From: Y Ddraig Area: Magical Plants To: Phil Pope 31 Mar 94 22:42:00 Subject: ROM UpdReq Hiya, PP> Hi Cary, I received the txt files and will pass them onto Rom PP> next time he drops in for mail. This isn't Captain Rom , High-Tech Aerospace Hippy, is it? PP> Internet is another alternative once you have an account. I PP> will find out what my correct internet address is and let you PP> know. Hey, if we are talkng about the same guy, I'd be interested in getting in touch with him. I'm at hiscdcj@lux.latrobe.edu.au..... Y Ddraig 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: Rose Dawn Area: Magical Plants To: Phanerothyme 1 Apr 94 07:36:40 Subject: Re: MS UpdReq 93 Phanerothyme, Glad to see you're still around, dude...hadn't heard from you in a while. I *think* you've got my phone # now. I'm also taking advantage of a free ten hours at America Online, so can be reached as rosedawn93@aol.com at the moment, tho I'm not sure if I'll bother after the ten hours run out. I'm off to the doc today for my BetaSeron, and I'm ready to rant about Berlex bigtime I heard a lot of pious talk from the people at the lab--when they were talking "on the record" for the article I was researching!--about how "nobody would go without due to ability to pay." Now that my lucky number came up, I find out the MONTHLY price of the stuff is over $900--per MONTH--and my insurance covers 75%. Heh, I dunno about Berlex' employees, but I a couple hundred a month isn't just a drop in the bucket to me. I'm gonna see what I can do...it's an especially pernicious "carrot & stick" trick in my case, as the possibility that "years could be added to my life" is being offered, and I'd like to stick around till my girl's a bit more grown up. Assholes! OTOH, until about a week or two ago, when I hit a relapse of the not-yet-too- horrible variety , the Symmetrel/Amantadine was working aces. You shouldn't need to shop around too much for a doc or make a run for the border; my first neuro suggested it (for fatigue), and my present doc was amenable when I brought the possibility up. Since according to Berlex' science folx, the working hypothesis is that BetaSeron decreases the frequency & severity of relapses due to its viral suppressive qualities, and Symmetrel is a *proven*, widely available, and fairly cheap viral suppressant, I think it's a good way to go (tho I'm "human" enough to want to learn to slam BetaS & see if it works, specially since my luck seems to be running out a bit). Hmm, it wasn't THAT bad of a rant I guess...I think I used up all my excess rage already. ;> By the way, since Interferons naturlly occur in the body, and Interferon-Beta-1-B is the stuff tht Berlex isolated, genetically tweaked, and patented, do you (does anyone) have any idea about other, cheaper ways to increase the body's production of this stuff without the intermediary? (I can't believe the FDA is going after herbal remedies, and gives one lab oligarchical power to set prices and run the game on thousands of people...hell, yes I can!) Anyway, you seem to know your stuff, do you know anything about Interferon in its natural state that might be useful? > One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small, but the > ones the Guv'ment approves don't do as much as the stuff they're too > re-election minded to risk. Assholes! - this is my LIFE you're > playing with; if you are too gutless to approve the stuff, at least > pass the word to your henchment to turn a blind eye when people who > need it use it. [The preceding has been an unpaid political > announcement] Yeeup. This particular relapse is manifesting with LOTS of CNS pain...alla de way up the spinal cord, and intermittant "headaches" of the sort you get after a lumbar puncture. I've heard good old-fashioned marijuana might be of assistance, but can I obtain it legally for that reason? Naaaah. The doc seems to think ordinary pain meds wouldn't be effective either, but I can have all the benzodiazepines I want to keep me calm while I'm hurtin...then suffer like a mofo a month or two down the road while I'm jonesing off of em! Ayin Resh Gimel Heh...owell. I'll hope this stuff will do me some good, and keep reminding myself I'm game till the end in the meantime. ;> Let me know how you're doing, if nothing else we can swap war stories and bitch about the government and Berlex Labs and stuff. 93! 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718