I do not have Multiple Sclerosis, but a friend of mine and my Uncle both have this disease. They also both have the Primary Progressive form and suffer very similar symptoms: varying degrees of numbness in extremities, fatigue, some balance problems, trouble with learning “new” things, etc. They can both walk okay, but with the assistance of a cane.

My last job, I managed a retail store that sells a huge variety of nutritional supplements (probably best if I don’t reveal the name of the company) and I had the opportunity to get tons of feedback from customers using various supplements. Out of all of these products, Vitamin D3 and Fish Oil (EPA/DHA) were probably the two most sought-after products in the store.

I got to know several customers with MS quite well and (I’m guess-timating) about 50% or more (think they may have) had positive results with one or both of these particular dietary supplements. I have had my friend and Uncle on the Vitamin D3 and the Omega-3 Fish Oil for several months and (so far) nothing notable has changed or improved regarding their conditions. Of course (thankfully), nothing has worsened either.

Even though I have always been aware that Vitamin D is sold as a dietary supplement by many, many companies, I had really began to take notice of this product when I met Anne, the woman I previously worked for. Her daughter had MS; the lesions behind her eyes were so developed that doctors feared she may be left partially or completely blind.

Anne’s daughter followed her doctor’s advice regarding lifestyle and dietary habits, as well as participating in a couple experimental drug therapies, but the lesions increased and she started suffering from blurred and fuzzy vision.

Desperate to help her daughter in any way possible, Anne embarked on a mega-research binge online and, through information she garnered, had her daughter start taking 1200 international units of Vitamin D3 and 3000 milligrams of Omega-3 fish oil every day.

Nothing in her daughter’s condition altered for some time…but, within about a year, her eyesight began to improve and other symptoms of the MS were diminishing.

Thinking that maybe the disease was going into a brief remitting stage (very common for individuals with a relapsing/remitting type MS), she was shocked when, after some routine test work, her doctor explained to her that her lesions had all but “disappeared.”

That was several years ago and, to this day, Anne’s daughter remains lesion-free and, without any scientific way to diagnose her with MS, she is officially told by her doctor that she does not have MS.

According to the MS Society’s website: “Growing evidence is linking increased levels of vitamin D to decreased MS risk, but one question is, "Will vitamin D supplements protect people from developing MS?" First, we’d need to know the safety of increasing supplementation in people with MS. Jodie Burton, MD (St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto) and colleagues compared administering escalating doses of vitamin D3 (the equivalent of 4,000 to 40,000 international units per day) to 25 people with MS over 52 weeks, with 24 untreated controls. Calcium levels remained within normal limits. Immune system analysis showed that reactivity of T cells – major players in the MS attack – was reduced. Trends toward clinical improvement were noted, but they were not significant. The group is now planning a phase II study of vitamin D supplementation that will focus on MRI and clinical endpoints.”

So, was the Vitamin D3 helpful for Anne‘s daughter and many of my old customers? Was the Fish Oil helpful? Or, like most everything, is it a combination of many factors? I have no idea. I am the eternal skeptic! So everyone should be.

But that’s not to say that I’m not overjoyed for Anne, her daughter and all those other folks.

Anne is no longer my boss ( though I would be happy to work for her again anytime--she is a wonderful person), but she is my friend and a huge activist in the fight against MS and the search for a definite cure.

Please email me and I will gladly put you into contact with Anne and she can share all the information she has with you personally.