Autonomic Dysreflexia

[AntRM]

I was diagnosed with MS about one year ago and have made what seems like a full recovery from my first attack. Everything was going great until recently when I experienced a strange episode that left me questioning the true state of my health. I'm looking to see if anyone else has had a similar experience.

So, here it goes... I felt completely fine all day and had two beers after dinner. While going to the bathroom I became extremely nauseas, lightheaded and dizzy. I stumbled out of the bathroom and almost fell over. I felt weak, extremely hot and sweaty. My gf was immediately concerned by the way I looked. She said I was extremely pale. She felt my forehead and said that my skin was freezing and clammy (the opposite of how I felt inside). I sat down with my heart racing and shallow breathing. My hands became extremely tingly. I took my temperature which read 94.4. Now the skin on my hands felt as though it was vibrating.

I was ready to go to the ER after about ten mins of these strange symptoms but then it started to subside. My temp gradually rose back to normal. After doing some research online I can only assume that it was a case of autonomic dysreflexia. My neuro agreed that this could be the cause due to where my lesion was on my spine after my first attack. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if so perhaps you can shed some light on this condition and how frequent/infrequently it occurs.

[KoKo]

I was diagnosed with MS about one year ago and have made what seems like a full recovery from my first attack. Everything was going great until recently when I experienced a strange episode that left me questioning the true state of my health. I'm looking to see if anyone else has had a similar experience.

So, here it goes... I felt completely fine all day and had two beers after dinner. While going to the bathroom I became extremely nauseas, lightheaded and dizzy. I stumbled out of the bathroom and almost fell over. I felt weak, extremely hot and sweaty. My gf was immediately concerned by the way I looked. She said I was extremely pale. She felt my forehead and said that my skin was freezing and clammy (the opposite of how I felt inside). I sat down with my heart racing and shallow breathing. My hands became extremely tingly. I took my temperature which read 94.4. Now the skin on my hands felt as though it was vibrating.

I was ready to go to the ER after about ten mins of these strange symptoms but then it started to subside. My temp gradually rose back to normal. After doing some research online I can only assume that it was a case of autonomic dysreflexia. My neuro agreed that this could be the cause due to where my lesion was on my spine after my first attack. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if so perhaps you can shed some light on this condition and how frequent/infrequently it occurs.

Hi AntRM - welcome to MS World!

I am not very familiar with autonomic dysreflexia (although I did look it up after reading your post).

The symptoms sound kind of scary. From what I have read, it seems that there are preventative measures that can be taken, and conditions to be aware of such as bladder infections or bowel obstructions, pressure sores, hemorrhoids, etc - anything that might cause pain or discomfort below the level of the spinal lesion.

In any case, hopefully for you this doesn't occur anymore.

Maybe other members have experienced this also, and will respond.

Take Care

[SNOOPY]

Hi AntRM,

My opinion? What you experienced was due to the alcohol. Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the Central Nervous System(CNS). Alcohol affects the CNS. Some people have no problem drinking alcohol when having MS and some do. When I was diagnosed with MS this was one of the many things my Neurologist discussed with me.

Much of what you experienced is what happens to me (to a lesser degree) if I drink, sometimes as little as a few sips to half a drink. For this reason I rarely drink alcohol.

Something to consider: Many medications cannot and should not be combined with alcohol. Drinking alcohol with some medications can have serious side effects.

[AntRM]

Thank you both for your replies 😀

I don't drink as often as I used to especially after being diagnosed and needless to say after this experience I'm staying away from it all together. There is a strong possibility it was a reaction between the alcohol and Meds (Copaxone 40 mg, adderal 7.5 mg, and buspar 10 mg) I guess I won't have any more proof unless it happens again under different circumstances.

[rdmc]

At one time they questioned whether I had Autonomic Dysreflexia. They even prescribed Clonidine which is the drug they use for Dysreflexia.

Turns out I was tested for several things that might cause BP spikes, etc. and I wore a BP monitor for 24 hours to record what my BP was doing, sort of like a holter monitor but the BP cuff takes your BP every 15 minutes. (it would spike to 200/100 in the middle of the night while I was sleeping.)

Finally we discovered what was causing the BP, as well as the arrhythmia, I had a lesion in my brainstem and also excess adrenaline in my system. Once we knew about the medulla lesion, it explained all the autonomic problems I had, as well as cranial nerve problems I was experiencing.

I can't remember too much about Dysreflexia, but I believe there are triggers than can set off an
attack. If you want to get info, there are several AD forums online. Most folks on the forum have
spinal cord injuries, but they have loads of information about the condition.

I hope you get some answers.