Decision reached for now

As I sat worrying the other night about what to do with my Copaxone situation, it occured to me that if the choice had involved my anti-depressant, there would have been no choice. I would have just bought my med with credit and a prayer. It also occurred to me that my physical health is as important to me as my mental health. I would spend every cent in my arsenal in order to keep doing aerial dance. Once I had this realization, my choice was clear, start stripping (JK). Actually, I knew that I would contact the drug company to get help with my copay. I also decided that even if I could not get help to pay for my med, it is a more important expense than everything except food and rent. There really was no decision to be made: the choice was clear, if there is any chance that Copaxone is the reason I can do the things I do, I want to stay on the drug. I want to continue to fly!

Please advise

Fellow MSers, I really need some good advice right now from some people like myself who understand... I went to get my Copaxone today on my health plan from my new school district. When I went to the counter to pick it up the woman told me it would be $250.00. I thought I had heard her wrong but I had not. I decided not to buy my Copaxone today so I could go home to troubleshoot. I signed up for the same Kaiser plan I had in my old district where I only had to pay $10.00 copay each time. Apparently even the same plan is not the same in each district and does not cover the same stuff. I came home thinking maybe I signed up for the wrong plan but then I checked and I had signed up for the best one offered so even if I changed my Kaiser plan, my med will still cost me $250.00 a month. The problem is, at the moment I just don't have the money. So here is where I need help... Do I just toss the dice and quit the med? I have no way of even knowing if it helps me. It does not treat symptoms and it does not cure MS. I am feeling fine and I have not had a relapse in over a year (knock on wood). A huge part of me wants to take 6 months off and see what happens. Please send advise but please be kind and don't call me an idiot or anything (sometimes I notice folks can be militant about meds so please have compassion). Thanks so much, Denver Refashionista

Stress is Bad for MS

Stress is not just bad for MS, it is just bad for health in journal. Let me clarify a bit. I don't think that all stress is bad. Sometimes there is also good stress; the kind that comes with trying to juggle the things you love. Stress can also be a great motivator. Stress sure motivated me this morning when I saw my pay stub. I was motivated to reduce several payments, cancel some stuff, and ask my roommate to help out a bit more on the bills. Nevertheless, I can hardly call all that motivation good stress. Note to self, do not wake up and check your bank balance while still in bed. It immediately eliminates the restoration from a good night of sleep, and it also immediately elevates ones stress. I felt good when I woke up, but I single-handedly changed that by creating my own stress worrying about money. I'm on vacation from teaching school for two weeks and I promised myself to use this time to rest, recuperate and take care of the little stuff I never seem to have time and energy for. In the meantime, I have managed to clutter my head with financial worries. Bills, shmills. If I don't pay them, maybe the cats will (Lol). Seriously, who knew that health insurance was going to gobble up over an eight of my paycheck. Here I am, one of those spoiled rotten teachers always complaining about my enormous salary and free, excellent benefits. Not so much... After taxes, retirement and insurance, my check was only about $1,200.00. And some folks think teachers are over-paid... Sure, I cut back to half time, but I never expected this hard a hit. I became a part-time teacher so I could enjoy the happiness associated with being a bohemian. Health and happiness are so much more important than money, but now that I have none, I realize that money is rather helpful at times. Anyway, the day is only half over and I have lowered my bills by about $300.00 a month (not bad for a morning of phone calls). I bought a ton of groceries to top off my morning of running around with my head cut off, and now I am safely home and much relieved to have finished the "stressful" part of my day. My heart rate is back to normal, headache and nausea are gone, and all I had to do was reduce my stress. Amazing how that works.