Hormonal Experiences - one for the ladies !

Question

I may be asking the obvious but does anyone feel worse and experience more MS symptoms when they are menstruating? My fatigue and general exhaustion has definitely been worse....

Also at 47 I reallise that the dreaded menopause may be looming (although think I am a little way off this yet as periods still regular). I just wondered what anyone's experiences were of this.

Sarah

Wind_and_Water · Accepted Answer

In a nutshell, menses strengthens the immune system.  If you have a normal immune system, then your body will be more effective at fighting off infections.  But, if you have an autoimmune disease, then your body will be more efficient at fighting itself, thus increasing the symptoms of the autoimmune disease, itself.  Very interesting.

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"Many potential, non-reproductive connections between women's health and menstrual cycle are being studied: metabolic rate, temperature regulation, pain, gastrointestinal function, reaction to insulin in diabetics, and immune function."

"In the early 1990s, Margie Profet, an evolutionary biologist, introduced the controversial idea that menstruation was a way of ridding the body of pathogens to facilitate a clean implantation for a fertilized embryo.5 Based on this idea, Brown reasoned that during menses, the immune system would be heightened to clear the uterus and fallopian tubes of any bacteria, as Profet suggested, but at the time of implantation in the luteal phase, immune function would decrease because sperm and the embryo might be picked up by the immune system as nonself pathogens."

~ Hormones & their influence," The Scientist 15[15]:20, Jul. 23, 2001.

Sparkysarah · Answer

Thanks for your input...interesting reading!

sunnyinthesnow · Answer

unbelievable....

and now it all makes so much sense.

thank you.

jensequitur · Answer

Yeah, definitely!  I'm having menses right now.  My right knee is really weak, I keep getting this buzzing thud in my hip, and I feel dizzy and oh-so-tired!

But I'm in remission, and this doesn't feel like a real relapse.  I think that the body temperature is a little higher, which may be part of the problem.  But it's not all the problem!

essdipity · Answer

Hi, Sarah. I'm past all that fun stuff and no regrets. However, many others here have reported an association between MS symptoms and menstrual cycles. You might try 'Search this Community' to find some.

Hugs,
ess

Hormonal Experiences - one for the ladies !

MS or cardiologist?

scared of ms and im only 18

lumbar puncture results help

Getting Closer to DX

MS or cardiologist?

scared of ms and im only 18

lumbar puncture results help

Getting Closer to DX

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