what are your pre-flare signs

[cristeach]

I am just trying to figure out how my.body reacts to flares. 1 st sign tends to be swollen lymph nodes, sometimes allergies, mouth sores, fatigue. Then comes the.pain in legs heavy feeling in legs loss of balance, issues w/ swallowing breathing etc. I just wonder if the lymph node stuff is a sign of my body getting ready to attack... also wondered if anyone else has noticed this. Not on any mess besides clonazapam to help.with muscle cramps & sleep so it cant be tied to mess.

[BigA]

I want to give you my understanding and interpretation of what you're feeling and asking:

I'm not sure by your description that your body is attacking you. I hate the word flair, because one type is what you feel when you're heated or tired or ill and isn't causing new damage (pseudo flair). The other can put you out for months and can leave you with damage visible on an MRI (real flair).

FYI, some people say "My MS is acting up". This is not actually correct. You can not feel your MS. You feel the damage MS has left. Some days you feel it more and some days less, like an old football injury. No new damage has occurred for it to feel bad, you just need to be sick or tired or both. One day your leg may feel heavy, one day not. This is just the nature of how nerve messages are traveling inside your body. Some of the nerves are damaged and can't do so well on different days.

I would suggest that the symptoms you notice before the damaged to your nerves feels worse, means you are either fighting something or are sick. You should rest and take care of yourself and know what can make you feel bad for a few days.

[0485c10]

i have never found one although i tried because i read so many people had them. the thing was after a flare i could always see the signs i should have known, but when i look for those same signs to exist again a flare doesn't happen?

i've come to believe they don't exist. i know i am surprised and it always seems unexpected when it happens to me. the pseudo flare i can predict thats just temperature, stress or fatigue is a predictor for me, but the true flare have no predictor for me. although i have tried to make them predictable.

[valeriem2220]

When I had my "major" flair in March I had no warning.
I do look back and remember I was very irritable for a couple of weeks before it happened, and for no reason. I was very confused by this, but my job is stressful so I'll chalk it up to work.
The all of a sudden one night out of no where, my entire world started to rock like I was on a boat and my left side of my body from head to toe went completely numb, and so my flair began.

[Cat Mom]

I define my flares by needing to go on IV steroids or not, personally a flare = steroids, everyday MS = no steroids. My peripheral vision goes, then within a couple of days, the rest of it goes as well (one eye). Bad pain over the affected eye. The ONLY headaches I've ever had that actually get worse when lying down.

[Skinny]

Looking back to my major flairs I can remember my hair falling out more. Now this could of been do to stress too.

I too went to bed fine woke not a bile to walk the only thing different before hand was the drain was full of hair and I had never had that problem before.

So true about feeling MS on differently on a daily basis. I am however one that says my MS is acting up. It's the only way my children grasp what's going on with mommy today.