it was all fine, then suddenly......!

[Hisoka]

hi everyone, hope you're all fine..

I am starting to worry, as you all know (i posted my issue a month ago in the forum) i am currently having this relapse for the 7th month in a row, but at the end of october i was feeling much better, in other words i was remitting from the relapse, i was even able to run for a while.. BUT suddenly yesterday, my left leg started to feel loose and weak again + numbness, i can't even walk probably, and my right leg got the cold/heating pain again, i can't understand why would i get this relapse active again if i was already getting better!!!? and i really don't want this to extend more than 7 months, it's killing me! it's just frustrating!

is it possible that this is a relapse - in a - relapse thing!? am confused.

Regards
MK

[jensequitur]

Just try to keep rested - it's the best thing for neurological damage.  

[Hisoka]

jensequitur: Hi, thanks a lot for your time. well, i think reading all the previous posts tells me for sure that this is either a relapse that went stable for a few days then came back to normal and i wasn't beginning to get well, or that it's a new relapse because as i said, i felt better but unfortunately that didn't last for long!
i am actually experiencing the same thing now days, i was able to at least walk normally few days ago, but now i literally drag my leg and it's really annoying! and honestly i didn't excerise (football in my case) for 6 motnths, because am completing the 7th months now and am still unable to get my normal leg back. besides my two fingers that don't want to get back to normal at all.


Debs: Thanks, stress is a real threat to our health stability, but as you said, i am doing it too quickly + worrying TOO much about my visa, i really can't stop thinking about this! am so worried, waiting to get a certain answer from anyone that is responsible about my scholarship, but nothing seems to show up yet and am still waiting and honestly, still stressed! But i really hope i can relax because this relapse could get worse at any moment and i don't really need that at all. and i hope it doesn't like complete a year, it will be so frustrating if it's a new relapse, because i didn't manage to get through the first one in the first place.........!

i'll keep you updated, sure :)

Thanks alot for passing guys.
Regards
MK

[Hisoka]

Hi again, thanks alot for that info, i honestly didn't know that (the vitamin D and the latitude thing) at all before.

Is there any solution for this lack of vitamin D? i don't think i have any problems with vitamin D, i didn't check to be honest, but if there is any lack, is there any solutions for that?

Here in Oman, not many people have MS, this might be shocking but you can count them on your fingers! and am one of them. It's actually boiling here in the summer in Muscat and in Oman in general, it reaches 50 degrees sometimes, so i assume that would lower the chance of getting MS am i right?

Thanks for the definition, and about the genes thing, it's okay, it's still shocking for me anyway…!

I fully understand your keyboard mistakes, had that experience and it's annoying!!! But I think that's way better than dragging your leg.

Regards
MK

[shermay]

Hi,

My relapse started the first week of June, I 'was' starting to feel better during August, then stress hit me again, and I am back nearly to where I was.

Stress is an enormous factor with MS.  Maybe you have over done it too quickly, put your body under stress?  Worrying about your student Visa too?

It may well pass in a few days with good rest, but in my opinion if it goes on for longer then I would say you are having another relapse.

I agree with Ren, my Neuro also told me that there are no hard and fast rules on how long a relapse will last.

Rest up, take it easy over the next few days, and see what happens.

Let us know how it goes OK?

Debs

[jensequitur]

Personally I think you're having a new relapse.  I've had similar problems - right sided weakness that went away for a few weeks, only to return with new symptoms, along with the same weakness.

Neurological diseases are so crazy.  I have symptoms that I've had from the very beginning, and I have symptoms that go away, only to return when I'm feeling bad, or when I'm in a relapse.  

For example, I have continuing right leg weakness, and tremor and weakness in my right hand.  This, like you, makes it hard to exercise!  I can only run a mile now, as my hip starts to hurt from the effort of throwing the leg forward.  And my foot starts to drag... which is a real drag!

Sometimes I'm full of energy, and the leg isn't as bad.

When I was first diagnosed, it seemed like I was in a flare for a year, although that's probably not true - I was just trying to recover from one flare, and never really completely got over it before the next one started.

So that might be what's happening to you - there's no telling!

[Quixotic1]

If you look at a demographic map of where cases of MS occur you will see that there are more cases the farther away from the equator you get.  Here in the American Northern Hemisphere we have a huge number of cases in the northern part of the US and even more in Canada. (Latitudes above 35 degrees N or so)  In fact, some provinces in Canada have as many as 1 case per 150 people!   Whereas the worst areas in the US see about 1 case of MS in about 400 people.  That is in our most northern state.

One of the theories is that lack of Vitamin D makes one more susceptible to developing MS.  The sun's rays are less direct and it is colder so we spend more time covered with clothing.  Certainly low serum levels of Vitamin D3 are associated with higher incidence of MS and many other autoimmune diseases.

There, in Oman, you are much closer to the equator with a latitude of between 17 degrees N and 26 degrees N.  Musqat (sp?) is at 26 degrees N.  So, we would presume that MS is less common there than in the US, Northern Europe or Canada.  Is this true?

Yes, if all of your symptoms had been stable or improving for a month then these new symptoms would be a new relapse.

I see that I neglected to print the definition of a relapse:

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Multiple%20Sclerosis/Relapses--Pseudo-Relapses-and-Remissions/show/372?cid=36

<>

I also misspoke and said something very WRONG.  MS is NOT as simple as passing a single gene.  Many, many genes are implicated in the genetic susceptibility to MS.  

I am so sorry for mispeaking this way.  I also have MS and sometimes I don't see what my fingers are typing.  

Quix

[Hisoka]

Charely: Thanks alot for your time, hope you stay away from relapses as long as possible.


Ren: Sorry to hear that, i hope you get well soon, it's just so frustarting as i said, because you think you got better then suddenly its all back to the relapse!

Thanks alot for clerifying that, so it's actually the same relapse? but you know, there is something weird though, my initial relapse included numbness two fingers of my left hand (ring and small) and that never improved till now, it's been 7 months now, and there is no imrovement in that part of my body at all, that confused me even more, however, as i mentioned before, both my legs were okay for a while (like 3 days), then it was suddenly a relapse again and i can't even walk straight. I really hope this doesn't take longer than this (like completing a year) or move to other parts of my body because it will be hard to handle in this way. If it did, i think i'll go with the steroids option to get back to normal before, hopefully, leaving to Australia on Jan/Feb.
I really hate it when i can't walk probably, i really miss playing football.... :(

Thanks, and i'll keep you updated, you too please.


Shell: Thanks alot, my relapse is completing the 7th month now, and it didn't really get worse, it was just going away for a while and then came back suddenly before yesterday, am confused, what category would that make it belong to?
i'll be honest with you, i am being under more stress than usual because of my student visa to Australia, and whether it will get rejected or not, i can't stop thinking about it, i know stress is really bad for me, it's showing off now, but i can't let go of thinking about this! any advice?

Thanks again


Quix: Thanks alot, i don't think i would ever leave this forum, it's great here, you say everything regarding MS and everyone would understand and help, care and don't just laugh at you.

i am having a 7th month relapse and it was getting better till before yesterday, but suddenly it came back again (not worse than before), and i can't walk normaly now! so i think that would prove your idea about remission, because it stayed stable, i thought i was getting better, but it was still a relapse i think.

I have to say, thats bad news about the genes! although it's not a great risk, but i never ever thought MS got any chance to pass to your children!!! i don't understand this "lattitude at which you grew up" still confused about it's meaning.....?

If i get my visa accepted, god please make it happen, i will be leaving on Jan or Feb.

Thanks alot to all you guys, really appreciate your help.
MK

[Quixotic1]

Hi, and a VERY late welcome to our forum.  I'm so glad you have stayed with us.

As you can see it can be very hard to tell what is a relapse and what is a remission.  And each person is different.  I do believe that a a relapse can last months.

One of the things that people don't know is that a remission does not necessarily mean that the symptoms have all gone away or improved.  Sometimes it means that they have just remained stable at the same level for a month or longer.  So, if you had improvement or the same symptoms in October that had lasted a month, that might have been a remission for you.  Since you still had all those symptoms, it might have not felt like a remission.

Here is one definition of a remission:

<>

A few weeks ago you asked if the MS could be "passed" to your children.  It is as simple as passing a single gene.  Two dozen or more genes have been implicated in causing a susceptibilty to MS.  So it may be more useful to look at it in terms of "risk."  In the US any given person has about a 1 in 800 chance of getting MS.  If a person has a parent with MS that risk drops to about 1 in 50.  So, you can see that the risk is greater if there is a parent with MS, but it still is not very high.

Also, as you heard in the discussion, there are other factors, such as the ancestry, the lattitude at which you grew up, and a history of certain viruses.

When do you hear about the visa for Australia?  I would love to go to Australia.

Welcome again,

Quix, MD

[sllowe]

Hi there,

Welcome back. It can be confusing. Oftentimes it's hard to differentiate between an attack or exacerbation, symptoms, and what are called pseudoexacerbations.

Depending on how long this lasts, may be key for knowing which one it is. To confuse you more, if this isn't an attack, these could be your symptoms since you get them monthly, or on and off.  

Stressing on how long it could last may make it worse on you :( sounds like you are.  Were you, or have you been under more stress than usual?

Hang in there - we're here for you,
-shell

[rendean]

Hi,

I am in the exact same boat as you are. My latest relapse began last December/January. Then my issues were all left sided. Now, my right side is feeling left out so it decides to copy the left side of my body along with some disabling vertigo.

I asked my neuro at a follow-up appointment last week about this. He thinks it's all the same relapse and the new weakness on the opposite side is from overuse due to the left sided weakness.

As for the length of the relapse, he said he has seen a relapse last years but this is NOT the norm.  He also told me about a patient who had a 2 year relapse, and was wheelchair bound, went into remission and got out of the wheel chair.  The remission lasted 5+ years without any symptoms in between. His story was told to reinforce that MS has a mind of its own and that anything is possible.

Hopefully you just have overdone the physical activity (running) and things will settle down once the muscles have a chances to recoup. Let us know how things are going. I would be interested in how your symptoms change since mine are acting similairly.

Sending good thoughts and hugs,

Ren

[Charley123]

I've been in a remission for a month and am trying to take it a day at a time and not worry about when it will end.  The anxiety of it all does creep in doesn't it?  Truth is, we don't really know what MS will do to us on any given day.  This is the first time in 5 years that I have a time with minimal symptoms and of course we want it to last forever.  Who wouldn't?  I've met people that had symptoms for a few years then they all went away for years.  They still worry about it returning and putting a cramp in their lives.  I do to, sometimes.  It's hard to not think about it.  Relapses are different for everyone and so I don't know how to answer your question.  I just want to give you a hug and let you know I understand your frustration, Charley.