ms relapses, ms exacerbations, ms attacks 

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder, where the body attacks itself, as if it is a foreign invader.  The majority of what is attacked and damaged is ms nerves or ms neurons.  The attacks, relapses or exacerbations are all different words for describing what it is going on during the periods of time where the body is under attack by whatever is the cause of Multiple Sclerosis.

MS exacerbations, relapses and attacks are pretty much different names for describing the same thing.  Basically ms relapses, ms attacks and exacerbations are where the myelin sheath on the spinal cord, the Blood Brain Barrier or other nerves throughout the body are damaged, degrading the nerves that are attacked and resulting in scarring in place of the damaged nerve cells.  MS can and does often cause nerve damage, but not every case of Multiple Sclerosis results in nerve damage of the extreme kind.  Multiple Sclerosis symptoms can be mild severe.  Multiple Sclerosis attacks the myelin sheath, which insulates and shiels the spinal from being damaged.  Once MS attacks the nerves through out the body, this results in scarring that either confuses or blocks nerve signals travelling through out the body and in more extreme cases this can also result in Multiple Sclerosis nerve damage. 

What is seen during a MS relapse, exacerbation or attack is where the symptoms of MS become much worse all of a sudden.  Let us suppose that you are currently having a period of time where your MS symptoms appear to calm down and you can function better, then all of a sudden something triggers the MS symptoms to become so much worse all of a sudden, without much warning.

As an example of how this works, let us say that your particular case of Multiple Sclerosis involves having periods of time where you become so exhausted or overly fatigued that no matter how much you sleep, you are tired all of the time.  Say you are having a few months where the extreme exhaustion appears to be gone.  Then for no apparent reason this extreme fatigue just returns again without warning and it sticks around for 4 months straight.  This overwhelming fatigue leaves you feeling like you just can not function.  This is an example of a MS relapse, exacerbation or attack.

Demyelination multiple sclerosis

What is demyelination in those with Multiple Sclerosis?

The result of the ms relapses cause our bodies to function less than it could before the relapse occurred. The relapses are often followed by some recovery from the loss of function during the relapses, where the body appears to go into remission. MS research is helping us to understand more of the effect of Multiple Sclerosis on the body with relapses being followed by partial or maybe even full recovery of what was lost during the attack.

The following things can actually trigger relapses to occur more often:

* Over reactions to Stress - stress can not be totally avoided in our lives, this is talking about how we react to stress after we have MS.  When we let the stress get to us or we have certain habitual reactions to stress, like worrying, anxiousness, discouraged, depressed or if we internalize how the stress makes us feel instead of finding ways to talk about the stress and reduce our over reactions to stress...you get the idea.

* Upset Emotions - like being extremely anxious, depressed, upset, angry and the like (emotions, over stimulated by stress and other sources), the more we let our emotions take over the more stress this puts on our bodies that can aggravate or set us up for more relapses.

 * Excessive ms fatigue or ms insomnia - lack of sleep actually adds to the stress that the body is already under going because of the effects of Multiple Sclerosis over stimulating the nervous system. Finding ways to reduce the lack of sleep and to help our bodies relax more often will help to reduce the things that tend to trigger relapses.

* Lack of Exercise - this sets up those of us with a whole host of possibilities that tend to cause more relapses, like poorer circulation, lower levels of oxygen in the blood, a tougher time calming down from the effects of stress on our bodies, lowered immunity, etc.

* Poor Diet - if we live on junk food, instead of eating more raw fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, reducing or cutting out overly processed foods, cutting out hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats, etc.  Lack of eating enough nutrient dense foods can contribute to more extreme vitamin deficiencies that add stress to the body.

* Inadequate Essential Fatty Acids in diet - this is the combination of Omega 3, Omega 6, and Omega 9 fats.  We need to add more fish oils and flax seeds to what we eat and we need to reduce several of the key stressors to our nervous system.

* Not Relaxing or resting enough - when we are running on caffeine, sugar and other stimulants for the majority of the time, our bodies do not have a chance to relax, repair and replenish, which is what our bodies need to allow our bodies to start the healing process when we have any damage to the body that needs to be repaired.  Sleep is not always restful either. 

We need to find ways to help our over all systems to learn to relax.  Most of the world is more often than not in a hurry (especially in the United States) and this takes a toll on our nervous system and the rest of our body's processes.  Finding ways to slow down and get out of the deadline oriented mentality helps our bodies in a huge way, when we are already battling with the effects of MS on our bodies.

I have found several natural and alternative ways that help to reduce my problems with each of the above list.

Multiple Sclerosis alternatives

We do have alternatives.  These can include any of the following:

*  Yoga exercises - doing yoga helps to relax the nervous system, reduce stress, reduce fatigue and insomnia, boost immunity, reduce stressed out muscles and nerves, change our focus off of the stress, to name a few of its benefits.

* Breath Meditation - this can help to calm down our over reactive nervous system, relax the body and mind, reduce how much we tend to run on adrenaline, reduce how much we drain off the limited amount of energy that we have to work with each day, to name a few of its benefits.

*Juice Vegetables and Fruits - this increases the amount of nutrient rich vegetables and fruits that we are consuming more often which helps to reduce vitamin deficiencies, provide our bodies with higher nutritional value to our diets.

* Add Fish Oils and Flax seeds to your diet - adds the omega 3 essential fatty acids that our bodies need to calm down our nervous system and to reduce stress to our bodies on a cellular level.

* Reduce Vitamin Deficiencies - take added supplements for both reducing vitamin intake of the vitamins that we are difficient in.

* Sleep Better and Longer - take vitamins, herbs, other supplements or other natural remedies to help you to be able to sleep at night.  Taking Melatonin before 9 pm (for whatever time zone that you live in) can help to reset your wake-sleep cycle or your body clock so that it is easier for you to sleep at night (instead of sleeping during the day).

With taking the necessary steps that will help your body to relax, sleep restfully and reduce our over reactions to stress, we can change things and reduce how often and how severe our ms relapses, ms exacerbations, ms attacks, flare ups or multiple sclerosis attacks can become.