Trying to Avoid Being Rattled by MS, Jay Benjamin Tried Venom

When Jay Benjamin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1974, he tried to fight the effects with an unorthodox anecdote—snake venom. He bought the serum at a Florida clinic.

“I thought it helped, but you want it to work,” said Benjamin, now in his early 70s, who enjoys people watching at Grossmont Center and taking advantage of Rubio’s Taco Tuesday deal.

“The mind is a powerful thing,” he said recently.

The San Diego resident says he did it for about a year, but stopped because it was too painful. Since then, he’s confronted the disease with a different kind of attitude: “Keep your mouth shut and live with it.”

“And make sure you’re in a situation you’re comfortable with,” he said after softening a little. “Thank God I have people who care about me.”