question regarding flare up's

[mystycalstorm]

Im sure this question has been put before everyone numurous times, and i hope I am not sounding like a broken record, but if anyone could kinda explain roughly often does a MS flare up happen? and how long do they last? also
What would be a noticable sign that a flare up is starting up.
I hope i was able to make sence of this post.

It seams for the past five years Iv been having nothing but problems with my health and everyday something is acting up.
(note: I have only been given the DX, of Probable MS)

thanking in advance to any responces to this

Stormy

[Deb61]

Stormy, I hope that you get answers.  It's terrible going for a long time thinking that you could be doing something about your health and getting treatment while your going from one doctor to the next being pushed aside, dismissed, or misdiagnosed.  

How horrible that you could have been misdiagnosed and had to give yourself medicine that was actually harming you and making things worse!  Not to mention having to give yourself shots!!!!!  

One thing about the MS medicines, many are injectible, too.  However, the one thing that my medicine, Copaxone, is that it is easily tolerated.  I will probably never have to go through what you had to go through with a blood infusion.   One of these days, they'll probably have an oral medicine, which I understand may be coming soon.  

Kitt, I'm glad I was able to help.  It's not always easy to figure things out.  Like my sister says (another MS'er), "There are some days when I feel sh*tty and there are other days that I feel sh*ttier."  AND besides trying to figure out if it's a new symptom or an old symptom getting worse, you've have to figure out if it is actually an MS symptom to begin with!!!!  That's why having you guys and this forum is so very important to me.  We can complain to people who have open ears and arms, get support, and compare symptoms all we want without having to put any more pressure on our lovies at home.  

[kitten o]

STORMY GREAT QUESTION.
I WAS WONDERING THE SAME THING.
I NEVER NO WHAT IS GOING ON WITH ME.

DEB,
BOY YOU HELPED ME OUT TOO.
LIKE I SAID, I DO NOT NO WHEN I AM
IN A FLAIR -UP. NOW I UNDERSTAND.
I THINK I HAVE TO LISTEN TO MY BODY SOMETIMES.
THANKS SO MUCH YOU GUYS,
I WILL BE FOLLOWING THIS TOPIC.
HOPE YOU ARE ALL WELL.
KITT

[mystycalstorm]

Oh my gosh.
Thank you so much for going so in depth with your explaination.  I really apreceate it.
And thank you so much for posting the link, It's a great site.

I haven't yet checked out you tube, but will do it very soon.

My Dr's DX' me with RA  quite some time ago and I was on some pretty heavy drugs for it, in factI was on of the medications was Metatrexate,which I had to admister my self  by needle.( yuck  LOL) and it lowered my white cell count so bad that i had to get a blood transfusion, now their saying i never had RA, they say i have probably have MS,  I had a MRI done a few months ago, and im still waiting for The results. I have my Dr apointment soon, hopefully she will tell me then.

Thank you again for replying to my post, and i will check out You Tube soon.

Stormy

[Deb61]

It's very nice to meet you!  I'm sorry, however, that you're not feeling well.  The answers to the questions that you ask are highly variable.  Although many people with MS share some common symptoms, it's such an unpredictable disease!  

For some people, it's a mild disease, with flare-ups that are years apart (benign MS); for others, the disease progresses with flare-ups that come and go--several times a year (relapsing-remitting).  There are others that have a continual worsening of the disease (progressive--either secondary progressive or primary progressive) without clearly defined flare-ups; the disease continues to get worse.

I have the relapsing-remitting type (RRMS) and was diagnosed not that long ago.  So, I can give you my perspective.  My flare-ups don't last too long, in comparison with many people.  They will usually last a little over a week or two weeks.  I do think I get a lot of them, however.  I've been having flare-ups about every two months.  

I just started my daily shots of Copaxone, a disease-modifying drug.  Eventually, after several months, (if the medicine works) my flare-ups in number and length are supposed to decrease.  That is what I'm hoping for.  

Also, for me, I can tell when a flare-up is coming on because I'll have an old symptom that I normally don't see every day, get worse or I'll have a brand new symptom that makes me think, "I wonder what that is?"  

The last two flare-ups have started with head tremors.  Then, in the last one, I was choking at night.  Plus I was having difficulty swallowing food (especially in the evening).  At one point my tremors were so bad, I was looking as though I was sitting on a rocking horse!  My voice became trembly and people could obviously notice that someone was up with me.  

Not all of my flare-ups were noticeable to others, however.  With some of them, they present so very slightly that I'm having to think about whether or not I've had that symptom before.

Some of flare-ups leave symptoms that have never gone away since they were introduced.  For example, my vision is still blurry, I still have feet that hurt like the dickens, my ears ring loudly and I have hearing loss, spasticity, numbness, tingling, etc. etc.

Here's a web site that may give you a little information about MS flare ups:
http://www.webmd.com/multiple-sclerosis/features/when-ms-attacks?src=RSS_PUBLIC  

Hopefully, other people chime in here to give their experiences with MS flare-ups.  If you're not getting many responses, look through some of the posts on this site.  Try the search box, and type in "flare ups" or "exacerbation" or another key word.  

Oh, there is another place to look to actually see what an exacerbation may look like.  Try youtube.  Type in "multiple sclerosis exacerbation" in the search box.  There's a young lady that has taped herself going through an exacerbation.  She's made several videos.  I would give you her name and the copy of the site, but I've not gotten her permission to give it here.  Videos are so personal!!!!!

Anyway, I hope you start feeling better soon, and you get some answers as to why you aren't feeling well.

Deb  

[Heather3418]

bumping this up for other members to comment on....