Former Try Guys YouTuber Ned Fulmer has been facing a private health battle for more than a decade — and has now decided to share his story.
“I have MS,” Fulmer, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly before the release of his Sunday, November 23, YouTube video, where he revealed his diagnosis with multiple sclerosis. “I was diagnosed in 2013, and it started just by numbness and tingling in my hands that spread to my arms and chest and back.”
Fulmer, who sought out medical care from a doctor, was told to return if the symptoms progressed. He later went to the hospital for an MRI when “it started spreading” to his chest and back, noting that he woke up one day and didn’t have “the strength to stand up or walk.”
“It was completely overwhelming and sudden,” he recalled to Us. “I mean, I was an able-bodied person that could run and play sports and was very physically active, and all of a sudden having weakness to the point of being able to move my legs one way but not another way was shocking.”
Fulmer proceeded to receive “amazing treatments,” which he also noted are “pretty extreme,” including steroid injections and a plasma exchange.
“Over time, I started to get better. And then one day, I realized I could move my legs back and forth again, and it felt like a miracle,” Fulmer said. “By the time a year later, it was sort of a relief to just have that clarity.”
Now, Fulmer takes an oral medication twice a day. While he noted that there are some “gastrointestinal side effects,” he said this pill is “much more tolerable” compared to his injectables. He’s also noticed improvements with his symptoms.
“The ongoing sensory symptoms are like numbness and tingling in my fingers that are fortunately at a low enough level that pretty much, I’m able to ignore them,” he explained to Us. “It’ll kind of flare up every once in a while with hot weather or cold weather or alcohol or stress or lack of sleep. Those are all things that I try to stay on top of. And I’m sure a lot of other people that have MS can relate to that.”
With a handle on his diagnosis, Fulmer shared that his symptoms are “stable for the moment.” He’s able to play in a bounce house with his children — sons Wesley, 7, and Finn, 4, — and participate in soccer and football in the backyard. (Ned shares his kids with Ariel Fulmer, whom he confirmed his separation from in September after having an extramarital affair.)
“[I] can’t control the future but it’s an important story that I’ve been wanting to tell for a while, and so now felt like the right time,” he said.
Ned is hoping to raise awareness through his video, where he sets off to complete a walking challenge in support of the National MS Society. For every 10 miles he walks, Ned is donating $1,000 to the organization — and “encouraging other creators to beat my time with their own walk without stopping challenges.”
Through it all, Ned noted that he’s “definitely” become “more understanding of what people maybe are going through” and led him to “take nothing for granted.”
“You never know what someone might be suffering from silently on the inside,” he said. “My heart goes out to people that are affected by this or any other kind of more silent disease because it’s just a lot of fear that people carry, that I’ve carried.”
Fulmer tries to “stay grateful for all the things” that he has in his life, whether it’s his family, friends or his “abilities.”
“There’s always something horrible that could happen to you in the future,” he said. “I could get hit by a bus just as much as I could have a relapse. So why should I let my life be controlled by it?”
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