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233622 tn?1279334905

MS Flare question

I know MS is considered an autoimmune problem. I saw the post by Quix that mentioned a Herpes out break on her face. I am experencing the same thing right now. I have another bout of ON. The ON started 2 weeks ago. The sore on my face just started to flare up today.  Is there a connection?  I thought Herpes breaks out when the immune system is too low. But then I understand that ON is caused by an over active immune system?


I also posted this question in another thread, but I will ask it again here. I know I have RLS. My mom is on medication for her RLS. Her's is so bad she wears holes in her bed sheets! Is RLS a MS symptom?  Should I mention to the MS doctor that I have symptoms of RLS?  

L
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Avatar universal
I'M GONNA RESEARCH AND SEE WHAT I CAN FIND OUT.A RETIRED DR FRIEND OF MINE SWEARS UP AND DOWN IT BROUGHT THE MS OUT AGAIN.

MAKES YA WONDER.

T
Helpful - 0
373367 tn?1246402035
Hmmmmm.....interesting.  

My heel had a run in with an escalator at the airport and I thought I should get a tetanus shot.  It never really got infected, but took forever to heal up because I was still walking on it.

Stacey
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
THATS ODD THAT YOU BROUGHT THAT UP ABOUT THE TETANUS SHOT.

I WAS ORIGINALLY DIAGNOSED WITH MS IN 1998 AND DENIED IT AND DIDN'T HAVE ANOTHER ATTACK UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2004 , AFTER I HAD A TETANUS SHOT.

I'M NOT SAYING THEY ARE RELATED,I THINK IT WAS THE INFECTION IN MY FOOT THAT BROUGHT OUT REGRESSED SYMPTOMS.

T
Helpful - 0
373367 tn?1246402035
While looking through medical bills recently, I remembered that I had a tetanus shot about a month and half before all these symptoms started.  I really haven't mentioned this to any doctors for fear they wouldn't take me seriously.  Are there any studies that support something like a tetanus shot acting as a trigger for an autoimmune disease?  
Stacey
Helpful - 0
233622 tn?1279334905
Thanks Quix,
Yep...they are.. If they are bad enough I can't even touch my head without firey sharp pain.  I go on an anti viral when they get that bad.

I had my first one when I was 12. My parents thought it was a spider bite. It was very large and awful. That was about the same time I broke out with psoriasis.

My mom is always trying to figure things out. Trying to put things together in her mind to help me. If I have MS my parents will be devistated. This summer my dad really struggled with that possiblity because the MS is on his side of the family. I am not sure how I am going to tell him if MS is what it turns out to be. :(

It is not his fault, but having children of my own I understand how he feels about it.  I just don't want to cause him, or my mom, that kind of pain. : (


L
Helpful - 0
147426 tn?1317265632
Denise, The cold sores are NOT symptoms of MS.  They come and go as they will and are very sensitive to stress levels.  I don't know if they are seasonal or prompted by the cold.  And I love HGTV, too!

We truly are neighbors!  My parents live in Cascade Park!  It seems you have been very wrapped up inside for a long time.  I think there are probably hundreds of people who read the forums and don't write.  Some eventually do, and I'm very glad you did.  You take your time in telling us more about who you are and what your have gone through.  But, for me to give the best answers, in a context the will mean something to you, the more information I have, the better I can answer.  But, again, at your own comfortable pace.  We all aren't going anywhere!

L - The TN and the cold sores are not related structurally, and that is probably what your doc was thinking.  They do involve separate nerves.  But, Immunologically, the sores can stimulate symptoms of the MS, one of which may be the TN on the other side.  Your sores sound absolutely miserable.

Quix
Helpful - 0
233622 tn?1279334905
Thanks for explaining. I was not sure if the cold sore had anything to do with the other things going on.  

I am like you,, I also get fever, swollen glands, and general misery when I start a cold sore. I never get a cold sore on my mouth. They are always on my cheek. Anywhere from just under my eye to my jaw. They range from the size of a quarter to a silver dollar.

I have TN on my right side and cold sores on my left side. My doctor explained to me the nerves in my face are seperate, right and left, so he didn't feel the TN on my right side was related to the Herpes on my left.


l
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
hi Quix, so happy to see that smileing face again, I am new here and have lots of questons. hope that face pain is feeling better for ya! i all so get it. right now as matter of fact. its just mild right now it feels like a real bad tooth ack with shooting pains. No talking or eating makes the pain worse, it  has been a pattern for me for 3 plus years. i would run to dentist telling them i have a bad tooth. they would say nooooo.

many things are now coming together to me .... so many  whys...... from brith. any way i have been reading the fourms for over a year and wanted to join.   soo much of all ms symptoms i have..... i have had mris, doctors and much pain for lots of my life. i will be slow on asking reguarding all this mess.. its all much hard to understand for me.

I live in vancouver..... cascade park area..... so iam real close to you.. stress is one of my no nos................ I  have to keep it very low keyed.  

I wanted to ask you what you thought about the cold sore.... could this be another ms symptom? i have had 2 this winter. does the cold give people cold sores? and we have had some cold weather.  I will get back on later... iam up late. i work nights and it puts me on the night shift. GOT TO GO WATCH MY H.G.T.V.
thanks sooooo much

Denise 61
Helpful - 0
147426 tn?1317265632
Hi, I'll see if I can clear some of this up.  Much of the damage of MS is caused by the attack of antibodies against the myelin of the nerves.  The immune system is being too active and inappropriately so.  So, when the immune system is rev'ed up by something, the MS also acts up, often with a relapse.  Anthing that turns on the immune system can trigger a relapse.  The most common thing that stimulates the immune system is an infection - any kind of infection from a cold to a UTI, to the flu, to a skin infection to an outbreak of herpes - either kind, to a vaccination.  You always want to notify your doc if you think you are getting an infection.

Now some people get a herpes sore or fever blister with no other symptoms at all.  But, I always get a whole day of fever, headache, muscle aches when I get a fever blister.  A lot of this is the result of immune activity.  That same immune activity in response to the infection stirs up the MS.

Yes, ON, is an immune attack of demyelination of the optic nerve.  So an infection anywhere can make the ON show up again or make a current bout worse.

Also, remember what happens to to MS during pregnancy.  A woman's immune system is somewhat depressed during pregnancy so she doesn't reject the baby.  AND MS usually is at its best and least symptomatic during pregnancy because the immune system is tamped down.  After delivery when the immune system recharges and ramps up back into action is when a woman is likely to have MS first show up or when a major relapse is often seen.

L - you are right about getting herpetic sores when your immune system is down a little.  But, you have to understand that the immune system has many different parts and functions.  What affects one part may not affect another part.  So, you get a little too tired or run down and you catch a cold or develop a fever blister (herpes sore).  You don't really have a suppressed immune system, but the defenses are down enough to allow the virus to do it's thing.

Your ON and your cold sore are not really connected, I don't think.  

The overactivity of the immune system in autoimmune diseases is in a specific area of the immune system, not all over.

I hope this helps.  I reread it and it is a bit garbled.  Let me know what I didn't answer.

Quix
Helpful - 0
233622 tn?1279334905
I hope I explained it correctly. A Herpes out break generally happens when you are run down. I just take that to mean your immune system is weaker. I had to take Methotrexate for a while for psoriasis. I had to stop taking it because I started to break out with multiple Herpes sores on my face. Then I got Mono for the second time in my life.

My PCP the Mono happened because the Methotrexate lowered my immune system. Psoriasis happens when you have an over active immune system and your body attacks itself.

If I understand correctly MS is happens with an over active immune system. I am just assuming that all auto immune conditions happen because of an over active immune system?  I could be totally wrong. Let me know if I am.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE HERPES(COLD SORES) AS A PREDISESOR FOR A FLAIR-UP OCCURRING.

I DIDN'T REALIZE ON WAS BY AN OVER ACTIVE IMMUNE SYSTEM,I LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY.

AS FAR AS THE RLS YES,THIS SHOULD ALL BE MENTIONED TO YOUR NEURO,IT GIVES YOUR NEURO A CLEARER PICTURE.AND YES SOME WITH MS DO SUFFER WITH RLS.

MANY WITH MS HAVE OTHER DISORDERS THAT OCCUR.ITS LEARNING TO SEPERATE WHAT IS WHAT.THAT COMES WITH TIME.

BUT ALL SHOULD BE MENTIONED TO YOUR DR.

T
Helpful - 0
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