One question neurologists ask when you come in to report an
exacerbation is, “Have you had any stressful events recently?” I used
to think, “Who wants to know? Not your business.” Twenty years ago I would have been the first to roll my eyes at
the thought that stress could influence your immune system. But then
they took rats and stressed them out and it really happens; stress
affects your immune system.
Brief immune system lesson: we all have two parts of our immune system: a)kill the bacteria cells vs b)chill out, stop the killing cells. These are supposed to be in balance. Stress gets them out of balance.
When MSers have an episode they have more kill cells than chill out cells. Therefore, the kill cells run rampant and attack perfectly good body parts. Thats why we inject the chill cells, so even if our bodies crank out more kill cells, we’re covered, the new chill cells will convince them to stop attacking. Oh, and the chill cells? They’re what make you feel sick and feverish. Picture paying $1K a month for this. Of course, I’m off those drugs now, and I’m taking the experimental FTY 720 drug that stifles the extra kill cells.
(When many normal people get stressed they have more chill out cells than kill cells. The chill cells make you feel sick. Stressed out “normals” may have only one bacteria in their entire body, but they feel sick and feverish.)
When I changed jobs a month or two ago, I of course considered how this stressful event would affect my MS. I figured it would hit after a month or so. A month or so later, Mom was in the hospital, then Mom was in hospice, and it wasn’t so much on my mind. But the last few days, yes, I have been waking up and routinely checking all my limbs.
Then, I guess it was Thursday night, I lay down in bed and could barely move. “Wow,” I thought, “This is MS fatigue. I feel totally wiped out.”
Then the next morning, as I awakened and did my full-body assessment, I felt a weird sensation in my throat. Tingly, like a paresthesia (an odd MS sensation). I tried to swallow. Ouch.
I lay there for a moment until it struck me that I had a sore throat.
And the fatigue? I believe you normals call it “coming down with a cold.”
So, here I am with a cold. A raging cold resulting from my recent stress. Nothing wrong with me except a cough and sore throat. Try and convince me I’m on the placebo now.
6 responses to “Stress Kills”
You have bigger concerns than “normal” people do. Every time I have a pinched nerve I think I am getting MS because my sister had it. I got a brain MRI a couple years ago because I had a numb spot on my cheek. I can see how you could assume everything was MS.
I’m sitting here trying to figure out if I’m just exhausted or coming down with something. I did do 8 loads of laundry this weekend, spent 3.5 hours at Chuck E Cheese, and spent 5 hours with my ILs. Still, I think the “just a ran a marathon” fatigue is a bit much for what I’ve done.Here’s to being sick and having no sick time!
Stress kills. I’ve seen it happen so many times.Does that keep me all cool and “hey, I’m easy”? No, it does not.If God didn’t want us to be chill, he/she/whatever would not have invented Xanax.
::chuckle::Us normals? I think I resent that.
This is more about MS than I ever learned from the Readathon literature.(I just googled MS Readathon and it appears to exist only in Australia and Ireland. Do the kids in the US not do that anymore?)
Suebob – I try not to, but it’s so tempting – because if you don’t, then your neuro calls you on that too.Caroline – But TeddyJ is so understanding…Becs – Acting chilled and being chilled are not the same. If only.Candy – Hey. Just a little reverse discrimination.TasterSpoon – I never did it. A program devoted to reading about MS? Yawn? But given that Ireland and Australia are farther from the equator, where the incidence of MS is higher, that makes sense. (Plus, that explanation is probably totally wrong.)