Still Tanning But Makes Me Weaker

[MsWobbles]

Hi all!  

An update:  I'm still tanning indoors, but have noticed it makes me feel much weaker for about 3 days, along with having more numbness.  From what I have read, the adverse MS response to heat should disappear once the body cools down. However, my reaction lasts - usually about 3 days.  After tanning, I immediately notice more heaviness and clumsiness in my legs, then that night often not breathing too well and likely with periodic numbness in arms, then for the next 3 days, feel way weaker.  But I know I'm getting my D and I am just going to play it by ear.  If I have a major setback, then I'll stop tanning.  I'm only in the tanning bed for a mere 6 minutes.  When I take oral vitamin D it gives me numbness at night too.  When I tell my docs about this they say there is no relationship:  Yet I know from experience that there is.  Anyone else here experience numbness with D?

WAF

[jumpinjiminy]

Oops. Darn the absent edit function. I didn't mean antibodies, I meant white blood cells. Brain blip!

[jumpinjiminy]

Wow. You are brave. I have to say that heat is bad. Very, very bad. Maybe I should share with you what happened to me after a sauna, and then again last Friday after sitting under the hair dryer at the salon to process my color.

Your pattern of three days, three days is exactly like mine has been all along every time I spike a fever. The symptoms increase or show up for three days, then taper off for three days as the fever goes down to a lower level.

My first big attack was after sitting in the sauna. It wasn't even that hot of a sauna. It was 110F for 20 minutes. Fifteen minutes later I had all sorts of sensations and experiences that NEVER happened before. Yes. That was new damage. I have no doubt in my mind. And the thing is, it happened every week following that first horrible, scary, presenting problem. It happened every week for TWO MONTHS. Every week, a new fever spike, some new symptom would show up or spread into a new area. TWO MONTHS.

Then the fevers dropped, things started to clear up until after Thanksgiving when the fevers went back up and hit my vision. The week after Christmas I couldn't see to drive. Fevers again.

Then last week I sat under the hair dryer for 15 minutes. Guess what? After my vision was cleared from the steroids doc put me on, and the fevers calmed down and were spiking to just under 100F, my vision blurred the entire day, off and on most of the next, and then finally calmed down on the third day. My fever went up higher than I've seen it in months the day of the heat treatment on my head, and stayed that way until it started calming down on Sunday along with the vision.

I have researched this and heat does increase inflammation. If you have inflammation on your brain, in your body anywhere, heat speeds up that process, makes the antibodies more mobile, makes them more efficient at what they do, and yes, I truly believe more damage gets created if you are in an active stage of inflammation.

Please be very careful. I would take this as a sign your body is telling you that heat is not good. Nobody wants to bring more damage on themselves. There are much safer ways of getting Vitamin D.

[jensequitur]

I turn a terrible Oompa-Loompa orange with those self-tanners.  I've learned to live with being pale, like Ess...

[essdipity]

I have come to terms with being lily-white in a sickly sort of way. I no longer lie in the sun, and I won't go to tanning places because to me the negatives far outweigh the positives.

How I wish I could use the self-tanning creams, but I am allergic to whatever the chief ingredient is. I've turned into an itching, scratching maniac on all of them. Yikes.

So now I try to think of myself as a fair-skinned beauty. Hah. But I have no other choices, so self-delusion works.

I'm a big user of vitamin D gel-caps, in a controlled sort of way. There are several hundred IUs in my multivitamin, but apparently that's not enough, even with an exta 1000 units added. My neuro wants my numbers in the 50s, and last time it was 49. So I've piled on another pill. They're very inexpensive at WalMart.

ess

[candy158]

I agree with everyone.  My daughter tans sometimes too, but it is for excema and psorarisis and it helps.  But, for Vitamin D, it only comes from the sun.  It is totally artificial rays that you get in a tanning bet, and you are upping your risk of skin cancers as well.

I think I would re - think the tanning thing, and take Vitamin D tablets, ( I take 2000 IU ) a day, and it seems to help. and get outside as much as you can.  You can absorb Vitamin D from the sun in 20minutes, and it makes you feel good too.  

Maybe give that a try.  

or, use the self tanning creams if it is just the tan you want, there are some good ones out there that don't turn your skin orange, and maybe that would help too.

Please give these things a thought, and good luck,

take care,
Candy

[RedFlame]

So you are doing this for vitamin benefit?  I don't understand I guess why you are doing this.  Is it something you are doing as a cosmetic and wanting to look attractive?  Does your husband/partner want you to look a certain way"  

I can't imagine tanning, it takes allot out of your body.  Your skin is the largest organ that you have, you could be doing irreparable harm to yourself.  

Please don't think I am condemning you, I just want to understand.  

I take a high dose vitamin D once a week and don't feel any adverse reaction.  

Have you given any thought to having professional spray tans?  They look really nice and they take only minutes.  

I encourage you to stop.  You are hurting yourself!

Red

[figuerpa]

I am going to echo everyone else and say that if it makes you feel that bad then you shouldn't be doing it. Any relapse causes damage and should be avoided. I take vitamin d daily and have never experienced numbness with it, well I guess I should say that I don't experience any more numbness with it.

Please do reconsider tanning for your own health.

Paula

[jensequitur]

You know, Quix has always said that a pseudo-relapse does damage to you - she was told this by her neuro.  

The neuro sounded pretty reliable.  I haven't heard this from other sources... then again, I haven't really looked!  The fact is that a pseudo-relapse isn't doing your body any good, even if it's not doing it any harm.

[twopack]

I'm not aware of any increase in numbness connected to my vitamin D supplementation.

There are harmful outcomes associated with the use of tanning beds.  I can't imagine the benefit of boosting your blood levels of vitamin D would outweigh the increased potential of skin cancer, melanoma or even a simple relapse of neurolgic symptoms.  

If vitamin D is associated with increased numbness for you, I think I'd go with the pills rather than tanning.  Better yet, have a blood level drawn.  Maybe you don't need a supplement at all.

Mary

[cainer]

yes i agree with jen    but if you are that weak- you might need that iv drip- or medrol dose-pak?  hope you are better!!  hugs tick

[jensequitur]

Hmmm....  Just at a guess, I'd say you're doing yourself a disservice by tanning.

What I've noticed is that every time I do something bad to myself, my body lets me know.  I have a little relapse, or a pseudo-relapse.  

I think that tanning is causing your body to react by having a little relapse.  There's got to be a better way to get your vitamin D!  

I've never experienced numbness with vitamin D.  Perhaps you should try not tanning and not taking Vitamin D for a few days, and see if you still have numbness?