Pre-relapse signs....put our heads together?

If it's on your mind and it has to do with multiple sclerosis in any way, post it here.
Wonderfulworld
Family Elder
Posts: 776
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 2:00 pm
Location: Ireland
Contact:

Pre-relapse signs....put our heads together?

Post by Wonderfulworld »

Hi
I'm just wondering if we could all put our heads together to discuss the pre-relapse period....
I've noticed that I have a short phase, just before a relapse, when signs and symptoms happen. I am curious to know if others have a set pattern of these too? Perhaps we might come up with some ideas or suggestions.

I tend to get these things before a relapse (up to 4 wks before):

Increased bruising (typically small 1/2 inch round bruises on legs/arms)
Numbness at night (scalp, arms, neck) that goes once I move
Spot in right eye vision that can be clear or coloured
Greater intolerance to even a small drink of alcohol
Small amount of weight loss despite eating normally

I have had these symptoms now for the last week. I have been taking aspirin at night this time, just as an experiment for myself. On the nights I've taken 2 aspirin the numbness seems to be less, or not present at all.
Going to continue with the 2 aspirin a night for a while. If I've not had a relapse by Xmas then that will be significant. Usually all these symptoms are a sure sign of a build up to a major relapse with me.
Lyon
Family Elder
Posts: 6071
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 2:00 pm
Contact:

Post by Lyon »

oo
Last edited by Lyon on Sun May 08, 2011 6:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
patientx
Family Elder
Posts: 1072
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:00 pm

Post by patientx »

Wonderfulworld:

Could you describe what happens when you do have a relapse? I'm pretty new to this, and I also haven't figured out what relapses are. I've had transient symptoms like you describe (tingling, numbness), but these seem to go away after less than a day.
User avatar
rasnet6
Family Member
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2004 2:00 pm
Location: uk

Post by rasnet6 »

I also get an idea that I am about to relapse.

Normally in the two weeks before i get a relapse i start to get tired, pins and needles, patches of excema (sp?) show up on my arms and legs, and i also get a very strange tummy ache.

If i get the tiredness and excema then if i get lots of sleep and generally wrap myself up in cotton wool sometimes I can stop a relapse happening.

But if i get to the stage where the tummy ache occurs then theres not much I can do about it, just look after myself and wait for it to happen.

It has only taken me ten years to figure this out though... he he he

R xx
Wonderfulworld
Family Elder
Posts: 776
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 2:00 pm
Location: Ireland
Contact:

Post by Wonderfulworld »

Thanks Bob, yes I am wondering quite a bit now about endothelial disfunction and coagulation of blood. Although I've been tested for Hughes' syndrome twice I'm still left wondering about it. Xmas doesn't stress me out! - it was more that I meant that when these pre-relapse signals happen I'm usually only a month away from a relapse happening.

Patientx, well as you probably already know everyone's different with MS, but my relapses are severe fatigue. The kind where you'd not bother to feed yourself if you lived on your own. Bed rest for 2-3 weeks is the only way of lifting my fatigue. There is the background symptoms that you have that can wax and wane, but a relapse is where they really build up to a kind of crisis - that's my take on it.

Rasnet6 I am really fascinated by your excema and tummy ache...I've never thought of those things as being related to MS. I wonder how they tie in to a relapse? I did know a man with MS who actually bled from his stomach during a major relapse and the neuros dismissed the relationship to his MS.
Know what you mean about it taking 10 years! Me too!
chrishasms
Family Elder
Posts: 1161
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 2:00 pm
Contact:

Post by chrishasms »

I only noticed this was MS related because it came back and these things happened in the last month or so, just like when the disease was active before.

The hair on my lower legs has dramatically gotten thinner to almost bald where my jeans rub.

I get ingrown hairs on the inner thighs no matter if I scrub 10 times a day. I think it's my immune system reacting to the slightest bacteria. It's in my jeans and it gets warm so any little sweat may set the immune system off.

I get a weird little sinus type headache.

I get emotional and my anxiety goes through the roof.
User avatar
Loobie
Family Elder
Posts: 2198
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:00 pm
Location: Dayton, Ohio USA
Contact:

Post by Loobie »

Basically all of my noticeable symtpoms start to just 'creep up' in intensity. It also takes a noticeably less amount of effort to flare up my ON. Like getting up from a seated position 8O , where it normally takes some significant amount of effort. So to sum it up, MS is always in my way based on effort, but right before a relapse it takes less and less effort to flare things up.
User avatar
patientx
Family Elder
Posts: 1072
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:00 pm

Post by patientx »

Thanks everyone.
User avatar
MrsGeorge
Family Elder
Posts: 334
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:00 pm

Post by MrsGeorge »

The fatigue gets really bad.
Increased tingling/numbness in my arm and legs
My existing symptoms get a bit worse
User avatar
Punchy
Family Elder
Posts: 193
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:00 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada
Contact:

Post by Punchy »

Fascinating!

I also have problems with alcohol prior to relapse. It makes the muscles in my neck and shoulders ache.

I become fatigued and have a terrible time getting up in the mornings.

The back of my neck swells and hurts. Actually my neck pain is my number one indicator. When I was Dx at first we thought it was an injury caused by the massages I'd had to combat my aching neck.
User avatar
cheerleader
Family Elder
Posts: 5361
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:00 pm
Location: southern California

Post by cheerleader »

chrishasms wrote:I only noticed this was MS related because it came back and these things happened in the last month or so, just like when the disease was active before.
The hair on my lower legs has dramatically gotten thinner to almost bald where my jeans rub.
.
Hey Chris,
Jeff had this leg baldness thing going on, too. Freaked him out! I've learned it can be a sign of poor circulation, or hypercoagulation in your blood. People with diabetes or heart disease get this, too. His is better now with proteolytic enzymes. Hair's coming back (at least on his legs, if not his head!) and the blood spots (petechiae) are gone. Headache can be a sign of vascular issues, too.

I know neuros never recognize things like bleeding stomachs, bald legs, headaches, or in my husband's case, high liver enzymes and jaundice...but it's good to know your "signs of relapse" and get on it right away. Of course, I believe now that it's directly related to the vascular system, but Jeff hasn't had a relapse in 2 years...so maybe we'll know differently in the future.
AC
Husband dx RRMS 3/07
dx dual jugular vein stenosis (CCSVI) 4/09
http://ccsviinms.blogspot.com
Artifishual
Family Elder
Posts: 646
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 3:00 pm
Contact:

Post by Artifishual »

I'm not sure if my comment has any bearing on this, because I have only had two flare ups, but both of mine were just the numbness type. It started in my feet and then to my waist eventually becoming an "ms hug."
The second one was stopped early by prednisone. The first one was what sent me to the Dr., which also was treated with prednisone. I still have a lot of back pain and with the onset of colder temperatures is seems that the back of my neck really gives me trouble too.


I have had this back pain for so long that I have adapted to it. This is probably my biggest complaint to date.
User avatar
Miss_Feisty
Family Member
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2008 2:00 pm
Contact:

Post by Miss_Feisty »

Currently I am flaring, not at the nose per usual.

Seriously, I am hoping not to have a full blown relapse. I have noticed that REST and eliminating stress has made a huge difference when the flare up occurs.

I have a cold and the floaters started, then a killer headache, then there's the itch and scratchy til I bleed game, last night the back spasms started (I really hate these with a PASSION). OH there go's another back twister....ouch. No complete numbness yet...so far so good.

I will be resting as much as allowed for the next few days, passing the buck to my fellow householders. I will be praying to any God who will hear me, popping a few pills and I hope the excess rest does it's job.

For me stress always seems to bring about an exacerbation, it is difficult avoiding it at times. I wonder if some people are more sensitive to stress than others who experience flare ups at these times? Is it common or typical depending on how the stress is perceived?

If the endorphin theory is correct (ms'ers have less) then would we be more sensitive to stressful situations and less able to recover from them (re: our nervous/immune system reaction)?
User avatar
DIM
Family Elder
Posts: 665
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:00 pm
Location: GREECE
Contact:

Post by DIM »

...so LDN which increases remarkably endorphin levels and works as vasolidator (endothelium theory) is THE remedy for MS?

By the way let me ask something, my wife has the first or in worst case even the second day of her menstrual cycle very mild symptoms (say slight stiffness in her leg due to hormone levels) last days she has the same symptoms increased (still mild) and even at the 3rd day they stay unchangeable, should I worry or is this quite normal?
Although I try to calm her she is very anxious due to this!
Wonderfulworld
Family Elder
Posts: 776
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 2:00 pm
Location: Ireland
Contact:

Post by Wonderfulworld »

DIM have a look at this: http://www.citeulike.org/user/Zephyrus/article/3423016 and http://www.mstrust.org.uk/atoz/menstruation.jsp. Premenstrual worsening of MS is quite common, though the first link above mentions the first couple of days of the cycle too, like you say your wife has.
Post Reply

Return to “General Discussion”