MS and then factored in the MS. The care I received was fantastic.

A little over a week ago I was having arm and shoulder and neck spasms from my MS. It was like nothing I’d had before. I’ve had similar spasms at night. Three or four times in the last few months Janette has had to wake up, get me into my chair and then go back to bed. I came out to the living room and read during the spasms until they went away. This was usually about an hour. I would then wake Janette up again and she would put me to bed.

This last time we tried that. The spasms just kept getting worse. My neck pain was unbelievable. The spasms just kept getting worse and were almost continuous. We finally decided to go to the ER. Not sure the doctor last name is first name was Tom. He was fantastic. He understood my problems and seem to know how to factor the MS in and still treat me effectively.

I’d already decided the next time I had the spasms I would call my neurologist. I am sure he wouldn’t prescribe a drug called baclofen. This is for spasms. I’ve also read this drug has side effects. Not sure what they are but I don’t need side effects. This ER doctor prescribed a low dose of Valium. It turns out Valium is a muscle relaxer as well as other things. this worked fantastic. I could sleep again.

They recommended I talked to my neurologist for continued treatment. Since this works so well my neurologist saw no reason to switch to baclofen. Were now over a week into this and is working fantastic. I’ve not had a bad night sleep in over a week. I hope this continues. I’d always thought Valium was a very powerful drug and a mood enhancer. I found in the dose I have it is neither. My fear of drug addiction has been significant but now experience as told me it was unfounded..

I’ve gained a fantastic outlook on the St. Luke’s ER doctors!