This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hope someone has some thoughts on this. Exactly almost a year ago my husband had the CCSVI procedure in Poland. Everything was great for many months and then headaches resurfaced as well as sleeping problems. After stopping Plavix, which he was on for close to a year the headaches have lessened substantially. He is still on full dose aspirin eventhough in Poland they recommended he take low dose apirin. His doctor here suggested staying on full dose aspiring.

Does anyone know if the full dose aspirin could be contributing to his sleep issues? He has no trouble falling asleep but wakes nightly around 3:00am, often after a "brain zap", something like an electrical shock. He can't seem to go back to sleep afterwards and is having a terrible time at work. I'm very worried but was wondering if the aspirin could be the problem? We haven't been doing much to lately to deal with detoxing the iron. Has anyone actually noticed a difference when consuming green or match tea?

Other than that he is doing well - balance is still better. When he sleeps he almost feels like he doesn't have MS but this has been going on for 3 months and is taking a toll.

Oh..he was on lorazapham, prescribed by his doctor as a sleeping aid. Could this be a blood sugar issue...heard waking in the night can be a symptoms of this.

Thanks everyone!
Fraser

I don't know if this is relevant to you, or even correct, but I was going to post it anyway for discussion, so here goes...

I have had trouble sleeping. I am on a full adult aspirin per day. My sleeping problem is mainly caused by twitches and spasms in my legs and arms. I also get these when awake, sitting up, usually after my legs get warm from having the laptop on them. At night I think it is also due to temperature, as due to our cold climate I am under a duvet, and have trouble controlling temperature. I am either too hot or cold. Cold works on my legs but sometimes gives me headcolds, too.

Last night I got them after supper, and tried to figure out what could be causing it, assuming it was related to CCSVI. Some heat is generated by digestion.

I have been treated, and had follow-up, and presume I would have been told if there was a clot or restenosis. So, what is going on?

From http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hb ... eg.html#c1

"The temperature of the body is regulated by neural feedback mechanisms which operate primarily through the hypothalmus. The hypothalmus contains not only the control mechanisms, but also the key temperature sensors. Under control of these mechanisms, sweating begins almost precisely at a skin temperature of 37°C and increases rapidly as the skin temperature rises above this value. The heat production of the body under these conditions remains almost constant as the skin temperature rises. If the skin temperature drops below 37°C a variety of responses are initiated to conserve the heat in the body and to increase heat production. These include

* Vasoconstriction to decrease the flow of heat to the skin.
* Cessation of sweating.
* Shivering to increase heat production in the muscles.
* Secretion of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and thyroxine to increase heat production"

I think heat is distributed through the body in large part via blood circulation. Muscles, internal organs, basically any functioning part will generate some heat as it burns oxygen and in other anaerobic processes. You can think of blood as a coolant also, whenever its temperature is lower than what is being cooled.

There is a principle of circulation that happens when a source of heat is present in liquid. That causes a circulation from lower to higher in the surrounding gravity field. This is due to density of a liquid being dependent upon temperature. The heated liquid rises. As it does it cools, resulting in falling liquid in a separate column.

From an internet page on hot water heating: "The head available forcing circulation through a radiator in a gravity system is proportional to the elevation ... of the radiator or heating element above the boiler, and the temperature difference between the flow and return pipes."

I speculate that the currents of blood seen flowing against the current to the heart, instead towards the brain (i.e. reflux), are there partly due to the temperature difference between the heart and brain. The column of blood that flows upward towards the brain, while gravity is causing a downward flow, would tend to be at the centre of the vessel, and as it becomes cooler, flow back downward with the normal direction of flow, closer to the perimeter of the vein. This is only possible in the low-pressure venous environment.

Friction of these two columns of blood (actually concentric cylinders) against one another is dependent upon blood viscosity, which is also dependent upon temperature. I think a heat source below would tend to cause convection and viscosity changes would tend to make things worse (so that the density and viscosity changes would be additive). The warm, inner column of blood going upwards, would be less viscous than the cooler outer. I think my own experience is of an increasing reflux when I am in an upright posture. When I am lying down, having my head above my feet actually makes things worse than they would be if I were flat. All this is speculation.

The aspirin, as we know, also thins the blood, decreasing viscosity.

If any of this is true, a patient would tend to have less reflux when lying down. I do not know if this is the case.