MS-Diet - Member Bio's

I started with MS just after my 21st Birthday and although I knew exactly what was wrong NO ONE BELIEVED ME. I was very frightened and spent a few years running away. I was officially diagnosed at 23. When the MS progressed I was given quick-fix steroid which put me back on my feet and bought me a little more time. Aged 24 though my mobility deteriorated rapidly and the steroids stopped helping. As it was so obvious that I was ill I decided to tell the world about my diagnosis by doing a tandem skydive. I made front page news and raised nearly £2 000 for MS but internally I felt like I was dieing. By 25 I was wheelchair bound and in 'free-fall' decline and in a right mess. I knew that I had to try to find a way of managing my condition, so I logged onto the internet and began my search for answers. I went to see a good Nutrition Consultant and set-out a supplemented dietary programme very similar to the Best Bet Diet, to try to stabilise my aggressive condition. I found Ashton's theory very convincing and just wished I had read about it all sooner. I had been totally unaware about the damage I could potentially be doing to myself by eating the wrong foods.

That was three years ago now and since these dietary and lifestyle changes, which you can read about on my webpage at www.livingwithms.co.uk/ms , MS has not progressed at all and I am even gaining in strength and mobility. I lead a full, busy life, can walk short distances with just a stick and have even set-up my own local support GYMS (Group for Young MSers). My skydive was a turning point, a real leap into the unknown, which lead in turn to my not only finding ways of living with MS, but also to meeting my partner, Steve Wright, my Mr wRite, when he sold me my mobility scooter. (www.fairprice-mobility-scooters.co.uk ). So it just shows you never know what may happen if you REACH FOR THE SKIES!

Andrew Watson. Diagnosed with MS in1983 and advised at time to just forget about it - It was a very mild form. Asked about special diets at the time and was told that a healthy diet wouldn't do any harm but wouldn't make any difference to the progress of the MS either. On the BB Diet since September 2000
Brian Pile. I'm 42, diagnosed PPMS November 1998. Read Judy Graham's self-help guide shortly after, which gave me hope that I could do something positive myself, despite the negative views of the neurologists. After trying a wide range of complementary therapies, including some diet modification and supplements, found the Direct-MS website late Summer 2000. Found the well argued explanations, and the rationale for the Best Bet approach, utterly compelling. Have been Best Betting since September 2000.
Carol Hanson I have Primary Progressive MS. I went on the Best Bet Diet, after much research and study of Ashton Embry's papers, in 1995-1996. I must admit that I was not totally convinced of certain parts of it at first, having studied Peter D'Adamo's blood type diet and theories. From 1993 (first symptoms) until early 2000, my symptoms continued to progress until I was beginning to use a cane. I had pretty severe muscle cramps in my feet and calves, lots of dizziness and balance problems and numbness and tingling from the tips of my toes to my waist. Some days the dizziness was so bad, all I could do was sit in a chair with my head securely resting on the back of it. My arms would 'go to sleep'. I felt like I was walking on rocks. I'd wake up in the middle of the night with chills and intestinal attacks. Then I had a period in the summer of 1999 where I went off the diet on Saturday nights, when I visited some friends for dinner and ate what they served. My cholesterol and blood pressure went back up. That cured me of fudging and since then, I've been strict on the diet. Then, in the spring of 2000, I realized I was feeling pretty darn good. I hadn't even noticed that many of my symptoms had receded or were completely gone. I decided to test just how good I felt, by walking the dog. I was amazed to find I could walk all the way around the block with very little stiffness at all! By June or July, I was walking between 1 and 2 miles a day. I seldom had any muscle cramps at all, the dizziness was entirely gone and my balance was 80% better at least. The numbness and tingling had receded back down to my very lower legs and feet, and my arms no longer fell asleep. (The middle of the night intestinal attacks disappeared in the spring after I started treating myself for leaky gut and candida.) I have remained the same to date. Though I have made great improvements, I still have some residual symptoms, and don't consider myself cured, and will always be on the BBD. Click HERE to visit my own site.
Trish Appelbe I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in April 1990 when pregnant with our now 11 year old son. This came after three years of unexplained neurological symptoms following the birth of our first-born. Although initially I experienced long periods of remission, for the past seven years symptoms have been chronic/progressive. Like most people with this disease, I have continually searched for ways to help my condition, but the only results have been to lighten our bank balance. Over the years I have heard and tried various diets reported to help MS, but because of lack of support and knowledge, they were not long lasting. Early this year (2001) I knew I had to do something soon, as my mobility was declining rapidly. Eventually I came across Ashton Embry's essay about the diet and Vitamin D link. It was he who put me in contact with the BBD support group and I began the Best Bet diet in February 2001. The support group have been a great source of inspiration and help to me, and in my case it has given me the motivation to stay with the diet which is now a way of life. The rationale behind the Best Bet Diet makes so much sense that I am convinced that I too will in time experience the encouraging results that others have.
Anne Barrett I'm 42 and I think I must have had MS all my life - but it laid dormant, not bothering me, till May 1993, when I had very minor symptoms that lasted five minutes. Half-hearted investigations by my doctor proved nothing - but in the boiling summer of 1998, it became obvious something was wrong and diagnosis swiftly followed. I'd had plenty of time to ascertain the disorder must be dietary in origin and lost no time in starting the Roger MacDougall diet (gluten-free, dairy-free). I also replaced my aerobics with yoga to try and rid myself of angry thoughts. This worked perfectly - yoga works not only on the body, but the mind. At this point I didn't mind the MS at all, but there was still something bothering me: I had five amalgam fillings and decided they had to go. The more I read about them - that 99.9% of people with MS had mercury poisoning - the more determined I became. To cut a long story short my dentist's incompetence practically cost me my life, and certainly my freedom. The MS is back with a vengeance now. But not forever, I am quite certain, as the Best Bet diet is the new improved Roger MacDougall diet and has given me great results so far. My message to the MonSter is: I've got rid of you once, I can do it again! .
Julie Hitchen I have had PPMS for 25 years.In those days there were no MRI scans I unwittingly agreed to a myelogram - Myodil dye injected into the spine as a contrast medium. (Which I regret to this day). I remember the neurologist giving me the diagnosis and immediately walking away.That was the last time I saw him and I have never regretted that. So I have tried many alternative approaches since but always felt that diet was the key to it all. I started on the old ARMS low fat diet and then Roger McDougall inspired me to go gluten free a few years ago(but I often cheated). The Best BetDiet to me is the most logical, practical, scientific based approach to MS that has ever been available and something I have been searching for over all those years. Doing it with a group of committed, like- minded people through the group and the website is very motivating and supportive - NO CHEATING - and why would you when there is so much to gain. It' s also great fun this way. I have used a wheelchair for 6 years and always, I hope actively used it. I have been on the BB Diet for over 2 months now and am noticing gradual daily improvements in my energy levels. For me this means more stamina to stand for short periods, to walk a little further with a walking frame, to exercise more frequently, 5mins every hour out of the wheel - chair. Small , gradual changes but think what difference a year or two could make.
Julie Williamson I'm 41 (going on a petulant three!) and I was diagnosed in October 2000 - my 40th year. Now THERE's a mid-life crisis! I saw a neurologist only twice - once for the 'tests' and once to be told it was MS and to carry on with life. As 'life' prior to the walking problems that had led me to neurological investigations at that time was being a freelance principle opera singer, I was completely floored at how I was supposed to continue from there. I rocketed spectacularly downhill healthwise for about three or four months after that, with no support from doctors or anyone except my lovely, and very new, mate (we had been married almost exactly one year at diagnosis). Apparently, I have had MS for maybe ten to fifteen years - possibly even longer. I can certainly, with knowledgeable hindsight, pinpoint episodes of the disease over the past many years. After diagnosis, I started gathering information. Lots of it. I contacted the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre (not to be confused with the MS Society) in the UK and subscribed to their 'Pathways' magazine and found a link there to Ashton Embry's website and this life-saving eating plan - and from there to the MS Diet Support Group. It took me a month of dipping in and out of conversations and discussions there and gathering my store cupboard of ingredients and supplements together before abandoning my old eating habits. On 9th April, 2001, I started the Best Bet. I haven't cheated, or wanted to, since that time. Not even chocolate!! ( small yearning sigh...). I believe I have begun to stabilise the progression of my MS; I have regained the acuity of mind which I thought had gone forever in the MS haze; I am walking unaided; doing a yoga class to regain some of the strength I lost, and I have emerged from the terrifying depression that had overtaken my life. I expect this pattern of 'creeping wellness' to continue.
Jeanne Harvey I am 43 years old and was diagnosed in 1992 after having an MRI scan and a lumbar puncture. I was very mobile until 1996 when I had a bad relapse which I didn't fully recover from. I now can walk short distances inside but need a wheelchair if I go out. Started BB diet in March 2000. Have had no relapses since then - was having at least 2 per year previously. Hopeful that the diet is keeping me on the right track.
Rebel Hi, My name is Sandra Lee Steed but get called Rebel as before ms I rode a Honda Rebel motorcycle. Was born in 1944. Was dx with ms in 1998, but had been having trouble for 15-20 years. But just to stubborn to give in to it. Art and I have been married for 38 years as of last May 26. Have 2 married girls(Vickie and Marla) and 3 Grandkids. Chance ( boy) and Jessica and Braxston ( girls). I am still able to walk some with a cane and scooter for outside. And scooter in stores. Still drive but a lot less then I use to as my reaction time is slower. Hobbies are the webtv, dogs (3), and the X-Files. Have only been on BBD diet for a few months but no longer live on tums. And used to feel sick in the morning, I call it morning sickness, but it is gone too! And I can really feel it when I eat wrong. Click HERE to visit my own site.
Sylvie xxx (Age 28) sylvia.brown@virgin.net I started with MS just after my 21st Birthday and although I knew exactly what was wrong NO ONE BELIEVED ME. I was very frightened and spent a few years running away. I was officially diagnosed at 23. When the MS progressed I was given quick-fix steroid which put me back on my feet and bought me a little more time. Aged 24 though my mobility deteriorated rapidly and the steroids stopped helping. As it was so obvious that I was ill I decided to tell the world about my diagnosis by doing a tandem skydive. I made front page news and raised nearly £2 000 for MS but internally I felt like I was dieing. By 25 I was wheelchair bound and in 'free-fall' decline and in a right mess. I knew that I had to try to find a way of managing my condition, so I logged onto the internet and began my search for answers. I went to see a good Nutrition Consultant and set-out a supplemented dietary programme very similar to the Best Bet Diet, to try to stabilise my aggressive condition. I found Ashton's theory very convincing and just wished I had read about it all sooner. I had been totally unaware about the damage I could potentially be doing to myself by eating the wrong foods. That was three years ago now and since these dietary and lifestyle changes, which you can read about on my webpage at www.livingwithms.co.uk/ms , MS has not progressed at all and I am even gaining in strength and mobility. I lead a full, busy life, can walk short distances with just a stick and have even set-up my own local support GYMS (Group for Young MSers). My skydive was a turning point, a real leap into the unknown, which lead in turn to my not only finding ways of living with MS, but also to meeting my partner, Steve Wright, my Mr wRite, when he sold me my mobility scooter. (www.fairprice-mobility-scooters.co.uk ). So it just shows you never know what may happen if you REACH FOR THE SKIES!
Jock McTavish I was diagnosed in 1992. I had the good fortune to read Dr. Roy Swank's MS-Diet and follow its ultra low fat recommendations within that first year. I also discovered and followed the vitamin and supplement advice of Dr. Linus Pauling. That held the beast at bay. In the first year I fell from normal to 2 on the disability scale. These last 8 years have only dropped a bit to 3.5 - due entirely to diet I'm sure. I learned of Ashton Embry's research on behalf of his son and came to embrace his Best Bet Diet philosophy by steps over the last 4 years. I know without the good fortune of this information and the good support from others with MS, I would be ruined by this disease. These folks look after your spirit too. Click HERE for an autobiographical poem.
		Support Group Members. If you are willing to share your story, please send in in by clicking left please. And send in a picture if you would (we can crop it).

	It is better to light a candle than complain of the darkness.
	We practice the management of our MS with diet and supplement. We have become convinced through our experience that the Best Bet Diet put forward by Dr. Ashton Embry in 1996 is our best bet too. But before we were convinced we were encouraged by the stories of others. Here then are some people in the MS-Diet Support Group who at different stages of this diet modification program are willing to share their story with you. Click on their picture if you'd like to email any one directly.