MS: Benefits of Engaging a Physiatrist

9/19/2016

What is a Physiatrist?

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) physicians, also known as physiatrists, treat a wide variety of medical conditions affecting the brain, spinal cord, nerves, bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, and tendons.

PM&R physicians are medical doctors who have completed training in the specialty of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), and may be subspecialty certified in Brain Injury Medicine, MS, Spinal Cord Injury, Pain Management or any other number of neurological related conditions.

Currently, I see a whole host of medical professionals including a Primary Care Doctor, a Urologist, a Neurologist, a Pulmonologist and several other doctors but for the last six months I have been seeing a Physiatrist every 6 to 8 weeks and much to my surprise, it has proven invaluable. Many medical specialists I have seen in the past, focus primarily on one particular medical field and so there isn't always a lot of crossover between specialties. The role of a Physiatrist is to intersect between all the specialists related to your condition.

I met my Physiatrist at a local rehabilitation hospital in Boston. She makes recommendations on areas such as neurology, urology, pain management, rehabilitation and so many more areas. I see her for 30 minutes every 6 to 8 weeks and update her on all of my appointments. She can easily identify areas that I might want to focus on and has a bevy of excellent medical professionals to refer me to. I always leave with a short to do list of goals for our next meeting. Moreover, she makes herself available within a week or two should I need an impromptu appointment.

Many of my specialists book out several weeks if not months in advance. She is not only an incredibly well rounded MS doctor, she has made life changing recommendations on how to manage my pain. After being seen at a pain clinic for over several years, her advice was incredibly and affective. At first I was skeptical as to how effective she could be and was reluctant to add yet one more appointment to my calendar but now I feel as though she is perhaps the cornerstone to my health care. Primarily concerned with overall well-being, she examines my healthcare from a 360° angle.

If you find yourself frustrated that your specialists are too compartmentalized, you may want to consider enlisting a Phystriast. Just reach out to your local rehabilitation hospital and they will most certainly be able to direct you to a specialist in MS.

Here's to a healthy lifestyle!

Limitless Lizzie

P.S. A bit about me...I have been diagnosed with MS for over 20 years and am currently being treated for secondary progressive MS. I am married with a beautiful little boy and until recently worked full-time using both a manual wheelchair and at times a power chair. I battled stage III breast cancer and consider myself to be a survivor. I am grateful to be a part of this community and share my experiences with you and hope that in some small way they may be useful to you.

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Important Safety Information

Before beginning treatment, you should discuss the potential benefits and risks associated with Rebif with your healthcare provider.

Rebif can cause serious side effects. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the symptoms listed below while taking Rebif.

Behavioral health problems, including depression and suicidal thoughts. You may have mood problems including depression (feeling hopeless or feeling bad about yourself), and thoughts of hurting yourself or suicide
Liver problems or worsening of liver problems, including liver failure. Symptoms may include nausea, loss of appetite, tiredness, dark colored urine and pale stools, yellowing of your skin or the white part of your eye, bleeding more easily than normal, confusion, and sleepiness. During your treatment with Rebif you will need to see your healthcare provider regularly and have regular blood tests to check for side effects
Serious allergic and skin reactions. Symptoms may include itching, swelling of your face, eyes, lips, tongue or throat, trouble breathing, anxiousness, feeling faint, skin rash, hives, sores in your mouth, or skin blisters and peels
Injection site problems. Symptoms at the injection site may include redness, pain, swelling, color changes (blue or black), and drainage of fluid
Blood problems. Rebif can affect your bone marrow and cause low red and white blood cell and platelet counts. In some people, these blood cell counts may fall to dangerously low levels. If your blood cell counts become very low, you can get infections and problems with bleeding and bruising. Your healthcare provider may ask you to have regular blood tests to check for blood problems
Seizures. Some people have had seizures while taking Rebif

Rebif will not cure your MS but may decrease the number of flare-ups of the disease and slow the occurrence of some of the physical disability that is common in people with MS.

Do not take Rebif if you are allergic to interferon beta, human albumin, or any of the ingredients in Rebif.

Before you take Rebif, tell your healthcare provider if you have or have had any of the following conditions:

mental illness, including depression and suicidal behavior
liver problems, bleeding problems or blood clots, low blood cell counts, seizures (epilepsy), or thyroid problems
you drink alcohol
you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if Rebif will harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant during your treatment with Rebif
you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Rebif passes into your breast milk. You and your healthcare provider should decide if you will use Rebif or breastfeed. You should not do both

Tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and herbal supplements.

The most common side effects of Rebif include:

flu-like symptoms. You may have flu-like symptoms when you first start taking Rebif. You may be able to manage these flu-like symptoms by taking over-the-counter pain and fever reducers. For many people, these symptoms lessen or go away over time. Symptoms may include muscle aches, fever, tiredness, and chills
stomach pain
change in liver blood tests

Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

These are not all the possible side effects of Rebif. For more information, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Indication

Rebif is used to treat relapsing forms of MS to decrease the frequency of relapses and delay the occurrence of some of the physical disability that is common in people with MS.

US-INF-0814-0017A
RBU680907-01

MS: Benefits of Engaging a Physiatrist

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