Hello Everyone hope you are as well as you can be.
I have recently come out of hospital after slipping off my bed and ended up with both my legs tucked up under my trunk. As my other half has just had a back procedure he could not lift me up. He dialed 111 who said they would send an ambulance, in the meantime I asked hubby to pull my legs out from under me as my legs were totally numb. He did so and oh boy it did hurt.
3 hours later an ambulance arrived, by this time I was in and out of consioness, they took me to A//E where apparently I was put on intravenous antibiotics along with a saline drip. They told hubby I had pneumonia due to MS. I was admitted put on oxygen and that I was very ill and totally exhausted. The first I knew of all this was when I awoke in hospital with the oxygen mask on.
my question is has anyone else had this happen to them due to MS? Would be most grateful for any response, thank you.
No, I’ve not had it myself, but I know at least one other poster here has.
Pneumonia is not a direct symptom of MS, but can be a complication of any illness or condition where mobility is limited, because it’s not as easy to clear the lungs, and opportunistic infections strike when you have gunk collecting there.
Also people with MS sometimes inadvertently ingest food into the lungs, due to swallowing difficulties. This also makes conditions ripe for an infection.
A bit like UTIs - not an inevitable part of MS, but something we’re a bit prone to.
Sorry to hear about it, but glad you’re home and on the mend.
Story is much like yours. Got up one morning, and the knees gave way and I sank to the floor. Paramedics got me back into bed, but the same thing happened that evening/ Luckily a strong friend was on hand. Wife (ex nurse) phoned youngest daughter (currently a senior nurse) who drove home that evening (200 miles). In the morning, I am not very alert, daughter phones surgery, duty GP comes round and says “You are off to hospital”.
Then it is the same A&E bit, and into ITU and I do not remember very much about the next ten days. It was apparently a very close thing, but nobody suggested that MS could have been the cause (or even a contributory factor). I saw my MS Nurse a couple of months later, and she wanted the story, but again did not suggest any MS involvement.
One thing I do get is occasional acid reflux, in the night, with some acid in the top of the wind-pipe. Now that is MS related for sure, and may have contributed (see Tina’s comment above).
Thanks for your reply. I had no idea about the conection between the two, I am aware of getting infections.though and how nasty they can be. It is so disappointing as I was doing reasonably well even my Physio said as much. I guess I must have had some type of infection, without being aware of it… I do have trouble swallowing at times so maybe that was the cause. Now I have enforced rest, it will drive me mad as I do like to be as active as I can.
I read your experience and our treatment was basically the same, they doubled my steroids and at one time I was going to ITC as well but by the time they decided I had improved a bit so I stayed where I was.
Thank you for sharing your experience with me, now it’s the recovery time I don’t like.
My daughter just had a Supra Punic catheter inserted a week ago. It’s very umconfy because the tube is so long. Any other options that’s portable? Thanks !