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I am dealing with breast cancer in addition to managing relapsing remitting MS/NMO. I just underwent a second partial mastectomy and am now in the process of planning my cancer treatment plan. Chemo and radiation and estrogen suppression vs. radiation and estrogen suppression only. Waiting on one last final test to confirm if my type of breast cancer would be responsive to Chemo therapy. My Oncologist shared she has no patients or experience with MS patients that are receiving both Chemo… read more
I found an article on Neuromyelitis and MS: http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/neur...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the outside layer of nerve cells, called myelin.
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO), sometimes just called “neuromyelitis” or Devic's disease, is also an immune system attack. However, the attack is focused only on the optic nerve in neuromyelitis. People with MS will often have a plethora of issues some inadvertently attached to the condition. Prayer and strong self advocacy should be your weapons of choice, you know your body best.
@A MyMSTeam Member - thank you for sharing your experience and feedback, it's much appreciated. Both my Oncologist and Neurologist are coordinating and working together as to the best and most effective treatment for me, so not to interact with each other. The Neurologist is also inquiring to Novartis ( Gilenya) to further investigate drug interaction. It seems if I do end up needing chemo that the best course is to halt any MS maintenance medication. Both the Oncologist and Neurologist are doing their due diligence, and I want to do mine. The chemo aspect is still TBD. I'll be doing radiation and estrogen prevention therapy for sure, just not confirmed yet if chemo will be in the mix. Waiting on one last lab/test result on the cancer removed. Thank you again for sharing.
I was told I had MS last May and 4 weeks later I found a lump and it was confirmed as breast cancer. The NHS cancer services are well funded and everything was dealt with swiftly. Neurology is another matter and is always beset with delays. I caught the lump early and so only needed a lumpectomy and radiotherapy., then letrazole. Before this I had been on HRT since my early 30s as I had a full hysterectomy then (dermoid cysts). I stopped the HRT as soon as I was told I had cancer causing instant menopause which the letrazole has made so much worse. I thought radiotherapy would be fine but it completely wiped me out - never been so knackered! Its also left me with breast and arm pain - far more than the surgery did. The letrazole/menopause is making my MS symptoms so much worse. The hot flushes are awful making cog fog worse and causing my legs to collapse and I can't tell how much of the crippling fatigue is MS related and how much is menopause. I'll be on letrazole for 5 years and already can't wait to be off it. Until that happens I don't think I'll fully be able to get a proper understanding of my MS as the two are so muddled. My cancer health team were great but just ignored the MS as a factor. I still haven't seen a neurologist as I was told the cancer treatment had to take priority, (which seems fair enough) plus the waiting lists are so long. I'm due to finally see one next week. It will be wonderful to finally be able to discuss the MS properly. I read a study that said breast cancer was more common in women with MS than it is in the wider population but I'm not sure about that.
@A MyMSTeam Member That's an awesome presentation and concurs with what I've been reading too, except yours has pretty pictures. Thanks for finding and sharing it.
@A MyMSTeam Member, Just wanted to let you know that MS is an autoimmune disease, your body's own immune system is attacking the myelin sheath located on the axons of the CNS nerves in the brain and spinal cord. This causes slowing in the brain's normal conductivity speed and quality of messages passed from neuron to neuron. The brain also has to create new pathways for nerve transmission, due to damaged myelin, which is a big reason for the chronic fatigue we experience everyday. What is NMO? Non-demyelinating _______? I probably read about this but has currently escaped me due to my memory and cognitive problems related to my MS.
@A MyMSTeam Member, try looking on the National MS society website, MSAA website, you can even google this and it should bring up numerous articles. I'm also pretty sure that there is a search on this website "mymsteam", search the Q&A section for other people's stories about treating breast cancer and MS at the same time.. You can also ask your neurologist who treats your MS, if he or she has to have info on this, I'm very surprised your oncologist wouldn't help get you get this info, after all he or she is the one prescribing the chemo, right? They should know which meds are contradicted to be given together, and if not they need to knowledge themselves about this, thats why we have to fill out a whole health history at every new doctor we see. I will pray for you, maybe the neurologist and oncologist can talk to each other about this. It's so sad that the patient has to worry about this, but it's probably a good idea to make sure everyone is collaborating on your behalf.
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