Pseudo-Relapse

I mentioned in a previous post about injections that on the 24th/25th August I experienced what I thought was a relapse but my consultant think was a pseudo-relapse.

What happened? Well on the Sunday my mood was really really low, I lost the power in my left hand, suffered from pins and needles in left hand and left foot, my left leg and arm were a bit numb and at times could not feel my arm or hand. 

It is hard to know if its a relapse or a pseudo-relapse - what is the difference? Well a relapse is an actual worsening of the MS. It can include the aggravation of an old MS symptom or the onset of a new one. So my last three relapses were definitely relapses because I got new symptoms with them. 

A relapse lasts at least 24 hours in the absence of a an infection or fever. In contrast a pseudo-relapse is not a worsening of the disease but its only temporary flare up on symptoms that have occurred before. And I did lose power in the left arm/hand during the first episode in December. However, this time it last a few days so could have been a relapse as pseudo-relapses usually only last for 24 hours or less. 

Symptoms of a pseudo-relapse are not caused by new damage to the central nervous system but can be caused by exposure to heat or an infection. I did not have an infection or was exposed to heat so think it was probably the Avonex that cause the pseudo-relapse as that can happen.

Nerve damage from MS can make you very sensitive to even small rises in body temperature e.g a fever, sunbathing or a hot bath. Mild infections, including viral upper respiratory infections (such as colds) and urinary tract infections. Once these infections pass, symptoms should get better. More server infections can cause a true relapse.

But whatever it was, a real relapse or a pseudo relapse - I don't like having them.