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We both knew this time was coming. This isn’t going to be easy. When I started ActiveMSers 20 years ago in March of 2006, I couldn't have imagined it turning into one of the largest and longest-running personal MS websites in the world. I’ve so enjoyed sharing my adventures with you over all these years, from my travels overseas to escapades in my own backyard. I hope you’ve taken advantage of my exercise advice, gear reviews, and tips for living with a disability. But my ultimate goal was to motivate and inspire, to keep that flame of hope burning until the promise of a better tomorrow arrived.
That better tomorrow is today.
After a half dozen failed treatments, five futile clinical trials, and an ultimately unsuccessful stem cell transplant—along with 15 UTIs in 15 months, a furious rate of disability that left me reliant on a wheelchair, and a frightening bout of psychosis—I can look back and say that it all mattered. I had to travel that impossibly hard road. It must have been both heartbreaking and terrifying to read, and yet you stuck with me through it all.
I cannot express just how much you all mean to me. I’ve saved each of our conversations, often rereading your notes during trying times. I’ve made so many unforgettable friends over these years, friends I never would have met without getting diagnosed with this disease. The other day, at a much-needed stress-relieving comedy show, I ran into one— Caitlin, an original member of ActiveMSers, also from the esteemed diagnosed class of ’06. She’s in yet another clinical trial for her progressive MS, doing whatever she can to stall the ravages of this disease; I warned her that her trial might get cut short. For good reason.
As you all are aware, in the fall of 2024 I completed my medical memoir Sit Down Before Reading, a sweeping, 52-chapter book detailing my journey of discovery—in real time—as I made the case that a stealth bacterial infection is at the root not only of multiple sclerosis, but also of most chronic illness swamping society today. But most medical professionals are not inclined to read a 450-page opus that undermines everything they’ve been taught. So for the past year and a half, I’ve been working on a letter to the global scientific community. But it isn’t just a nifty summary of my discoveries. No.
It is a thorough, exacting, dismantling of modern medicine. I left nothing to chance, resolving every question, every concern, every uncertainty. It includes rivers of new evidence and fresh observations that settle towering medical mysteries that have bewildered researchers for ages. I even provided a guide so that anyone—from a veteran scientist to a fifth grader—can stress test my findings. I am confident it will not break.
I had intended to send my 90-page paper directly to medical journals and legions of scientists, but paradigm shifts this momentous can take years to take hold—years we don’t have. So instead, I sent that letter to The New York Times at the end of April. It will take time to digest, process, and vet all that I’ve discovered. Please be patient. With billions of people affected worldwide and the health of humanity at stake, there is no rushing this. As for the end of this newsletter, I’m not saying my forever goodbyes just yet, but the clock is ticking. Let’s enjoy these remaining days together as best we can. Be active, stay fit, and keep exploring!
Dave
p.s. In the meantime, the best thing I can offer you—beyond hope—is this: I strongly recommend talking to your doctor about getting on a GLP-1 and, for those willing, consider starting on a medical ketogenic diet. Here are some videos to help get you started (bonus: your swollen ankles will be gone in less than a week). The bewildering success of these two interventions across so many health conditions is due to their unique ability to starve the bacteria behind Lyme disease.
That better tomorrow is today.
After a half dozen failed treatments, five futile clinical trials, and an ultimately unsuccessful stem cell transplant—along with 15 UTIs in 15 months, a furious rate of disability that left me reliant on a wheelchair, and a frightening bout of psychosis—I can look back and say that it all mattered. I had to travel that impossibly hard road. It must have been both heartbreaking and terrifying to read, and yet you stuck with me through it all.
I cannot express just how much you all mean to me. I’ve saved each of our conversations, often rereading your notes during trying times. I’ve made so many unforgettable friends over these years, friends I never would have met without getting diagnosed with this disease. The other day, at a much-needed stress-relieving comedy show, I ran into one— Caitlin, an original member of ActiveMSers, also from the esteemed diagnosed class of ’06. She’s in yet another clinical trial for her progressive MS, doing whatever she can to stall the ravages of this disease; I warned her that her trial might get cut short. For good reason.
As you all are aware, in the fall of 2024 I completed my medical memoir Sit Down Before Reading, a sweeping, 52-chapter book detailing my journey of discovery—in real time—as I made the case that a stealth bacterial infection is at the root not only of multiple sclerosis, but also of most chronic illness swamping society today. But most medical professionals are not inclined to read a 450-page opus that undermines everything they’ve been taught. So for the past year and a half, I’ve been working on a letter to the global scientific community. But it isn’t just a nifty summary of my discoveries. No.
It is a thorough, exacting, dismantling of modern medicine. I left nothing to chance, resolving every question, every concern, every uncertainty. It includes rivers of new evidence and fresh observations that settle towering medical mysteries that have bewildered researchers for ages. I even provided a guide so that anyone—from a veteran scientist to a fifth grader—can stress test my findings. I am confident it will not break.
I had intended to send my 90-page paper directly to medical journals and legions of scientists, but paradigm shifts this momentous can take years to take hold—years we don’t have. So instead, I sent that letter to The New York Times at the end of April. It will take time to digest, process, and vet all that I’ve discovered. Please be patient. With billions of people affected worldwide and the health of humanity at stake, there is no rushing this. As for the end of this newsletter, I’m not saying my forever goodbyes just yet, but the clock is ticking. Let’s enjoy these remaining days together as best we can. Be active, stay fit, and keep exploring!
Dave
p.s. In the meantime, the best thing I can offer you—beyond hope—is this: I strongly recommend talking to your doctor about getting on a GLP-1 and, for those willing, consider starting on a medical ketogenic diet. Here are some videos to help get you started (bonus: your swollen ankles will be gone in less than a week). The bewildering success of these two interventions across so many health conditions is due to their unique ability to starve the bacteria behind Lyme disease.