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338416 tn?1420045702

Is it just me?

I've noticed that there's a pattern to my symptoms - every other month, my PMS seems to set off a mini-flare.  I get more symptoms, sometimes new ones, that weren't there last month.  My last time of the month was great - lots of energy, minimal symptoms... I felt almost normal.  This time, my legs and right hand are back to being really weak, and my left ear keeps going quiet and ringing.  (My ear is a new symptom - my legs and hand have been weak on and off for a while.)

I know that there's been lots of research saying that MS sufferers have a pseudoexacerbation during their time of the month, but what about you guys?  Is it every other month for ya'll?  Or every month?

This article says that taking aspirin will help reduce core temperature and help with symptoms, but that the pseudo-exacerbation isn't entirely due to the raised temperature - there's something else involved, but they don't know what it is.

http://  archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/63/7/1005?ck=nck

(Take out spaces when you post it in your browser window.)
16 Responses
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405614 tn?1329144114
I'm on the Pill, also, but take Premarin for the first five days of placebo week to prevent menstrual migraines.  My symptoms kick up to a lesser degree during the Premarin, but the last two months when I lost control of my bladder, it was during the two days after the Premarin.

It just dawned on me that when I moved into town a few days ago, I misplaced my Pills, so I abruptly went off of them a couple days before my normal placebo week.  Makes me wonder if some of the feeling awful that I've been going through (especially the fatigue that 100 mg. Provigil didn't touch) wasn't just from the sinus infection.

Maybe I got overheated while packing and shoveling (Uthoff's), then when my hormones changed abruptly, that messed things up even more. Hmmm.  I still needed the Azithromycin for my sinus infection; it's been going on too long, even with nasal irrigation.

We really do discuss everything here, don't we?  :o)

Kathy
Helpful - 0
378497 tn?1232143585
Jen, I'm on the Pill, too...and just about the second I go into the placebo period, BAM! All of the increase in intensity of my symptoms of whatever it is I have kicks in.

Bio
Helpful - 0
338416 tn?1420045702
Hey, chica, don't worry  - we're all in the same boat here!  I spend so much time fixing what I misstype, and then trying to figure out how to spell something, that posting takes twice as long as it should.  I figure the more I make my brain work, the better off I'll be.  If you don't use it, you lose it, right?

>  I know that a woman's body temperature does rise and fall with her monthly cycles.

Heather, take a look at that article I posted...  The researchers found that the pseudo-exacerbation can be minimized by taking aspirin to reduce core temperature, but that the pseudo-flare isn't all because of being warmer.  It's something else, and they don't know what it is.  What a surprise, right?  ;-)
Helpful - 0
706250 tn?1232453817
I'm not as smart as some of you guys about all of this but I have had 2 major episodes and TIAs with them and they took place a month apart and here I am now on that time period and really praying every hour I don't have anyone at least not yet so I can be home with my kids and husband for the holidays!
Helpful - 0
648910 tn?1290663083
I know you are serious, but your descriptions cracked me up.  I was actually laughing out loud.  Thank you for that.

Still smiling,

terry

PS I think I am going to have to quit for a while.  I could not remember how to spell serious.  No clue what so ever.  Major brain fa%t.  I did however remember you had used it in your post....so I copied and pasted it.  Thanks
Helpful - 0
195469 tn?1388322888
This subject really fascinates me, because even after being diagnosed for 13 years, I have NEVER heard of this phenomenon.  Thank you Jen for bringing this topic to light.  I know that our precious men may not be too interested in this.  Sorry guys.  But IF any of our guys have problems with their MS or symptoms at certain times, I would love to hear about it.

I don't mean to sound too personal guys, but as a woman, I know that guys go thorugh times when they seem to want to "play between the sheets," shall we say; at more times than others.  Could this perhaps be a hormone change in the man that makes him more desirous of intimacy?  Then at other times, he seems alright with no thoughts of intimacy.  Men, do you see any changes in your MS or symptoms when it seems that your hormones are "on the rise?"  Oh gosh, did I just say that?

I am really serious here guys...I am NOT trying to make fun of you at all.

Now back to the gals.  I had a partial hysterectomy when I was 27 (now 55 years old)  I still have my ovaries. (they're not worth much now, cause I think any eggs that are left have grey hair and a couple stray hairs on their chins) I am menopausal.  But I know that I am still producing some female hormones.  Since I do not know when my cycle would be, due to no uterus, I am wondering if I can trace a worsening of MS symptoms to when my cycle WOULD have been?  Roughly estimating of course.

As I said, I find this subject very interesting and wonder what is really causing these mini-exacerbations?  What is really triggering them?  I know that a woman's body temperature does rise and fall with her monthly cycles.  Could this be enough to cause symptoms?  And why does Jen have them every OTHER month, instead of every month?

I would love to hear more about this from personal experiences, if anyone cares to share.... without getting into any private or embarrassing information that you wouldn't want to share on the Forum.  Maybe we should take a poll of all women that are of child-bearing age, that seem to have problems with symptoms during their cycles.

Thanks again for bringing this up, Jen.  I learned something new about MS, even though I am a veteran.

Heather
Helpful - 0
147426 tn?1317265632
Might well be because of the pill.  The pill does not really approximate the true fluccuations of the hormonal cycle.  It "imposes" an unnatural one, so who could predict the effects that BCP could have on MS?

Your body tells the truth.  If, for some reason, you are only symptomatic every other month, then that is true for you.

Quix
Helpful - 0
338416 tn?1420045702
I've heard that men do experience a hormonal cycle, just like women.  

Quix, I've read that article, and the women in the study consistently had problems every month - or at least it seemed that way to me!  I seem to be running every other month.  Maybe it's because I'm on the pill?
Helpful - 0
378497 tn?1232143585
I'm interested in seeing some men answer Jen's question. I know that my husband goes through some kind of cycles (I've secretly been collecting data on him for years. Kidding). So, I'm curious as Jen is about whether or not men experience any sort of "symptom" cycling on a regular monthly--or, as I'd guess, bimonthly--basis.

Bio
Helpful - 0
648910 tn?1290663083
I don't know so I will try again.  thanks.

YAY IT WORKED.  I probably would not have figured it out on my own.
Helpful - 0
333672 tn?1273792789
Did you miss the l on html? It worked for me...
Helpful - 0
648910 tn?1290663083
I just tried and here is what I got

FILE NOT FOUND: Articles-Understanding-Fluctuations-of-Multiple-Sclerosis-Across-the-Menstrual-Cycle.htm
Helpful - 0
147426 tn?1317265632
Here is an article about the fluccuations of MS symptoms over the mentrual cycle.

http://www.mscare.org/cmsc/Articles-Understanding-Fluctuations-of-Multiple-Sclerosis-Across-the-Menstrual-Cycle.html
Helpful - 0
378497 tn?1232143585
I'm not a guy, and I'm not dx'd with MS, BUT...I can state unequivocally that my legs are even heavier, my paresthesias and other things are more pronounced, I feel much weaker, and I'm deeply tired during "that time." No question. I also feel that way when I've got a virus coming on.

For the record, I've never previously been a "PMS-er," never had cramps, never had these feelings like this, and I've been at it for almost 30 years.

Bio
Helpful - 0
338416 tn?1420045702
Be careful about overdoing it, Kathy!  You're still running a fever, right?
Helpful - 0
405614 tn?1329144114
I think its hormones, somehow.  I've been noticing for some time that my bladder issues are worse around my time of the month, but the last two months i lost control of my bladder totally once each "monthly".

I'll have to come back and check out the article later; I need to get out and breathe some pseudo-fresh air while there is a break in the weather.  Thanks for doing the research, and bringing up and interesting topic.  I'll think more about it while I'm attempting to take a walk.

Kathy
Helpful - 0
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