Hi again 
I’m having a relapse and the whole of my pelvic area is very numb. I’ve just realised I’ve not had a bowel movement in 4 days. I have no urge to go, and nothing happens when I go to the loo. I’ve got some laxative but am scared to take them in case I have an accident! Anyone else had to deal with this? Kaz xx PS I’ve also had to resort to incontinence pads as whilst I know when I need to pee, my bladder doesn’t seem to be as efficient as usual! Sorry this is all so personal 
Hi Kaz, I think if I were you maybe a visit to the hospital is in order. Let them make a decision as to how to go about treating you. Take care J x
Hi J
Thank you for replying.
I’m hoping it won’t come to that but I will bear it in mind. I think if nothing has changed by Monday I will get in touch with my MS nurse for advice.
Kaz xxx
PS I’m very surprised I haven’t got awful belly ache by now! xx
Hi Kaz I had this with my worst ever relapse. I was numb from the waist down and it became progressively worse over a week until I was totally numb and couldn’t feel when the neuro stuck pins in me. I was admitted to hospital for IV steroids at that point. As far as bowel movements went, oddly enough I did know when I needed to go but didn’t go so often. I did worry that I wouldn’t know the difference between passing wind and solids and that I would have an accident but it didn’t happen. Wiping my bottom did feel very odd though (especially as my hands were a bit numb and tingly too!). My bowel has never been the same again, I can only assume this is due to nerve damage and MS in general. However sometimes I do not pass a bowel movement for 6 or 7 days before I get really uncomfortable. That is now the new normal, just like lots of other strange happenings in my body If you haven’t already, I think you need to contact your nurse as it seems as if your numbness is progressing a little each day. At least get it logged on file and if it starts to impact on every day life then you may want to consider taking steroids to speed up recovery. I had seized up and could barely walk when I was admitted to hospital and would never want a relapse like that one again. Take care Tracey x
Thank you so much for your reply, Tracey. I’m so sorry you went through that I have to admit this isn’t pleasant. I can walk but my legs feel stiff and heavy. It’s one week today since this started, so hoping it has peaked. I’m avoiding steroids as long as I can as they made me paranoid and gave me terrible anxiety attacks. Not to mention horrendous acne on my face neck and scalp that didn’t clear up for six months But if things do get worse I will consider them xxx
I hope it has peaked to, Kaz. I’m not a fan of steroids either, I’ve had IV once for the biggie relapse and oral ones last year when my right leg seized up below the knee leaving me shuffling again. I hate the side effects but I hate not being mobile too. I did turn them down with the second relapse last year as it didn’t feel quite so bad. I guess you’ll have to rest up as much as possible and let your body heal itself. It won’t affect the overall outcome so it depends on whether you can ride it out. Fingers crossed, you’re over the worst. I hope you’re not still struggling into work? Tracey x
No, I had to give up work at the end of last year. Fatigue, brain fog and memory problems are so unpredictable I felt I could no longer be reliable. Plus my last relapse was very similar to this one (without the toilet problems) and lasted three months. I’ll email my nurse on Monday and update her. I’m very lucky, she’s lovely xxxx
Hi Kaz I know this feeling all too well. 1st time was about 15yrs ago and like Tracey total loss of feeling from chest down which lasted 18 weeks was given IV steroids 2 weeks into it but was still 16 weeks before I could actually feel anything, showering was the most painful thing ever felt like I was been shot at with a million pellett guns Last January I lost feeling between my legs and still to this day its the same thankfully I know when I need to go just dont know what I’ve done until I’ve wiped it’s the weirdest feeling ever, but then all symptoms of MS are weired and if you say ms quick enough it sounds like a mess which it is!! I hope you get some relief from it sometime soon Sue x
Hi Sue. Thank you for replying My loss of feeling hasn’t travelled above my hips so far, thankfully. Wiping is a pretty horrible experience! Very uncomfortable, and unfortunately very frequent as I get mixed messages from my bladder and its not unusual to end up on the loo up to three times an hour, and all for virtually nothing! I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been left permanently like that. MS may be many things, fun it is not! xxxx
A friend of mine who is a registered nurse also said I should go to A&E but I really can’t face it on a Saturday night! I’ve promised to call Out Of Hours in the morning for advice. Kaz xx
Hi Kaz MS may be many things, fun it is not! Your not wrong there love Xxx
Ain’t that the truth 
xx
Spoke to out of hours this morning and after one thing and another I’m now in hospital. They need to do an MRI to rule out Cauda Equinas (same as last time!) but can’t do til tomorrow so I’m on EDU overnight On the upside they’ve given me some senna and lactulose so that should help things along. Kaz xxx
Hope you feel better soon, Kaz
Hospitals aren’t a pleasant place to be but in some ways it’s a relief as it takes some of the worry off your mind.
Tracey x
Thank you Tracey. Just found out I’m probably going to be in here for 5 days on IV steroids. Don’t mind being here so much, but hate being away from my little girl. Kaz xxx
Awww, I know. My son was 15 when I was in and it took some time to convince him that not every hospital appointment meant that I would be in for several days. How old is your little girl? Do you have family to take good care of her while you’re stuck in hospital and will they be able to bring her in for visits?
Tracey x
MS is so poorly understood that the diagnosis and the way it is being treated are the problem, not the symptoms you described which affect people without MS as they do MSers. The point is that these symptoms can usually be improved or elminated easily, nothing to worry about. See a Chinese medicine practitioner and you will be surprised by how quickly your life will improve.
In order to get well and to stay well it is necessary to go back to basics in order to understand how these and other symptoms develop and how the body cures itself.
MS simply means scarring on the myelin sheath in the central nevous system (CNS) which consists of the brain and spinal cord. Neurologists explain that the scarring disrupts signals to and from the brain which gives rise to a wide variety of symptoms.
However, while everyone diagnosed with MS has one or more scars in the CNS, by far the majority of MSers have few or no symptoms for months or even years. Since no effective treatments exist in conventional medicine for MS, what doctors call remissions are possible only because the body cures itself. Conversely, if the body is incapable of healing itself, symptoms will persist as in the case of primary progressive MS.
The questions you ought to ask your neurologist is why he/she does not help your body heal itself? And why the best brains in medicine cannot improve conditions that the body can improve and cure so easily and naturally?
NHS Choices reveals that MS is not the problem. Early death is. It reveals that MS is not fatal, but the life expectancy for people with MS is about 10 years lower than the population at large. Since MS does not kill, you owe it to your family and loved ones, if not to yourself, to ask why MS patients under NHS care all end up dying early statistically?
A legitmate inference is that MS treatments damage the immune system, weaken the body and mind progressively, leaving the body defenceless, too weak and dysfunctional to stay alive.
NHS Choices also reveals that regular poor sleep impairs the immune system, weakens the body mind progressively, puts you at risk serious medical condtions and shortens your life expectancy, whether you have MS or not. NHS Choices explains it is not unusual for people recovering from illness or living with a chronic condtion to want 10-15 hours of rest and sleep a day. It declares it is now clear that a solid night’s sleep is essential to living a long and healthy life
What NHS Choices tells you is unambigous. If you do not have enough rest and sleep, you do not have a chance.
The body is made up of over 200 types of specialised cells such as muscle cells, bone cells, nerve cells and stem cells which can differentiate to become other specilised cell types like nerve cells and blood cells. Cells are designed to maintain themselves, repair damaged cells, and reproduce to replace dead cells. Cell that are damaged beyond repaired are programmed to commit suicide through the process of apoptosis which prevents the spread of damaged, infected or cancerous cells. These and other cell functions are the natural processes that keep the body healthy.
Oligodendrocytes are the specialised cells that build and repaired damged myelin, through the process of remyelination. Neurologist believe that MS progresses when oligodendrocytes become too weak and dysfunctional to remyelinate.
The body is desinged to stay healthy - to rejuvenate, reproduce, repair itself and prevent illness naturally. Restorative sleep is the vital function that rejuvenates, recharges batteries. Restorative sleep gives you a full tank of energy and a fresh brain for the day’s use. Sleep that is not sufficiently restorative gives you a reduced supply and grogginess.
Short of energy organs and body systems dysfunction, leading to conditions such as nutritional deficiency, hormonal imbalance, acummulation of toxins, low immunity and insufficeint pumping action of the heart or poor circulation which damage and destroy your cells, causing cell functions to break down, preventing them from repairing and replenisng themselves…
Constipation and urinary problems are organ dysfunctions. They can therefore be improved easily by giving the body the energy it needs to resume normal functions.
What you need is energy which comes from restorative sleep. Sleep is a brain function. Restorative sleep is not possible as long as the brain is overwhelmed by stress and tension. The brain, like the body, has limits. Incessant thinking or worrying not only overloads the brain but also drains the body of energy it needs to maintian normal functions. Most symptoms MSers experince are the result of organ and cell dysfunctions, caused by the lack of energy, the result of regular poor sleep.
I can promise you that your symptoms will improve or disappear when the quality of your sleep improves to give your body the energy it needs to heal itself. You need to stop thinking after 7pm in order to give your brain a chance to rest and to calm down so that restorative sleep can occur.
The important point to remember is that symptoms in 85% of MS cases usually come and go naturally. No cure exists in medicine for MS only because doctors are trained to use drugs to mask symptoms, not to help the body heal itself.
Constant thinking, worrying or fear are major causes of regular poor sleep. Focus not on why symptoms develop but on how they improve, disappear completely and stay away. You will recover when you understand what the body needs to heal itself and to stay healthy.
Health problems are the result of conflicts between the body and mind. Symptoms are your body’s way of telling you that it can no longer tolerate the way you think and your stressful lifestyle even though your mind tells you that what you are doing is right or unavoidable. Symptoms occur to slow you down in order to give your body a chance to recuperate. They improve and disappear naturally when you listen to your body and change. Symptoms worsen and more will develop to force change upon you if you listen to your brain and carry on doing more of the same things that are breaking your body down. This is why symptoms come and go in most cases. MS does not relapse, people do.
Try to stop thinking and worrying after 7 pm for 2 weeks and see how your life will change. You can always start worrying again if it does not work.
It is easy to get well. Everyone with RRMS wlll tell you that symptoms improve and disppear naturally. The sooner you relax and enjoy yourself the sooner you get well. I wish you a speedy recovery.
Alex
Thank you for replying Alex x
Tracey, my little girl is three She’s in good hands with her daddy and big sister (my stepdaughter). She’s not allowed on the ward but I’m mobile so will be able to spend some time off-ward with her if my partner brings her in. My results came back. They found a New spinal lesion so that explains the relapse. Should be starting Capaxone soon so hopefully will be the last! xxx