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hey there T, have not experienced it myself but it's a cognitive symptom called emotional lability. i saw a figure of around 20% of ms patients deal with this one. it can happen to people with other brain injury as well. it is also seen in stroke, ALS, etc.

if you want to read up here are some terms you could use to search google scholar for studies: pseudobulbar affect, pathological laughter and crying, emotional lability, emotionalism, emotional dysregulation, or, more recently, involuntary emotional expression disorder (IEED).

i always focus on nutrition and there are lots of common nutritional problems in ms patients. on emotional lability, in regular google, iron, magnesium and b-vitamins are coming up. those all make sense but i was thinking 'where's the zinc and PUFA?'. using google scholar, zinc is the first result.

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/130/2/361.full.pdf
Zn and behavior in adults
"There have been four experimental studies of Zn intakes or status and behavior in adult humans. Henkin et al. (1975) reported increased emotional lability and perceptual and memory deficits in patients with progressive systemic sclerosis after administration of histidine, a Zn chelating agent."

and the PUFA
http://www.bioriginal.com/services/files/file_41.pdf
from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11817499
"A three-month clinical trial in children with specific learning problems, mainly dyslexia along with ADHD features, examined the effect of taking EPA and DHA from fish oil combined with GLA from evening primrose oil, compared to an olive oil placebo. The treated group demonstrated
improvements in cognitive function, hyperactivity, opposition, psychosomatic symptoms, social problems, restlessness, impulsiveness,
emotional lability and inattention. No improvements were noted with the placebo group"

b-complex, mag, zinc, omegas, these are all nutrients that come up often related to MS. or any other cognitive issue. my old roomie was dealing with bipolar disorder and while she lived with me she stopped having episodes. she would complain about feeling such and such a way, i would say have you been taking _________? (fill in blank pertaining to whichever symptom) and she would say oh i ran out of that a while ago. so she would re-stock and her symptom would resolve. important ones for her were the b-complex, magnesium, and fish oil. i probably had her on zinc too for good measure

so all that said, if i may ask, what's your diet like? do you have a supplement regimen? if so, what are you already taking daily?

I read your post and the reply. I too have emotional outbursts and crying for no reason. I just thought I was going crazy. Thanks for the info.
Sandra

hope it helps sandra!

T19 wrote: Hello
Has anyone here experienced really terrible emotional outbursts of anger and crying and not being able to control it then suddenly it goes away and it's as if you can hardly remember what it was about but when you are in the middle of it you cannot stop yourself no matter what you do and it takes very little to escalate it. It's like your brain is just all over the place out of control for a little bit but prior to the MS diagnosis, this never happened.

If so, any thoughts or advice on what worked to help with this matter.

Thank you.

Yes, definitely. Now that I know i have MS and can look back with that knowledge I can see that I've destroyed a few of my jobs, and a few of my friendships, during irrational periods of anger I believe to be caused by MS.

also it appears that my period when i was really really good at cash poker had something to do with something... changing... the way my brain views risk.

I definitely have a shorter temper. I don't suffer from deep depression but have periods of maliase - indifference.

Hi,

YES!! I'm a RRMS patient, and my emotions brought me to the shrink's office twice in my life. The first time was 10 years ago. I think I was in remission since. The 2nd time came about a month ago, after some changes in personal situation - boy, I'm crying, I have terrible mood swings, I can't sleep normally, can't work. I'm depressed. I'm taking l-theonine and GABA for bedtime, but I can't even sleep in my own bed - have to have a "bed fellow" to feel secure at night. Panic attacks. First time I had that I also had OCD and was on antipsychotic drugs (nobody could've imagined that MS was the cause of everything). I think as soon as you feel it coming - run to the natural health food store and ask for some natural anti-depressants. Just be careful w/ HTP5 - I took it on an empty stomach and immediately threw it up; it's highly recommended but make sure you don't take it on empty stomach. Good luck!

I don't have the crying but I do have trouble controlling anger outbursts. It is affecting my marriage and my family. I can go days or weeks and one thing can trigger it. Usually its when I get the migraines but not always. It's hard to describe. I was previously diagnosed w/ demyelinating disease and recently my neurologist is thinking its MS due to many tests and the extensive scarring on my brain and spinal cord. He gave me a bunch of pamphlets to decide on a medication. Either injection or pill. Any advice regarding how to handle the outbursts or opinions on meds would be appreciated.

cnlg wrote:I don't have the crying but I do have trouble controlling anger outbursts. It is affecting my marriage and my family. I can go days or weeks and one thing can trigger it. Usually its when I get the migraines but not always. It's hard to describe. I was previously diagnosed w/ demyelinating disease and recently my neurologist is thinking its MS due to many tests and the extensive scarring on my brain and spinal cord. He gave me a bunch of pamphlets to decide on a medication. Either injection or pill. Any advice regarding how to handle the outbursts or opinions on meds would be appreciated.

Exercise is good. You don't have to do anything fancy, just going for walks can be helpful.