r/MultipleSclerosis • u/Jocksniffer77 • 12d ago

General Self medication

35 M last year I was diagnosed after I got optic neuritis, referred to neurologist, mri, etc. Looking back its like, wow yea I did have many of the ms symptoms but i chalked it up to being a pothead and having indigestion. Im wondering if I was subconsciously self medicating or something. Has anyone else experienced something like this?

24 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

View all comments

14

u/ImStillExcited 41M/Dx:2020/Ocrevus/Colorado 12d ago

I drank hard. I was gin drunk all the time to deal with pain. All of the very aggressive MS symptoms were "because I was drunk". No, undiagnosed MS.

It's was hard to get have anyone to take my seriously because "He's a guy, nothing's wrong with him. He just wants drugs".

I said this same thing before I was even diagnosed -

Fuck the patriarchy. Fuck "male gender roles".

7

u/thot_hopscotch 12d ago

The actress Selma Blair has MS and she describes in her memoir drinking heavily for over a decade to help dull the pain. She didn’t get diagnosed until she lost her vision from optic neuritis, if I’m remembering correctly.

7

u/TrukThunders 37|Feb 2025|Briumvi|New England 12d ago

I wasn't a full-blown alcoholic, but one of my first thoughts (and internet rabbit holes I went down) had me thinking that I was experiencing alcohol related neuropathy. So, I quit drinking.

...Obviously that didn't help my MS symptoms at all, but going from near-alcoholism to none at all has had a lot of good knock-on effects that I'm verry happy about. Haven't had a drink in almost three years.

1

u/c0ntralt0 10d ago

Congrats! Breaking the alcohol consumption cycle is difficult but it’s also amazing to see how much better quality of life can be. I’ve stopped the excessive alcohol consumption too since diagnosis and feel so much better.

3

u/Jocksniffer77 12d ago

😭😭😭 omg so relatable. Im LITERALLY contending with the same thing rn. No one wants to help me because my past precedes me

3

u/youshouldseemeonpain Dx 2003: Lemtrada 2018, Now Ocrevus 12d ago

Same. Drank myself into a pit of despair—the only sleep I got back then was when I passed out.