This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

I was diagnosed with RR-MS in 2004 at the age of 47. But before the diagnosis - I say all this with hindsight - symptoms did show up at a rather regular interval of about 8 years, the first one when I was 14 years old. I worked this back and suggested it to a doctor who argued that probably there have been more occurances and I just picked the ones which happen to be 8 years apart. He is right that there were more occurances but they were less in effect. The fact of the matter is that I went to see a doctor only at these specific occurances that lay 8 years apart. I did not know anything about MS until I was diagnosed, it was never suggested not even hinted. Most of the time I got some antibiotics and Vitamine B and fully recovered within a week or two.

The occurances always happened in early Spring, synchronising with the yearly (sun)cycle. This is when Vitamine D is low, suggesting a Vitamine D relationship. But then, there must be another "bigger wave" that causes the 8 year cycle with some precision. And I guess this is not only for me but for many MS patients that start with a benign form of MS with symptoms (or flares) showing up only once every 8-10 years. My question is: What is causing this cycle??

I asked the doctor whether he knows about a long-term cycle in the "growth" of the vascular system, but he says there is no. So is it the brain that has a long term cycle, perhaps shrinking and expanding with an 8 - 10 year cycle?? That synchronises with the typical 7-10 year life cycle that is documented so much, even in papers from thousands of years ago??

My theory then goes a bit as follows: because of CCSVI, the iron penetrates in the BBB. Every 8 years when the brain is in a shrinking mode, the iron sediments cause more problems, and get more toxic. And then when Vitamine D is low, the symptoms/flares show up.

Is there some sense in this? Thank you for your views and ideas.

Huh. I haven't heard of any predictable cycle like that being common in m.s.

For me it helped to consider if I'd had any low-oxygen events shortly before relapses (car accident, high altitude hiking, childbirth were mine).

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"However, the truth in science ultimately emerges, although sometimes it takes a very long time," Arthur Silverstein, Autoimmunity: A History of the Early Struggle for Recognition

May be here lies the answer.
It seems to fit with the whole theory on general-discussion-f1/topic15188-225.html

http://www.mscare.org/cmsc/images/pdf/MSE_Nov_03.pdf

C pneumoniae lies dormant within the macrophages for a number of years before being dispersed to several regions of the body, including the central nervous system. It then reactivates periodically. “We can think of this organism as causing a relapsing, remitting disease,” remarked Dr. Sriram.