Question for you - if I remember correctly, you live in Australia? Does the heat tend to bother you? I know it does me and when it's warm here I have a harder time with MS symptoms. Just a thought that maybe you a lot more heat intolerant and maybe you can correlate the flares to the time of year or season changes.

Kebsa, welcome to the team here. No, I haven't had any flare ups like that and hope I don't? Good luck and hope you find a course of treatment that will reverse most of this.

I am not entirely sure why the neurologist thinks they are seperate flares, I think it is because the symptoms would develop and then either remain steady or improve a bit only to then develop new symptoms- I believe it has been more than one flare ( in hindsight) but not as many as has been suggested. I guess it is a bit academic really.
As for PT while i was in hospital, yes i did get Physical therapy when i was up to it and i am now wating to get into an on going out patient rehab program. I was lucky in that the hospital i was in has a specialist neuro rehab program and they recognized the need to make sure that i did not decondition too much but balanced with the fact that if i pushed too much it made my symptoms worse. As you remebered, i live in South Australi and we have been experiencing a major heat wave, we have had multiple days of 105 to 110 degrees just before and after christmas and that has definately made things tougher. I was already in hospital when the heatwave started and the Dr actually kep me in longer at one stage to avoid the heat. He knew that i live alone and that if i went home i would have to go out in the heat a bit to do shopping and get to medical appointments, he knew that would be a disaster so kep me in unitl the temp came down. It is currently warm but not excessive (85 to 90) and i can cope with that quite well.
The only reassuring thing about this recent bout of illness is I did have a similar period like this before, i was in hospital more than i was home for thebetter part of six months but it was before iwas dx with ms and they did not know what was wrong, they queried all kinds of problems eventually saying it was some kind of autoimmune condition, perhaps Lupus. I think it was about 12 months later that i was dx with RRMS and they said in hindsight that the previous illness had been MS and possibly a viral illness. They have done viral titres this time and have found them to be slight raised but do not feel its enoughto be noticable. They have also looked at chronic infections as i have a knee replacement and Synchromed intrathecal medication infusion pump (a metallic implant that has been in place for 6 years), they did gallium scans to check for low grade chronic infections that would not show up via the usual symptoms and they werre fine. The only thing they have found is a raised ANA level but this has been raised for ages, but not enough to confirm Lupus. Last time i was really crook fro the 6 months but then improved again but never quite to the level i was pre illness. Before that time i used my manual wheelchair the majority of the time, in fact there was not many places i could not access in my chair. Afterwards i found i needed my powerchair a lot more and when i do use my manual chair i have trouble with ramps etc. These days i only really use the manual chair at home. Knowing that, i was really keen to access PT while i was in hospital as i did not want to decondition as well as deal with the MS effects

Thinking of you, Kebsa. Feel better soon..:hug::hug:

Bless your heart, you've been through the ringer. I hope you get feeling better soon and can put all this mess behind you.

Take care.

(((HUGS))) You've been through so much. I hope things calm down here soon.

Not as rapid, but I've had a flare about every 3 months for the past two years, with most of the new sypmtoms staying. So I understand the frustration of the MS not giving you a break. Know you are not alone.

I hope you feel better soon. Hang in there!

Keb,
Uve been trough so much,since October? wow. U poor thing .:hug:
Hugss,and I hope u get to feeling better soon.

I liked your term "serial" flares. That is exactly what got me diagnosed and how my 1st year with MS was. My 1st flare lasted 4 months and then every 6 weeks, give or take, I was in a flare. No sooner did I recoop from one did I start another. My were characterized by worsening old symptoms and some new ones.

I too was not able to work anymore, am a single mom of 2 kids, and my health was going crazy. The added stress I am sure did not help.

I am thankful for the Copaxone as it has begun to work for me and with the exception of possibly bing in a flare right now (will know tomorrow), I have not had a flare since July. My body was given a break to heal and it has been such a welcomed break. Of course there are things that are now permanent (fatigue, spasticity, muscle weakness, etc.) but hey, I can deal with that over flares every 6 weeks.

I hope you start feeling better soon and you and your neuro can find the right treatment for you.

Although I don't follow the Swank diet closely, I do use it as a guideline. I felt a difference with in a couple of months of starting it. Then, I fell away from it for a bit and noticed a slight worsening of things. Starting back up - still have trouble giving up butter. That is my one treat.

am

I am glad that things started to settle for you when you started the copaxone, unfortunately i was already on a DMD when all this started, I am on Betaferon (i have also used copaxone in the past). I still know that something is going on, Overall i certainly feel better than i have when i have been admitted, my energy levels are substantially better but i am still having symtoms, some worsening of old symtoms eg vertigo/vestibular problems and some new ones eg today the left side of my face is numb,down my neck/jaw and the inside the left side of my mouth ( i feel like i have been to the dentist)- i know its only a minor symptom but is still tells me that things are still active at the moment. my left arm is still feeling really heavy too and this one may not seem to make sense - i am finding it hard to sit straight. I am wheelchair dependant and i am a bit lop sided as i am an amputee and i have scoliosis and i know i sit crooked when i am tired but at the moment i just can't seem to sit straight, in fact i am getting quite uncomfortable from sitting all askew- i am not sure if this is just part of the fatigue thing or if i have developed some muscle weakness that is affecting my posture, it would only take slight musckle weakness because of the scoliosis etc. Still, i have been home for almost a week, that is the longest since early November! I am struggling a bit but coping at the moment-I see my PCP tommorrow for a check (i am due to have my spinal MRI next week then 2 weeks later i see my neuro)

K - It is really hard and I am glad that it seems to be slowing down a bit. It must feel so good to be home this week. I will pray that you continue to start feeling better and that you can enjoy being at home. Sending lots to cyber hugs your way. :hug: