Did COVID-19 flip you into an MS flare-up?

 Had COVID-19 yet? Did it lead to an exacerbation (relapse or flare-up) of multiple sclerosis?

You’re not alone in that. Tons of MS warriors can share similar stories of symptoms arising, reappearing, or intensifying after they battled the pandemic virus.

 

It’s the nature of the MS beast.

 The Cleveland Clinic lists MS as an autoimmune disease. That puts MS in a group with such conditions as these (listed on Web MD):

• Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
• Graves disease
• Guillain-Barre syndrome
• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Myasthenia gravis
• Psoriasis
• Rheumatoid arthritis  
• Systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus)
• Type 1 diabetes mellitus
• Vasculitis

 Other lists also include Addison disease, celiac disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, and more. The Autoimmune Association cites more than 100 autoimmune diseases, while pointing out that it’s not uncommon for individuals to battle clusters of these.

 

Holy moley.

 The National MS Society calls multiple sclerosis “immune-mediated.” That’s how autoimmune diseases generally work their wickedness.

 In short, when the body’s immune system goes into action, it begins fighting infection. But in a person with an autoimmune disease, the immune system doesn’t seem to know when to stop. Essentially, it begins attacking healthy cells, tissues, or body structures. For the MSer, this means the immune system goes after myelin, the protective covering on nerve fibers.

 

And that can cause all kinds of havoc.

 Personally, I had a very mild case of COVID. I’m pretty sure it was the Omicron variant, breaking through the vaccinations I had received. I coughed pretty hard (like a cold’s chest cough) for one night. I had extra hearty headaches for a couple of days. Then it was over.

 

Except it wasn’t.

That’s when MS sent me whirling with its nasty old vertigo for a couple of days, coupled with fairly significant fatigue. My vision blurred in the same eye that first pointed doctors to identify MS via optic neuritis more than a decade ago.

 Ugh.  It was an MS flare-up. Doctors tend to tag such episodes, if they arise at least a month after the last time and persist for at least 24 hours.

 

And then, the whole ordeal truly was over.

 I’m grateful that this whole episode was uncharacteristically brief and that it is in my rear-view mirror. We’ve all heard of so many cases that did not go this way.

 If you have MS and have already come through COVID, how did it go for you?

 Because battle the MS MonSter and illness at the same time is no picnic.

 

Related items:

• Ain’t nothin’ pseudo about a pseudo-exacerbation.
• MS is like a carnival thrill ride without the thrill.
• MS is like the cancellation disease.
• MS symptoms fire when we’re sick.
• Optic neuritis: A look at sudden blindness

 Image/s: Public domain image.

 

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