Hey all!
My older brother was diagnosed with easrly stages of MS a couple of years ago. For now, it's just slowing him down on long walks, and hot days. We've been riding on some long trips too the last few years each summer. Living in Washington state, hot heat is not a big issue most of the year. But, when I was roding solo on long trips, I love the hot, desert heat! For now, I just enjoy our times, and rides for what they are. Any way, are there any others out there who deal with this, or know of ones who do? Its getting hard not to ride some where in August without finding heat. What do you do, or others do to keep heat off during long rides with this condition? Any one make an air conditioning sute ?

 

Wearing a light colored, loose fitting long sleeve shirt helps me, also plenty of water to stay dydrated. We have real small soft cooler bags I picked up at a Sonny surplus store that hold three 20 oz water bottles each. If it's really hot, I wet a bandana with cool water and put it on under my helmet. Oh, yea a white helmet or light colored one is cooler than black. If you feel like your overheating hose off! LOL

 

My Wife has MS, diagnosed in '98. It seems to hit people in different ways. My Wife's is in remission at this time. We live in South Florida so the heat has always been an issue. We limit riding in the middle of the day. We stop frequently and she drinks a lot of water. There are cooling bandanas, vests, etc which you soak in water for about 40 mins. These work well. Forest Fire fighters wear them. You can also get ones which circulate water like the ones for Racing Drivers. These are bulky. There arealso vests which you can put cold gel packs.
There are various types of Injectibles that they can prescribe. One in particular will cause the patient to always feel hot. Their skin will feel like ice. My Wife has tried them all and had reactions to all. Find a good Neuroligist who is familiar with MS. A lot of Doctors are not aware of all the medicines out there. They can overprescribe a bunch of medicines which actually react against each other which makes it worse. Once your Brother starts to recognize the onset of an exacerbation, he can notify the Neuroligist and he can prescribe a course of IV delivered Steroids. Three days usually. Be sure to aks for a Steroid taper for when he comes off the IV course. This a pill. There is a lot of information out there on the Internet, support Groups, etc. As with this Forum, evaluate the information as a lot of it conflicts. There is no cure for MS but there are ways of managing it.

 

My wife was diagnosed with MS in 2000. We live in AZ so there is a bit of heat in the summer. She stays in the house or the pool from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but when she does need to be out there is a product called a "Cool Vest". A vest with two large pockets in the front and two in the back. There are 4 freezer packs you put in the freezer that fit in the pockets. Very similar to those blue ice things you use to put in a cooler. It works great, I use it to do yardwork when we get up above 110 degrees.

 

My grandmother was diagnosed with MS back in 1977 (two years before i was born) and was bed ridden for the last 26 years of her life. so i not sure of her being out heat. but as post above there are many kides of cool vest out there check out outdoor stores around they probily have some thing, or get her one of those camelback packs that you can put ice in to keep her cooled down and have a cool drink. not sure of were you live but if you can try to stick to mountin roads on the norm they are 10 to 15 degrees cooler

 

My brother has been doing injections for some time now. But, not sure if its the same. Its a daily one, taken in different places each day of the week. To keep it in remition? I'll have to ask. And, ask about the other too.

 

[/align][/align]
I was diagnosed with MS 2 years ago and have a Stacool vest. People with this disease are heat intolerant. Below is a linkwhere you can buythis cooling vest online. NFL Mascots wear these "Stacoolvests", Hazmut workers, and the list grows long. The StaCool Vest is the only body-core cooling system designed specifically for Multiple Sclerosis patients. If you read the testimonials on the followingweb site(http://www.stacoolvest.com/) you willsee that thefirst one was written by a female biker. [/align][/align]“I just wanted you to know that I LOVE my vest. I just learned to ride a motorcycle but since I have MS I am very limited due to the heat. Now with my vest I can ride all day and never have to worry about getting hot. Thanks for having such a great product.�[/align][/align]Stay cool![/align]Girly[/align][/align]

 

My dad has been diagnosed with MS and loves to ride, much like you the heat has limited his riding to morning and evenings. He has done alot of research and tried some different things and he is waiting to save a little more money to get what I believe is the Stacoolvest. I could be wrong on the name of it but the vest he is looking at is very similar to what has been talked about here. The vest has a small bag that fits in almost any saddle bag and circulates water through the vest. For all of you with MS, I hope that you maintain control of it and still be able to enjoy your passion for riding.

 

when I was racing in the heat,, there were these folded up bandana lookin things that had cold pak stuff inside,
like them cold packs found in first aid kits,, wrap it around your neck,helpd big time during 30 min races

 

Try the cool pak scarfs, bought a couple from Wally World and they do help.