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- - Stress & MS (https://www.neurotalk.org/multiple-sclerosis/208941-stress-ms.html)

Since I am very new to this forum I'm quite sure this topic has been address many times but it sure wouldn't hurt to bring it up again. I have noticed after reading as many of the post as I can that there are so many well informed and educated people here dealing with MS that I would be very interested in hearing their views on this subject. Thanks

Hi Rick and welcome to NeuroTalk.

Stress, anxiety, panic attacks and MS is a topic that I tend to be a little outspoken on :D

I do not believe stress impacts MS in regards to exacerbations (relapse, flare-up, attack). An increase in MS symptoms can be seen with stress and anxiety but even those without MS will experience neurological symptoms due to stress. Stress and anxiety can cause body wide symptoms for anyone.

Information on this topic:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002616/

Quote:

Stress is considered as some kind of change in an individual's life, requiring readjustments that surpass the ability of coping and leading to psychological or biological harm. Charcot already assumed that grief or anger might have a role in the occurrence of neurological diseases like MS [Charcot, 1877].

An association between stress and MS relapses seems theoretically unexpected on physiological grounds since stress stimulates the HPA axis resulting in increased levels of circulating endogenous cortisol, which controls inflammation and thus should biologically abort eventual relapses.

Hypothetically, acute stress (like major stressful life events) could induce higher cortisol levels than chronic stress (family and work stress) and have a major impact in reducing the risk of MS relapses.

Thus, stress may either have an immune-suppressive or increasing effect depending on its intensity and duration [Martinelli, 2000], mediated by a glucocorticoid resistance with downregulation of receptors on immune cells secondary to chronic stress.

Recently, consensus statements about the importance of stress regulation in MS were published, claiming the association between stressful life-events and MS relapses inconclusive, the cytokine response to psychological and physical stressors weakened, the HPA reactivity varied by disease subgroup and stage, and an autonomous nerve dysfunction correlated with inflammatory activity and disease progression [Heesen et al. 2007].

I agree with Snoopy, for everyone regardless of medical condition, striving for as stress free a life as possible is the way to go. Far easier to preach than practice ;) life has a way of ensuring that, but yeah learning to simply accept things as they are and as they come probably leads to better health than diet, exercise or medication combined.

For me some of the things I use to cope with stress is always having a plan (carved firmly in water:p), realizing not everyone is educated (no matter how many sheep were skinned to say otherwise), and the 'common sense' the world is in desperate need of is humor.

I still forget sometimes and let myself get spun up over things that aren't going to change, even though it causes very real palatable pain to my body and more than once has even led to furthering existing injuries. Even so, I still try to not let the world (my family) get to me.

It might be a bit easier if I just went ahead and bought myself a hug-me-jacket already and installed my bouncy room :p Yesterday would have been a perfect day for some self hugging time in a cosy asylum cell for me. Still feeling the after-effects of dealing with an overage of I-D 10 Ts issues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starznight (Post 1093804)

During my 20 years of ms I have become very good at playing the mind game. Stress is just not allowed to be part of my life. I learned to ignore it at every turn. By the way I was always under the assumption that stress directly affected ms. Thank you again for educating.

First of all there are different kinds of stress. The every day stress of living,
working and playing, usually will not exacerbate a MS attack, but the stress
of an accident or major life incident may do just that. And I have had such
related attacks.

But then I am one who does not handle stress well and I do have GAD.
(general anxiety disorder), under control with meds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SallyC (Post 1093824)

The every day stress of living,
working and playing, usually will not exacerbate a MS attack, but the stress
of an accident or major life incident may do just that. And I have had such
related attacks.

But then I am one who does not handle stress well and I do have GAD.
(general anxiety disorder), under control with meds.

Hi Sally,

Our experiences have been different in the area of stress ;)

In my case Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is were my experience with stress lies. The extreme "stress and anxiety" that PTSD can cause did not affect my MS. Although my Drs., as well as my Psychotherapist, were concerned with the affects of PTSD on my MS those concerns never came to fruition. My MS stayed quiet during the 10 years that PTSD had ahold of me and my life, to which I am quite grateful for.

My MS seems to be more noticeable during those times in my life where there is little to no stress or anxiety in my life, go figure :rolleyes:

(((((Snoopy))))), yes you don't have to have stress before an MS attack.:eek:
It's just a trigger for some, not all.

So sorry for your 10 years with PTSD...sheeesh!!:hug:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick DeSantis (Post 1093815)

Thanks Sally for your reply and I feel the same way. Being old school Italian family of course is everything to me. Now god forbid if anything would happen to my family that is for sure a level of stress well beyond my control but that will never happen :)

Definitely stress was a huge factor for me.

My first - and biggest to date MS attack was just after I had cared for my Mum round the clock in the last week of her life with fast, aggressive cancer.

It was stressful, sudden, brutal and agonising - I wouldn't wish that circumstance on my worst enemy (not that I have any). When she died (three weeks after diagnosis) the adrenaline (that kept me going 24/7) drop was massive, and I truly believe brought it all on. Thirteen years ago - and I still live it daily.

Just my thoughts and experiences, but it is an acknowledged fact that stress can cause so many health issues.

Lyn

I was diagnosed when I was still working as an RN full time. I had to quit after 2 years and my stress level went WAY down and my body showed it. My family really babies me when there is stress like a medical problem but I tell them that sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. Like when my Mom was in hospice, I WAS NOT going to leave her bedside. But by the grace of God my sister and I got good nights sleep every night we were there. My husband did convince me to go home one night and I must say that he was right. I needed it.

When I had my psych eval for my SSDI I had a very interesting conversation with the neuro psychologist who did the testing. He said that with MS all of our memories re still there. But with stress some of the pathways are temporarily blocked. That's why at night time in our sleep sometimes it just comes to you.