Anxity, MS, Flares, and symptoms

[shel67]

Does anyone know or can explain the effects anxiety/stress/upset has on the disease itself, flare ups and the symptoms? Is there a way to tell what is MS activity and what is anxiety?

[SNOOPY]

Hello shel67,

Anxiety and stress can affect the whole body. Many symptoms of anxiety and stress are the same as those we experience with MS. Many times it can be very difficult to separate the two and determine if MS or stress/anxiety is the problem.

For someone not diagnosed and is dealing with anxiety and/or stress the best thing you can do is to seek treatment for your anxiety. If you seek treatment for anxiety and after a period of time your symptoms do not improve then you have effectively ruled anxiety out as a cause for your symptoms.

Information about stress and the effects it can have:
http://www.stress.org/stress-effects/

[shel67]

No. I am not diagnosed, find out about MRI's and EP Monday but what I'm experiencing with my body is not anxiety. I do have anxiety due to a very stressful situation that I don't have a solution for. It's really bad and it has me wondering how much of this situation is effecting the symptoms I am experiencing. If the situation wasn't already impossible, now with me being sick it's even more so. So I'm wanting to know so I can know how or if one is effecting the other.

[Mamabug]

For me, stress affects my MS, and, my MS affects my stress.
In other words,

1. most of my MS flares seem to be triggered by stress. Sometimes emotional stress, negative stress, physical stress (ie: illness), but, often even "good" stress, such as anticipating a happy event, such as a vacation, or planning for a wedding or a reunion.
2. and, "normal" stressors, such as driving in a larger (but familiar) city than I live in, or out of town; or, flying by myself trigger anxiety, when, in the past, they did not used to.

I don't know if that answers your question. But, I've known other people with different chronic illnesses (ie: Type I diabetes, etc), that seem to react in a similar way to what I experience.

[shel67]

I had a very stressful afternoon today and I'm trying to calm down from it. I am feeling tighter in my areas that have been tight. I have valium buy lord, it takes me days to get over valium. And it doesn't loosen me up but makes me feel weighted down and I already feel that. So I can see or rather feel how stress is effecting me.

I hope I didn't do any permanent damage.

[Mamabug]

Oh. Here is another answer, regarding stress and my MS.

Two times since I developed MS, I had panic attacks. Very definitely caused, I think, by my MS.