Headache before an attack??

[jbell2435]

My brain must be on overtime...I woke up at 3a.m. thinking of an incident that happened about 3 yrs ago.

I was have a very sharp pain headache running up the back of my head for about a week. Someone at work suggested a chiropractor, so I went for the very 1st time.

He adjusted my head/neck and lower back and presto, no more headache. I was thrilled until...

I woke up the next morning and found that I could not walk! Both legs barely holding me up with support. I freaked out that the chiro paralyzed me, and went back in that morning.

He said there was nothing that he did that could have caused that reaction.

So my question is, could that have been a MS attack with just bad timing? Anyone else have a headache right before an attack? Could the adjustment triggered the attack?

I told you all I had lots of questions... Thanks!

[Neo]

I had head pain several days before my attack. I was always prone to headaches, but the days before my attack I was getting sharp pains in my head. It would be an intense sharp pain that would make me wince it hurt so bad. It was like no headache I ever had. The final sharp pain was so intense I thought aneurysm, then everything was spinning, eyes couldnt focus, etc. The end of my old life and the beginning of my MS life. No more sharp head pain since.

[Redwings]

I woke up the next morning and found that I could not walk! Both legs barely holding me up with support. I freaked out that the chiro paralyzed me, and went back in that morning. ... So my question is, could that have been a MS attack with just bad timing? ... Could the adjustment triggered the attack?

Hi jbell:
You said in another thread that the leg problem lasted only a day. In MS, anything that lasts less than 24 hours (and some say less than 48 hours) is not an attack. It's considered to be a paroxysmal episode, but not an attack.

There's debate about whether trauma can trigger a true MS attack. Since your episode of not being able to walk wasn't an MS attack, it isn't clear what caused it. Maybe the adjust caused it, maybe it didn't. It's also debatable whether a chiropractic adjustment can be considered to be trauma. There may not be an answer to that one.

As far as headaches being the first sign of a relapse, it's possible. Different people experience relapses in different ways. I don't have MS, I have NMO. On the first day of a relapse, I don't have a headache, but I just overall don't feel well -- just unwell and slightly nauseous. It's like no other feeling, and there's no mistaking what it is.