By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-06-04 02:02:51 | Updated at 2026-06-07 21:04:35
3 days ago
Ryan Roy knew he wasn't taking care of himself.
As the owner of a plumbing business in New Hampshire, he had grown used to spending days in his truck, stopping only to grab a burger from a fast food joint.
At 5ft 5in, the father-of-two's weight had ballooned to nearly 300lbs due to his sedentary lifestyle, as work and parenting constantly got in the way of exercise and healthy eating.
'You know what you're supposed to do – but you don't do it when you're on the road,' Roy, 42, admitted to the Daily Mail.
Then, in February 2020, without warning, his right leg went completely numb. It was a curious sensation more than anything, he said, a bit like when you fall asleep on an arm or sit in the same position for a long time and your leg 'goes dead.'
When the snow melted that season, the episodes seems to stop. But in the winter of 2021, the strange sensations returned, this time in both legs.
Concerned, Roy visited his doctor, who reassured him it was probably a lingering symptom of the COVID he had the month before.
And as the numbness and tingling persisted throughout the winter, Roy blamed the cold New England weather.
Ryan Roy sits with his two sons. He spent five years battling numbness that spread each year from his legs to his whole body before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
A year later, Roy intermittently lost feeling from the waist down. He also began struggling to stay awake for long periods of time.
He visited his doctor periodically, but said, 'I was told it was probably a pinched nerve, then it was shingles. It would stop after a few months, and I would be okay.'
Each winter over the next four years, the pattern repeated.
In March 2025 Roy was rushed to the hospital after his body went completely numb from the chest down.
'That was when the doctors actually said, "OK, we're going to figure this out,"' Roy said.
An MRI revealed lesions called plaques dotting Roy's brain and spinal cord, a tell-tale sign of multiple sclerosis (MS), an incurable condition that occurs when the immune system attacks the protective coating surround nerve fibers, known as the myelin sheath, disrupting the signals between the brain and body.
MS typically follows one of several patterns. The most common, known as relapsing-remitting MS, causes flare ups of symptoms that eventually subside, before returning again.
Over time, many patients go on to develop a gradually worsening form of the disease called secondary progressive MS. A smaller group suffer a type called primary progressive MS, which gradually deteriorates from the outset.
It causes a wide range of symptoms including numbness, tingling, weakness, trouble walking and sudden jolts of nerve pain described by patients as 'electric zaps' particularly in the neck.
While MS itself is rarely fatal, advanced disease raises the risk of complications such as severe infections and blood clots linked to reduced mobility – meaning patients may, on average, have their lives shortened by up to a decade.
Roy's doctors couldn't pinpoint a specific reason why he developed MS, but experts suspect, alongside genetics, factors including a diet high in ultra-processed food, lack of exercise and indoor lifestyles with limited exposure to sunlight may be partly to blame.
Excess body fat and highly processed diets promote chronic and widespread inflammation, which signals the immune system to mistakenly attack nerve coatings.
But Roy suspects the lack of sunlight during the New Hampshire winters, when his lurking MS would flare, could be a culprit.
'I believe that's one of the hugest parts,' he said. 'There's barely any sun at all.'
Ultraviolet rays from the sun cause the body to produce vitamin D, which helps regulate T-cells that prevent the immune system from going into overdrive. The UV rays may also trigger the release of cytokine molecules in the skin, which suppress autoimmune reactions.
These lifestyle factors may also explain why MS is on the rise in the US, with figures quadrupling between 1994 to 2017.
It has even affected celebrities. Married With Children star Christina Applegate, 54, and Cruel Intentions actress Selma Blair, 53, have been diagnosed with the condition over the past decade.
Married With Children star Christina Applegate at the 2024 Emmy Awards. She revealed her MS diagnosis in 2021, which she has said has contributed to her stepping away from on-screen acting
Actress Selma Blair attends the American Heart Association Go Red For Women Red Dress Collection Concert in January. She was diagnosed with MS in October 2018, but said she had suffered symptoms for up to 15 years prior to that
Roy has two distant family members with MS – a grandmother and a cousin – which increased his chance of developing the condition as well.
He has relapsing-remitting MS. However, faced with the possibilities of becoming paralyzed or cutting his time with his sons short, he took the devastating diagnosis as a challenge to turn his lifestyle around.
'When I got the diagnosis, I went into a depression,' he said, 'and I had a lot of problems trying to get out of it.
'My wife was a big help. She helped push me out of it. We have two boys, so she kept reminding me what I have to fight for.'
Roy started by focusing on his diet. 'I cut everything out,' he said. 'I don't eat any processed foods. I cut out gluten, I cut out dairy. I basically cut out sugar, which was really tough.'
Instead of fast food, he now prioritizes anti-inflammatory foods like dark leafy greens, berries, fatty fish such as salmon and mixed nuts. He also swapped the sugar in his coffee for coconut milk, which contains antioxidants called polyphenols.
'Once a month I'll have a treat,' he said. 'This month I went to a wedding and had a homemade cannoli – I have to have something once in a while.'
And since his diagnosis, Roy has started getting up every morning for full-body stretching, and regularly does push-ups and lifts light weights.
'I didn't exercise much at all before, but now I really like it,' he told the Daily Mail. 'I actually feel much better doing it.'
His favorite intervention, however, has been a light therapy lamp that mimics the effect of sunlight to increase his vitamin D levels, which were severely deficient at the time of his diagnosis. These vary in size and price, running anywhere from $40 to $200.
Roy told the Daily Mail he has cut out processed foods and instead has incorporated dark leafy greens, as well as fatty fish into his diet
Roy's lamp is 4ft tall and 2ft wide. For a few minutes before his morning stretches, he sits in front of the light – first facing it, then with his back turned.
'The vitamin D has really helped with the physical aspects of MS but also the mental aspects,' he said.
One 2017 review found supplementation of the essential nutrient was linked to a lower risk of developing MS, while deficiency in it was associated with a higher risk.
Low levels have also been connected to anxiety and depression, potentially because vitamin D helps regulate mood-related brain chemicals such as serotonin and may reduce inflammation.
Roy also takes a once-monthly injection called Kesimpta to target depleting B-cells, which reduces the risk of relapse.
Over the past year, Roy has lost more than 100lbs, and for the first time since 2020, he did not have a flare-up of symptoms this winter – with the exception of occasional, minor leg weakness.
'I think it's a combination of everything that I'm doing,' he told the Daily Mail. 'I won't say it's one single thing, but I think most important is the diet, because I know food can really wreak havoc on your insides with inflammation, and inflammation is the huge driver in this disease.
'So I know by cleaning up the food I eat, I've been feeling much better. I have more energy than I've had in a long time.'
Roy is unsure if his MS will continue to progress. But for now, he's taking advantage of the renewed energy he has for the first time in years.
'I want to see my children graduate, get married and all that good stuff – and I want to be able to support them financially for as long as they need me,' he said.
'I want to be able to take care of my wife as long as I possibly can without her taking care of me. It's one of those things where you don't want to burden the people that love you the most.'
Roy hopes more MS patients like himself take a larger look at their lifestyle and prioritize habits like a varied diet, exercise and getting outside in the sunlight to stave off the disease's progression.
'A lot of people continue eating the way they eat and doing the things they do, and their MS progresses even faster, and then they don't know why,' he said.
'It's because they're poisoning their body the whole time, and it's causing that inflammation to really fire hard.
'You have to work on your own controls.'
