Purple feet can be MS - Autonomic Dysfunction

[supermum_ms]

Hey Guys and Girls,

OMG It doesn't take much to make this little old girl happy, yeah i know, i'm so pathetic! lol I was just now reading one of the articles posted in another thread http://www.medmerits.com/index.php/article/multiple_sclerosis (second page) and I nearly fell out of my chair (so not hard for me to do lol) whilst reading the section on Autonomic Dysfunction.

"Other less-recognized phenomena from sympathetic nervous system disruption are vasomotor dysregulation (cold, purple feet), cardiovascular changes (orthostatic changes in blood pressure, poor variation of the EKG R-R interval on Valsalva maneuver, possibly increasing risk of surgery), poor pilocarpine-induced sweating, poor sympathetic skin responses—especially in progressive multiple sclerosis (Karaszewski et al 1990; Acevedo et al 2000), pupillary abnormalities, and possibly fatigue."

So here it is "cold, purple feet", in an article on MS wow its in writing just 3 little words so easily missed and just in case you missed it "cold, purple feet" lol there is so many of my issues in the Autonomic dysfunction part that i actually feel not so isolated. I so need to find more on this, and i'll hunt it down if i can, i haven't even finished reading the article yet but just had to share :o)

Cheers.............JJ

PS oh just discovered I can't wear a bike helmet and hold my head up at the same time, oh so funny lol can't wait to see what happens when i get on the bike ROFL!

[candy158]

Yeah, thanks JJ, I needed to see that too.  \I'm gonna read up more on this too......

Been so busy this week, and then off to Disneyland, so, hoping to a good couple of weeks, PLEASE !!!

[vamanos]

I am not surprised at all by this. I have tachycardia, temperature issues (where I think I have a high fever and feel hot yet I do not have a temp) My rhuemy even told me I was hot to the touch. I have issues with sweating as well from time to time.
These are started with my m.s like sx.

[Sailorsong]

After a 2 hour nap I was able to read more of that article and am finding ever more interesting things the more I read. Granted I don't understand everything but it is still very interesting.

For example I had no idea that MS can cause low bone density ( something my doctors discovered many years ago after a minor auto accident).

I think I also now understand why my Neuro has classified me as PPMS. According to the article men that develop MS around 40 (that's me) tend to switch from RRMS to PPMS very quickly. I had no idea that you could switch to PPMS from RRMS.

Again thank for posting the link. I still haven't gotten trough all of it but will over the next few days.

Dennis

[Lulu54]

thanks for the addtional info, JJ.  Interesting to read the change in thinking.  And yes, I was going to ask about that 1580%  LOL

[beema36]

I have both ms and autonomic dysfunction. My electrophysiologist decided to research any connections of the two and has found autonomic dysfunction is quite prevalent in ms. It is usually secondary to ms. Between the two conditions I would choose ms as the lesser of two evils.

[Sailorsong]

Thanks for posting the link to this article!

It is like reading my health history to an extent and explains some of the things that drive me nuts like insomnia even when I am totally worn out.  I can't wait to read all of it but the work of reading it is wearing me out quickly. I guess that is my cognitive problems showing their head. :)

I was really surprised when they talked about how VERY VERY long ago MS was written about in the form of symptoms. I guess an old dog can new learn tricks after all. :)

I'm also glad you finally found something out about you blue feet. :)

Dennis

[supermum_ms]

hmmmm yes, well it was a motobike helmet lol not sure i'd even be able to hang on, interesting way to ditch the misus, errr oops! So are you recommending weight training, is that 2 or 3 kilos attached to each earlobe? :O

Autonomic dysfunction in MS is starting to get some traffic, early info does seem to indicate its a small comorbid issue but from what i'm reading, those stats were mainly due to minimul research and it looks like a lot of the problem was that neuro's didn't look for AD issues. That seems to be despite some commonly recognised sx's of MS are now being connected eg "bladder and/or bowel dysfunction, orthostatic hypotension, and cardiac adaptation disorders" or possibly connected eg fatigue, sexual dysfunctions etc There are an increasing number of articles and recent research that are putting stats high see below, though to be transparant, the stats are all over the place, just depends on what issue they are associating with AD too.

"Abstract
Recent studies have reported autonomic dysfunction (AD) in multiple sclerosis (MS), and bladder and/or bowel dysfunction, orthostatic hypotension, and cardiac adaptation disorders have been observed in a wide range of patients (1580%). The primary aim of this study is to investigate the frequency and association of AD in MS patients, assessed by sympathetic skin response (SSR) and a symptoms questionnaire. The secondary aims are to study the association of AD and disease disability assessed by expanded disability status scale (EDSS), as well as disease duration.

One hundred clinically definite MS (CDMS) patients were evaluated for autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction by use of an autonomic symptoms questionnaire and SSR testing. The relationship between these methods, AD and disease-related parameters, such as the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and disease duration were all evaluated. Sixty-five per cent of the patients presented with AD and 29% of these patients had abnormal SSR results. MS patients with high EDSS values (EDSS>4) and longer disease duration were more likely to have ANS dysfunction (p<0.0001). ANS dysfunction is not uncommon in CDMS patients and thus non-invasive investigations of AD are warranted to optimize AD evaluation and disease management."

http://www.mendeley.com/research/assessment-autonomic-nervous-system-dysfunction-multiple-sclerosis-association-clinical-disability/

(errr not sure what to make of that stat of 1580%)

Anyhooo its really interesting reading!!

Cheers........JJ

[Lulu54]

Sounds like you need to work out those neck muscles - I know you will be sure to wear that helmet even if it is hard to look up!  :-)

I have to get moving for a dr. appt.  and don't have time to read the article, but I wonder - did the article discuss a number for the percentage of people who have autonomic dysfunction and MS?  I am thinking that number is quite small, and worry that people will want to label everything MS rather than realize it is possible  to have something  else going on in addition to their MS.  That said, it might very well be your purple feet answer....  

good discovery, JJ.