can a fall cause a relapse?

[littlered13]

i had a relapse last year and have had residual symptoms from it that never went away.

last sunday i took a pretty bad fall and noticed that my numbness has intensified over the past few days...so i think its a relapse. i was out of my copaxone for about 3 weeks so that may be a part of it although i felt the same as i have for a year until i fell a week ago..and then things got worse.

[hannakat]

Sorry to hear about your fall

It seems that the kind of fall makes a difference (it does for me). If it's severe enough, I think the stress is what gets the numbness/tingling/confusion to intensify. It will last from a little bit to weeks depending, again, on how bad the fall was.

And remember that stress will trigger just about anything, including a flare. So, do some relaxing, maybe some breathing meditation and think positive thoughts.

The breathing meditation is on my 'to do' list as much as possible because my emotions are wacky right now. Meditation helps me stay balanced (not easy for this crazy ol gal!).

I don't know if this helps but I do hope your increased symptoms retreat soon!

~^..^~

[sandrab]

yes a fall can cause a relapse. when I fell and broke my wrist my MS kicked in and I got to where I couldn't walk st all. Seems that your emotions play a big part in relapses.

[Wendigo]

I think a fall triggered my first MS attack. I'd been abnormally tired for years but fell on my back off a high step ladder trimming a tall bush onto lawn. No apparent injury but began tripping, felt dizzy, brain fog, left leg and hand were weak and didn't respond normally. Thought I might have damaged myself after all falling off the ladder but work up of my symptoms led to diagnosis of MS.

[andreagwolford]

Seems like RRMS aka Relapsing/Remitting Multiple Sclerosis . Have you tried consulting a neuro for that? Keep a track of increased frequency or intensity of relapses, numbness, tingling, decreased cognitive abilities or difficulty walking. These could all be signs that a new treatment option needs to be investigated.

[xpsychiatricmd]

Hello littlered13,
I think the question would be, was there something with your MS ( like an incipient flare-up ) that caused the fall. It is entirely possible that a fall can trigger a relapse. We don't know exactly. One of the theories liking trauma (particularly head trauma) has to do with T-cells lymphocytes and other inflamatory cells, crossing the blood-brain barrier thereby triggering an immune response.