0:03 hello everyone um welcome back to my
0:05 Channel or welcome to my channel I
0:08 wanted to do a really quick video today
0:11 doing a six Monon update on cmta which
0:14 is the drug that I take to manage my
0:18 multiple sclerosis or Ms um which is
0:21 what I usually refer to it as CA is the
0:23 DMT that I take to manage it it's the
0:25 disease managing therapy I think that's
0:28 what DMT stands for or disease managing
0:30 treatment I'm not sure which one of
0:33 but it's the drug that I take to manage
0:36 my Ms it's an immunosuppressant so what
0:38 it does is it suppresses your immune
0:40 cells so it basically suppresses your
0:43 immune system and makes it less active
0:45 because the way that Ms works is you
0:48 have an overactive immune system and so
0:49 it kind of goes a bit crazy and then
0:52 instead of fighting off infections it
0:54 attacks your brain your spinal cord and
0:57 your optic nerves I I think I don't know
0:58 if your optic nerve is part of your
1:00 brain but that's what MS basically is
1:03 it's a autoimmune disease and it's not
1:05 great it's not pretty but it can be well
1:08 controlled there's so many drugs that
1:10 control it I have R are and there such
1:12 as relapsing remitting and the drugs
1:14 help you slow down any progression um
1:17 and kind of Hal the disease as well as
1:18 possible a lot of things you can do to
1:21 help with the disease diet and all of
1:24 that good stuff but the drugs are a huge
1:26 thing that have really helped me um not
1:28 just physically mentally as well I know
1:29 that before I went on the drug because
1:32 it took me a few months to actually
1:34 almost like get the courage to go on the
1:36 drug and once I did it really really
1:38 helped me mentally because I was so
1:39 stressed trying to control it with just
1:41 diet and yeah once I got on the drug it
1:43 felt like a huge weight was lifted off
1:44 my shoulders and I felt like I could
1:46 breathe again I could relax again I
1:48 could enjoy myself again because I felt
1:50 like I had um almost like something else
1:52 vouching for me and like on my side so
1:54 this is the box it comes in I have this
1:56 in my room because yesterday I went to
1:59 pick up some new uh pens so the way that
2:00 could seem to work is it's literally
2:02 just a pre-filled pen and you hold it
2:05 down onto your skin so onto your stomach
2:09 your arms or your thighs and you hold it
2:12 down and then it clicks and then the
2:13 liquid releases and then a little green
2:16 vial fills up once the G green VI is
2:17 like full it clicks again then you wait
2:19 a few seconds and then you undo it or
2:22 you lift it off your leg and that's it
2:23 it's once a month injection so it's
2:25 super super easy and that's one of the
2:27 reasons why I chose it when I went to go
2:28 on a drug I kind of had all of them
2:31 available to me um cuz I had really like
2:33 I had relapsed really soon to when I
2:34 wanted to go on the drug and so they're
2:36 kind of like whichever one you want you
2:38 can go on I had full pick of all of them
2:40 and the nurse I was working with at the
2:42 time recommended consed to me purely
2:43 because I was very set on the fact that
2:45 I wasn't going to be in the UK for long
2:46 and I was going to be moving to
2:47 Australia and I was going to be
2:49 traveling I was going to be doing things
2:50 and I wasn't going to be like sitting
2:51 Stills she was like okay so infusions
2:54 won't work and I really wanted something
2:56 that wasn't that was going to go
2:57 straight into my skin because I didn't
2:58 want something to kind of have to go for
3:01 my gut first and and I just wanted to
3:03 yeah have it into my skin straight away
3:06 and CA seemed like the best option it's
3:07 the first one I've been on so I haven't
3:09 been on like I know a lot of people have
3:11 had a lot of experience with other drugs
3:12 and yeah I haven't it's the only one
3:13 I've been on and it's the only drug I've
3:15 ever really been on in my life as well
3:18 so I was really nervous about taking it
3:19 which is why these videos were so
3:21 helpful for me to see what other
3:23 people's experiences were like because
3:24 it's really overwhelming when you're
3:26 about to put something into your body
3:28 which is as serious as like an
3:29 immunosuppressant like it's a pretty
3:32 serious drug to take um and so it was
3:33 really nice hearing other people's
3:35 experiences of it so yeah first things
3:36 first I want to preface this by saying
3:38 that I haven't had an MRI checkup one of
3:41 the reasons again the ca was really good
3:43 for my lifestyle was because I again
3:45 knew that I wasn't going to be in the UK
3:46 for long I wanted to go traveling I
3:48 wanted to go to Australia which is where
3:49 I am now um and so yeah it was a really
3:52 like low monitoring drug like I didn't
3:54 have to be monitored on it too much
3:56 which um was really good for me and my
3:58 lifestyle choices so yeah another reason
4:00 why I chose this one
4:03 yeah so for anyone who doesn't know s is
4:05 a monthly injection so you take it once
4:08 a month which is super super easy and I
4:12 do it it takes maybe 15 seconds and then
4:14 I get on with the rest of my day and
4:16 everything's fine it's yeah it's just so
4:19 nice being able to do it once a month
4:20 and then being able to forget about it
4:21 the rest of the month and then if I have
4:22 any trips planned or something I always
4:24 just plan them around that date so
4:26 mine's on the 30th so I always make sure
4:28 that I'm not away on the 30th although
4:29 last month I was it was New Year's Eve I
4:32 was in Sydney um but again it wasn't a
4:33 big deal you can really easily travel
4:35 with it so I just have a little flask
4:37 needs to be refrigerated at all times so
4:39 much information I have like a little
4:41 flask with an ice pack um in it that I
4:42 got from Amazon and it's meant to be
4:44 really good for medication has a little
4:46 thermometer in it and yeah it just stays
4:49 at about 2° 3° for like 36 hours it's a
4:50 really really good flas and it's really
4:52 easy to travel with I don't let it go
4:54 through the machine like the X-ray
4:55 machine I just kind of put it through
4:57 manually and I've never had any problems
4:58 with it the only problem I've ever had
5:01 with it was one one time they didn't let
5:02 me take my thermometer on and I had like
5:04 a breakdown about it because you can't
5:06 take Mercury onto a plane but the
5:08 thermometer I had was one that
5:10 specifically didn't have mercury in it
5:11 and so he took it away and I was like
5:12 showing him screenshots being like it
5:14 doesn't have mercury in it you allow
5:16 these ones and he was like absolutely
5:17 not babes like get on the flight and so
5:18 I was like freaking out but everything
5:21 was fine to pick up my injection
5:22 yesterday I actually went to get it from
5:24 a pharmacy took my flask with me which
5:26 was a last minute decision um and then
5:29 got the bus back and end up getting on
5:30 the wrong bus and I ended up on the
5:32 motorway which was like so far from my
5:33 house I was like it's going to be a
5:35 20-minute Journey done easy I can easily
5:37 go and get it um and then yeah I ended
5:39 up getting the wrong bus getting on the
5:41 motorway once I'm sat with like my CM
5:43 injection in my bag in like the 30° heat
5:45 and it was
5:48 just it was stressful but I had my flast
5:49 with me and so it stayed at a really
5:52 nice temperature anyway random so I
5:54 started my injections back in August
5:56 that's when I took my first one and when
5:58 you first take it it's not monthly It's
6:00 weekly so you do one a week for three
6:02 weeks then you have a break and then you
6:04 start your monthly cycle a loading dose
6:06 that you do getting on to like symptoms
6:09 and stuff and side effects of the drug
6:12 when I first took it I had like a really
6:16 bad flu like illness come from it so I
6:18 took the drug and then maybe about 3
6:20 hours later 4 hours later after my first
6:23 time ever taking it I I yeah kind of
6:25 like crashed a bit I lost all of my
6:27 energy and I went upstairs to bed I had
6:28 like a really bad headache just like
6:30 really bad flu like symptoms my whole
6:33 body achd I was hot then I was cold and
6:35 I just listened to like a meditation
6:37 music and just tried to sleep it off so
6:40 I took it at like 6:00 p.m. I think and
6:41 so that I could kind of like properly
6:43 sleep it off and I didn't have like many
6:44 of the side effects I was asleep for a
6:45 lot of them um but I woke up in the
6:47 morning felt absolutely fine and then
6:49 was fine for the rest of the day and
6:50 then the next week when I took the
6:53 second injection I had a similar thing
6:55 but it wasn't as bad and so it kind of
6:56 knocked me out a little bit I didn't
6:58 have as much energy um and I still just
7:00 like went to bed slapped it off woke up
7:01 and was fine by the time I took the
7:03 third injection I had no symptoms and I
7:05 was absolutely fine and like I said it's
7:07 it's like a super quick injection to
7:09 take and once you get past the loading
7:10 doses your symptoms well my symptoms
7:13 were none I had like zero symptoms and
7:14 so you literally can just wake up in the
7:17 morning I take out the fridge 30 minutes
7:19 before I inject so that it comes to room
7:21 temperature I clean my leg with a little
7:24 swab wash my hands and then I inject it
7:26 which takes like 15 seconds I take it
7:29 out I put a little cotton bow on where
7:31 I've injected it to kind of reduce the
7:33 like swelling and the bruising um and
7:36 then and then I get on with my day
7:38 basically um so it's super super simple
7:40 to take apart from on the loading doses
7:42 when I had a few like flu like symptoms
7:44 apart from that I felt nothing I yeah
7:46 feel really good after every injection
7:49 in my last one to I'm not sure what it
7:50 was but in my last one I had it on the
7:52 arm when I always do it on the leg CU I
7:54 did it on my arm and I had a slight
7:56 reaction it was just a bit raised and
7:57 like a bit hot yeah it kind of like
7:59 spilled up a little bit but within like
8:00 two 3 days it was completely back to
8:03 normal and so on a whole my symptoms are
8:05 really my side effects sorry from the
8:08 drug are basically nothing it's super
8:10 super simple it's easy to remember and I
8:11 have a little app on my phone which just
8:13 sends me a little reminder on when I
8:15 need to do it and if I've had any side
8:16 effects I just log them in there and
8:19 it's just super super good so then
8:21 talking about how it's kind of helped me
8:23 control my Ms again I don't know if I
8:25 said this or not I haven't had an M scan
8:27 since I started the drug because I guess
8:30 I wasn't in England and like my Hospital
8:32 in Australia said that I was fine and
8:34 they requested to have one in like 6
8:36 months time which will be in like May
8:38 sort of time is so I'm purely going off
8:40 of how I physically feel so who knows
8:43 what's going on upstairs not me so yeah
8:45 the way that it's kind of helped me is
8:47 massively reduced my stress I feel like
8:49 just able to take things on now like I
8:53 feel stronger in my body I feel better I
8:54 honestly just feel like I have no
8:56 symptoms at all I feel like I can before
8:59 I started the drug I couldn't really eat
9:01 eat anything that was like I don't know
9:04 like had lots of sugar in it or was like
9:05 I couldn't eat anything that wasn't on
9:07 my like usual food plan I couldn't
9:09 really do things that were like high
9:11 stress or workout loads I couldn't do
9:13 like I don't know like lots of running
9:14 or anything without feeling really dizzy
9:16 um and since I've started taking the
9:18 drug I feel like those symptoms have
9:20 been completely alleviated sometimes if
9:22 I get too overwhelmed um or if I've been
9:25 eating really badly then which I don't
9:26 usually do if I've been eating like a
9:28 high sugar day or something or I've
9:30 started my day on like a smoothie Bowl
9:32 instead of like some protein then
9:34 usually I will feel a bit like dizzy and
9:36 not great but on the whole it's yeah
9:38 really really helped me control my
9:41 symptoms and I just feel a lot better
9:43 being on it and knowing that I have it
9:44 to kind of like vouch for me in case I
9:47 slip up and do something that's a bit
9:48 too stressful for my body I know that is
9:50 kind of there to catch me if I fool and
9:53 just my mental health in general it's
9:55 really helped because it just feels I
9:57 have like a huge it's like a huge stress
9:59 reliever it's it's been really really
10:02 good and then obviously this drug is an
10:03 immunosuppressant and so your immune
10:07 system is suppressed and I was really
10:09 really worried about that when going on
10:11 the drug it's the reason I didn't go on
10:12 it at first because I was like there is
10:14 absolutely no way I'm taking an immunos
10:15 supressant I am not suppressing my
10:17 immune system do you know how important
10:19 that is and I was really really worried
10:21 the more the doctors kind of told me I
10:22 realized that it wasn't my entire immune
10:24 system was going to be shut down it's
10:25 just like part of it that was going to
10:27 be suppressed a little bit honestly I
10:28 haven't really felt too much of a
10:30 difference in terms of getting ill which
10:32 was one of my biggest concerns maybe
10:33 noticed from when I've been traveling
10:34 again I don't know if it's just like a
10:38 traveling thing but from if I travel or
10:40 if I have like a hectic day I might get
10:42 like the sniffles or like a bit of a
10:45 cold or just feel a bit rund down when I
10:48 traveled from Perth to the Gold Coast I
10:50 had a cold from my previous flight from
10:53 the England to Perth I had a cold and
10:55 then that turned into a sinus infection
10:57 which was like unheard of usually I
10:58 would just like have a cold sleep it off
11:00 and be absolutely fine but apart from
11:02 that I haven't really felt the side
11:04 effects of having a suppressed immune
11:07 system to be completely honest if I've
11:09 got like a cut I feel like I heal pretty
11:12 quickly if I've yeah I have like a few
11:13 piercings and I was worried that they
11:15 were going to like flare up and maybe I
11:17 don't know not be able to fight off the
11:19 infections or whatever that comes with
11:21 having a hole in your body but um again
11:22 they've been absolutely fine
11:25 everything's been absolutely fine and
11:26 I'm really really grateful for that I
11:28 know that everyone's bodies and every
11:31 person person who kind of has this who
11:33 has a mess has it literally completely
11:34 differently it's different for every
11:36 single person and so in my experience
11:37 isn't necessarily going to be the next
11:39 person's experience but this is kind of
11:43 how I've found the last 6 months on it I
11:45 just feel pretty good on it which is
11:47 really nice to be able to say and I
11:50 think as well with the fact that it's
11:52 helped my mental state has really helped
11:55 me a lot because I was so stressed and
11:56 this disease is like thriving on stress
11:58 and so if I could do anything to
11:59 alleviate the stress which is what this
12:01 drug has helped me do it's good and I
12:03 just hope and pray that when I do have
12:06 my MRI scan whatever that is in the next
12:09 few months it comes back all good and if
12:11 it doesn't we go from there and we
12:15 switch drugs and etc etc but so far I'm
12:17 feeling good so yeah that's kind of I
12:19 guess the little six Monon recap
12:21 hopefully this has helped someone um
12:24 make a decision on what you want to do
12:28 next what your next steps are and yeah I
12:30 will talk to you soon
