A question for guys that were in Iraq early on

[gimpy]

Do you have any brothers in arms that have developed neurological issues? My best friend has been diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis that he is told is due to exposure. I haven't had problems to he same degree as him, by I also understand that we each react differently. Between the junk we we injected with, and other "non-existent" stuff we came across, I can't help but think there are other people out there in the same condition. He was diagnosed recently with this, has been deteriorating exponentially over the last 6 months to a year, and on Thursday woke up unable to walk, and mostly blind. He's currently admitted at the Cleveland Clinic (prayers please) with low expectancy to ever walk again.

Do any of you guys that were there have comrades with similar issues? He's located SW of Cleveland and I'm concerned about how he will get up into his house when he gets out, given the speed at which the VA takes care of guys. This whole thing has me wanting to take a week off work to go get his house accessible, but I don't know how feasible that currently is.

 

[nso123]

I know two guys from a local Guard unit that were there in Desert Storm that have some pretty bad issues that seem to be neurological. One of them has MS type problems. I believe that they have said that others in their unit are experiencing the same thing.

 

[JohnP123]

I was there before and During DS when i got home got sick like i had the Flu. 40 days later i dropped close to 70 lbs. They tried to blow me off But i was medical By trade and My drs supported me i ended up having a Stroke. Acute kidney failure and a Host of other lovey things.Took 4 yrs in and out of hospitals and therapy to get back 80% of what i lost.Lots of guys got sick alot were affraid to come forward and get labeled for seeking help. The crap that got us sick is still out there .Prayers for your friend And good luck.The VA Now is Recognizing the symptoms.

 

[sawgunner2001]

I was in Kuwait/Iraq from January 2003 through August 2003 and in Iraq again for calendar year 2005. I don't have any of these issues. I can't speak for any others though. I haven't really kept in touch with others who were in my unit.

 

[shootist2004]

when they destroyed chemical weapons over there Im sure lots of people downstream got a nice dose...

 

[gimpy]

when they destroyed chemical weapons over there Im sure lots of people downstream got a nice dose...

Chemical weapons? There weren't any... ;-)

 

[High Binder]

There's some interesting evidence the MS is actually an STD. I saw a whole program on it once and there's a lot of stuff such as: Is multiple sclerosis a sexual... [J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2002] - PubMed - NCBI that begin to make the case. There could be a million other causes but the fact that they find the same worm like growths in an MS patent's brain suggests that it's very similar to another STD (I forget which one at this moment) and there's a lot of other facts that correlate it to an STD.

Anyway, you'll have to do the research but being that there's no real proof of where MS comes from there's no way anyone is going to link it to Iraq... ' and remember, grunts have been lab rats before. I have a family member with MS and it's no fun. He'll need a ton of help from you if you can spare it.

 

[Flying Goose]

I personally haven't had any ligering issues that your describing, but two guys in my unit have both since passed from brain tumors. I thought it was really odd seeing as my Battalion capped out around 400 guys at any time and maybe 200 in the same place at once. Both of these guys were in on the invasion in '03 but it very well may be a coincidence.