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About MS  

MS and the Nervous System

Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic disease of the central nervous system, or CNS, which is comprised of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS sends and receives signals through a network of nerves insulated by a protective protein coating called myelin. In MS, myelin is broken down, causing a disruption in these signals. Demyelination is a hallmark of this disease, a process researchers believe may begin before symptoms appear. This furthers the case for early intervention upon diagnosis of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Mild symptoms often include vision or dexterity problems, numbness or tingling sensations. In some patients, more severe symptoms may eventually include a partial or complete loss of vision or mobility.

In relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, the presumed path of MS is as follows:  



1. Normally functioning nerves are insulated by a protective protein coating called myelin.

2. In multiple sclerosis, myelin is broken down, causing disruptions in the signals sent to and from the brain.

3. Natural immune cells, or T cells, are believed to bind with lost myelin proteins and become proinflammatory.

4. These harmful T cells are thought to cross the protective blood-brain barrier into the central nervous system (CNS).    

5. Inside the CNS, the T cells bind with myelin proteins and release inflammatory substances (cytokines) believed to contribute to myelin breakdown.




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Ask your doctor about the different kinds of drug therapies now available that are thought to modify this process. For more information about multiple sclerosis, visit MS University®, or visit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at www.nmss.org.

[mishymoocow]

Hi all,

I am a 39yo woman from Melbourne Australia. I am in the process of being diagnosed with MS. I have 1 lesion on my MRI and I'm recovering from an attack of weakness and sensation loss. As I've had other neurological episodes in the past, my doctor thinks it probably is MS and the MRI just caught it very early.

In the past year I was also diagnosed with PMDD. Like many women, I would be a bit grump and/or teary on the day before my period, but then all of a sudden I was suicidal and almost non-responsive. Took myself to my very good gp, who took a history - he's known me for 20 years - and prescribed Zoloft. I think it's great, the madness went away.

(Over the years I have known a couple of people to suicide/attempt suicide, so I have a strong prejudice AGAINST it. To find myself thinking, "hey maybe I'll throw myself under a tram. Yeah it's a long term solution to a short term problem, but if it will stop my pain in the next five minutes..." was surprising, to say the least.)

Now I am wondering if I don't have PMDD at all, but this is another example of my MS. (Don't worry, I won't stop taking the meds, which are often prescribed for MS depression and fatigue anyway.)

My lesion is in the right frontal lobe, which is an area that is involved with emotional regulation. I have read that depression in MS is partly situational (no-one wants this disease, no matter how mild their symptoms) and partly does seem to be caused by physical changes in the brain.

I am wondering if any of you forum members have experienced either situation?

[angied22269]

Sorry to hear about your one lesion. I can tell you this, as a nurse, and someone with MS, with well over 9 lesions on my brain and 7 on my spinal chord, (and I have only been diagnosed for a year) no doctor should diagnose you with only one lesion. That spot showing on your MRI could be almost anything. I believe they should keep an eye on you, treat your depression, run MRI's on you annually to make sure, but not give you the nasty drugs with their nasty side effects that might not be needed. Treatment for MS is basically treating the symptoms, anyway, at this point, except for the nasty drugs, which really make you feel worse than the disease does. The injections that you take for MS cause migrains, upset stomaches,fatigue, injection site problems, including death of the tissue, and for me, has even caused hair thinning. I hope your doctor is wrong in his diagnoses, and it proves to be nothing more than a smudge on the film. Best of luck to you.
Angie

Hi all,

I am a 39yo woman from Melbourne Australia. I am in the process of being diagnosed with MS. I have 1 lesion on my MRI and I'm recovering from an attack of weakness and sensation loss. As I've had other neurological episodes in the past, my doctor thinks it probably is MS and the MRI just caught it very early.

In the past year I was also diagnosed with PMDD. Like many women, I would be a bit grump and/or teary on the day before my period, but then all of a sudden I was suicidal and almost non-responsive. Took myself to my very good gp, who took a history - he's known me for 20 years - and prescribed Zoloft. I think it's great, the madness went away.

(Over the years I have known a couple of people to suicide/attempt suicide, so I have a strong prejudice AGAINST it. To find myself thinking, "hey maybe I'll throw myself under a tram. Yeah it's a long term solution to a short term problem, but if it will stop my pain in the next five minutes..." was surprising, to say the least.)

Now I am wondering if I don't have PMDD at all, but this is another example of my MS. (Don't worry, I won't stop taking the meds, which are often prescribed for MS depression and fatigue anyway.)

My lesion is in the right frontal lobe, which is an area that is involved with emotional regulation. I have read that depression in MS is partly situational (no-one wants this disease, no matter how mild their symptoms) and partly does seem to be caused by physical changes in the brain.

I am wondering if any of you forum members have experienced either situation?

[NightWisp6]

I'm 26 now. I was diagnosed with MS after a particularly nasty episode in which I blacked out and fell down some stairs at school. since then I've developed spasms, memory outages (it comes back most of the time, but it's embarrassing to be my age and unable to remember my address or phone number), numbness, severe mood swings, and a constant headache that often reaches migraine level. I was on Neurontin until I tried to overdose on sleeping medication in the hopes that I'd just go to sleep and never wake up. Disappointing for me, I did and it scared me that I was disappointed about such a thing. The docs took me off the Neurontin and put me on Effexor. It regulates my mood, but that's usually when the situational aspects creep up on me. I live with my mother and her horrid husband with little chance of getting out any time soon. The fatigue limits what I can do for employment near my home. My eyesight is doubled and doesn't allow me to drive, so often I am trapped in my house. When I do go out, I am afraid to meet people. I don't date very often. Who would sign up to watch someone go through this?

I guess what I am saying is that if you do end up having MS, the situational depression can be just as tiresome and life-hindering as something physical. Your support network is key. Try to build a good one now, before you need them more seriously.