Rochelle

Rochelle’s first symptom occurred in 2013 when she got out her car, slipped on the snow, and several days later her whole right side was not functioning and started tingling. After a hospital trip, numerous tests and scans, and medication, her symptoms disappeared. Five years later, Rochelle lost control of the left side of her body, stumbled into the wall, and had trouble writing. She was admitted to the hospital where she again underwent many tests but did not receive a diagnosis. Her symptom of walking at a slower pace stuck with her this time and she soon was diagnosed when she was 42 with multiple sclerosis by a specialist.

Rochelle had a good experience participating in a clinical study that aimed to assess the benefits of taking vitamins along with her treatment medication. Rochelle was asked to take one vitamin every day and go to a medical facility for blood work roughly every three months for a year. The researchers also performed some tests on Rochelle, such as sticking her with a safety pin to see if she felt it and assessing her walking and bodily movement. The clinical trial also gave Rochelle the opportunity to ask her doctor, who also ran the study, any questions that she had.

Rochelle’s primary motivation for participating in the study was to learn some more about multiple sclerosis, specifically what she can do, what she cannot do, and what she needs to do. While Rochelle never received information back regarding her individual health response to taking the vitamins, she did get individual test results back. At the end of the study, Rochelle went in to do blood work, an MRI, and a physical where she was asked to walk, jump, and do different obstacles on which she was graded. Rochelle feels that the study had a nice, problem-free ending which she is glad and thankful for. She hopes that her participation in this study benefits somebody. Rochelle feels like the vitamins were beneficial for her and plans on continuing to take the vitamins for the foreseeable future.