I should have seen it coming. A full constellation of circumstances set me smack in the middle of the perfect storm, which invited a full-blown multiple sclerosis exacerbation.
If you live with MS
(or love someone who does), you know where this is headed.
- It all started with a fuller-than-usual calendar, which drew me to overextend myself. (OK, I know that was a choice, but it still happened.)
- Seasonal allergies kicked up a few notches the same week.
- Then I came home from a jaunt in the woods, carrying a tick. The nasty little guy embedded himself in my lower back, and I didn’t discover him for 24 hours. (He may or may not have been a Lyme tick. And we all know how doctors like to confuse Lyme and MS.)
- Just in case, the ER doc gave me a tetanus shot. (Ever have a reaction to an immunization?)
- Right around that time, I began topical chemotherapy treatment on a couple of sites, following the instructions of my dermatologist.
- Enter flu season.
Wham. Bam. Slam. There’s the MS maelstrom.
The dictionary defines “maelstrom” as a massive and powerful whirlpool, a tumultuous set of circumstances, pandemonium, or bedlam.
Kind of like an MS flare-up.
The whirlpool part hits all too close to home for MSers like me, who battle vertigo frequently, especially when MS rises into full force.
I was down for the count (flat on my back) for nearly two weeks. Violent vertigo, daily migraines, total fatigue, blurry vision, and nearly complete loss of appetite pounded me. Sinus pressure and drainage that ended up in my lungs, sending me into full-body coughing fits didn’t help.
Two months later, I’m still staving off vertigo (as much as possible) with motion sickness medication and finishing the vestiges of a lingering cough.
Looking at the list of possible MS exacerbation triggers, I cannot exactly tell which ones whipped the MonSter into such a frenzy.
But it’s easy to tell that I was right in the middle of the perfect storm.
Maybe you’ve been there.
Sometimes we can spot and avoid our most predictable MS triggers. But this crazy condition has a mind of its own. Sort of like Mother Nature’s fury, when she stirs things up into a superstorm.
I’m thankful that this tempest seems to have tamed, at least for now.
Related items:
- Ain't nothin' pseudo about a pseudo-exacerbation
- Did COVID-19 flip you into an MS flare-up?
- MS episode: Is it a relapse, a new lesion, or what?
- MS is like the cancellation disease
Image/s: public domain photp
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