What causes exacerbations? Exacerbations (relapses) are caused by inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS). The inflammation damages the myelin, slowing or disrupting the transmission of nerve impulses and causing the symptoms of MS.
Typical triggers for pseudo-flares include high body temperature from fever, infection, too much exercise, or activity; getting your period; new medications; and stress.
Common symptoms of MS flares can include feeling tired, pain, numbness, dizziness, muscle spasms, muscle weakness, brain fog, problems with going to the bathroom, or trouble seeing. Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) can help reduce the rate of relapses and slow MS progression.
Increased fatigue. Tingling or numbness anywhere on the body. Brain fog, or difficulty thinking. Muscle spasms.
viral infections – it's been suggested that infections, particularly those caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (responsible for glandular fever), might trigger the immune system, leading to MS in some people.
Symptoms of an MS flare-up usually come on quickly, over a period of hours or days. Relapses usually last for about four to six weeks, though they can be as short as only a few days or as long as several months.
Several types of MRI scans can be useful for detecting specific forms of MS lesions. The ones most commonly used in clinical practice include T1-weighted scans that detect active inflammatory lesions, and T2-weighted scans, which detect both old and active lesions (the total lesion load).
The most common signs and symptoms of an oncoming exacerbation are: More coughing, wheezing, or shortness of breath than usual. Changes in the color, thickness, or amount of mucus. Feeling tired for more than one day.
Natalizumab (Tysabri).
This medication is designed to block the movement of potentially damaging immune cells from your bloodstream to your brain and spinal cord. It may be considered a first line treatment for some people with severe MS or as a second line treatment in others.
Those symptoms include loss of vision in an eye, loss of power in an arm or leg or a rising sense of numbness in the legs. Other common symptoms associated with MS include spasms, fatigue, depression, incontinence issues, sexual dysfunction, and walking difficulties.
Relapsing-remitting MS
Sometimes, all symptoms improve, but specific symptoms may persist and become permanent. During remission, MS will not often progress, and there will be no exacerbations. A person may have no symptoms for several months or years.
While experts suggest that stress can contribute to MS exacerbations, there is also some evidence that the disease itself causes physiological changes that manifest as stress (e.g., tension and nervousness).
Multiple sclerosis (MS) triggers that worsen symptoms or cause a relapse can include stress, heart disease and smoking. While some are easier to avoid than others, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and overall health and wellness can have outsized benefits for MS patients.
Refined sugar
A small study found that MS patients who drink more sugar-sweetened beverages like soda tend to have more severe disease. High sugar intake also is linked with a higher risk of other conditions, like diabetes and heart disease, that may exacerbate the symptoms of MS.
According to Harvard Health Publishing, an anti-inflammatory diet should include foods like tomatoes, leafy greens such as spinach and kale, and fruits like strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and oranges. There's some evidence that consuming these foods could be beneficial for MS.
Most symptoms develop abruptly, within hours or days. These attacks or relapses of MS typically reach their peak within a few days at most and then resolve slowly over the next several days or weeks so that a typical relapse will be symptomatic for about eight weeks from onset to recovery. Resolution is often complete.
If you noticed that the physical ability is worsening over the past 6 months or year, inform your healthcare provider. Also, report changes in cognition such as short-term memory loss, multitasking problems and word-finding difficulties.
It's felt that most people experience the severest disabilities of MS within five years of diagnosis. After that point, their disabilities don't continue to worsen significantly. Therefore, if no additional disabilities appear within the first five years, then they are unlikely to occur in the future.
Exercise strengthens the muscles that help you walk. It also eases fatigue, boosts mood, and improves quality of life in people with MS. There's even some evidence that strength training might help slow MS damage in the brain. An exercise program for MS includes 150 minutes of "aerobics" each week.
Getting treatment can make you less likely to have relapses. The options for managing an MS relapse are: treatment with high-dose steroids, either as an in-patient, a 'day-case' or at home. rehabilitation – after steroids, or without steroids being given.
Sleeping for longer before potentially demanding, draining, or important events can also help a person with MS preserve energy. During a relapse of symptoms, a person with MS may need more sleep and rest than usual and should allow for extra sleep time at the end of their day.