I’m at my wits end I have called my nurse so often she must be sick of me! I need advice desperately. I feel so awful, mainly it’s my legs and walking that have become so bad. Also my balance is really terrible. I was given an elbow crutch last week but it’s useless because my walking is awful.
I honestly don’t remember being as bad as this. I just want to know if this is a relapse and what could possibly have triggered it? I had a cold but that was about 6 weeks ago.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and hope you’re well and eaten lots of Easter eggs!!
Hi helen, sorry hun i can’t say as i’m not dx and certainly no expert. just wanted to say hi and let you know your post hasn’t gone un-noticed, and bump it up so hopefully someone who knows more than me can offer some support. xxx
In most cases, nothing “triggers” relapses - they’re just part of living with RRMS. Although it might just possibly have been the cold. Respiratory infections, including colds, have been linked with an increased risk of relapse for up to five or six weeks afterwards, so you would be just at the borderline of it possibly being triggered by the cold. If you’d said eight weeks, I’d have said it’s unconnected, and just one of those things - and it still might be.
If deterioration has been sudden and dramatic, and you don’t have an infection, and haven’t been overdoing things, or under any unusual stress, then I would think it’s almost certainly a relapse.
As it’s badly affecting your walking, then you do need to call the MS nurse again (though I realise they won’t be there today or tomorrow), as you might be offered steroids. Apart from that, I don’t think there’s much you can do for a relapse, except rest as much as you need, if circumstances permit (I realise not everybody is able to do that - if you have childcare responsibilities, for example).
I don’t think there is anything else special you should be doing for it - I don’t know of any home remedy that helps in the slightest (although chocolate’s probably good for morale!)
Hope you can get to speak to the nurse on Tuesday, and discuss whether you should be on steroids or not. Also they might want to arrange physio for you, to help with the walking and balance, but I don’t know if they prefer you to recover a little bit first.
I have called my nurse so often she must be sick of me! I need advice desperately. I feel so awful, mainly it’s my legs and walking that have become so bad. Also my balance is really terrible. I was given an elbow crutch last week but it’s useless because my walking is awful.