Multiple Sclerosis Heat
Those that have been given the Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis can be affected very severely when in
warm rooms or during the hot summer months and it can be more than unbearable
to the MS patient to where the person can feel like they
can’t breathe or they feel like passing out. Overheating is frequent and
it is difficult for those with Multiple Sclerosis cool off. Saunas and hot tubs should be avoided
by those that already have the Multiple Sclerosis symptom of
over reacting to heat.
Multiple Sclerosis cooling
I guess it would be considered a treatment for Multiple Sclerosis when
finding ways to cool off from the Multiple Sclerosis symptoms that can result from an over reaction
to heat. Methods of cooling
down can include using ice packs, drinking very cold or ice water, using MS cooling vest for MS patients and MS cooling hats, which have been
specifically designed for those that have that include the heat sensitivity and
staying in well air conditioned rooms. It is thought by the medical community
that the immune system is weakened for those that have MS and that the frequent
overheating that many people with MS go through can possibly in part be a result of frequent
infections of many different kinds.
One thing that I have found, with my
own case of MS, is that the overheating can also be a related reaction to a
medication, where the ability to sweat, for those that have the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, can be severely reduced or temporarily
stopped, setting us up for a potentially serious problem with heat stress or
even heat exhaustion.
Both of these conditions can be serious or even
life threatening some situations that can jeopardize the life of those that do
not monitor well how much heat they are around or avoid heat as much as they
can when this starts to occur. The over reaction to heat can also cause a Multiple Sclerosis exacerbation or Multiple Sclerosis attack.
The over reaction to heat can also add to the Multiple Sclerosis fatigue,
adding even more to the problems that heat can cause for those with MS.
In my case of MS, after I was diagnosed with MSMultipleSclerosis and help me to cool off some and to
keep from dehydrating. But,
by itself, ice packs and drinking cold water did not do well with
providing reliefto reduce the Multiple Sclerosis heat reaction,
that affected me so badly. Something
else was definitely needed to reduce the reaction of the Multiple Sclerosis heat stress reaction. My mother had an ingenious idea that
she decided to test out.
My
mother took these colored plastic balls that were filled with water that people
tend to freeze and put in their drinks for their children and she went to the
arts and craft store and purchased a mesh material that she could sew into mesh
tubes that she could put the plastic balls into. She sewed this into the shape of a
necklace and put a loop and hook on it that made it easy for me to hang around
my neck like a necklace. This
could be frozen and placed around my neck when I was so overheated that I felt
like passing out. This
really did a good job with Multiple Sclerosis cooling, so that it helped me to cool off
enough that I would actually function better and feel better some.
Multiple Sclerosis Season Changes
Humidity and Season Changes also
can influence the effects of
Multiple Sclerosis on the body and make this person feel very
exhausted, weaken the immune system, cause more frequent infections, and
basically make the peoMultiple Sclerosis
person feel very badly and often feel much less functional.
With my own case of MS humidity made me
feel like it was very difficult for me to be able to breath. I had a
very difficult time catching my breath and I had to avoid humid rooms or humid
weather at all cost.
Season changes were also very difficult for me,
since I could not adjust fast enough to temperature changes (when it is 20 to
30 degrees F difference between night and day temperatures or the times when it
is warmer one day and colder the next day, where the temperature changes by 20 to 30
degrees Fahrenheit.
Season changes are also bad for those with MS because the Multiple Sclerosis immune system is
weakened to start with and the season changes are the time of year
where everyone
else around us is getting sick and they are either carriers for the
illnesses
that they have come in contact with or they leave home to be around
other
people, when they are still sick and pass whatever they have onto
someone else. This is a worse problem for those with MS, than other
people, because of weakened immune systems, any one that we are around
that is a carrier of the flu, cold or whatever other sickness can give
it to us so much more easily.
To avoid the problem with Multiple Sclerosis season changes (fall
and spring), I avoid going out to be around people at these times of year and I take extra vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc
to boost my immune system and prevent me from ending up with a cold or the flu or whatever
anyone else may have that I can catch from them.
I tended to get the
flu 20 to 30 times each year for the first few years after I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and
I learned the hard way that I was better off avoiding being around other people
for at least 2 months after the more extreme temperature changes started that are often
associated with spring and fall.
Because
of the freezing
temperatures in Fall and the large temperature fluctuations, during
this season, this sets every one up for becoming sick more easily, but
it is much worse for those of us with MS. I find that Fall
is the worst season for me, as far as how severe it causes my MS symptoms to become.
