Re: Re: Stress, Exertion and Symptoms

March 6, 2002

From almost the onset of significant symptoms, my brother has complained of

the extreme fatigue as being a major issue. I have not though noticed that

the fatigue is associated with meal time.

Jerry Cash

Re: Stress, Exertion and Symptoms

,

Yes, yes, yes! Rob certainly has the same problem with stress and/or

physical exertion exacerbating his symptoms, and many others have

complained of it as well. If you think of the brain as a computer,

it's like having a shortage of RAM -- if it's taken up by too much

physical or mental exertion, there aren't enough MIPS to run the body

functions -- especially, it seems, the autonomic functions. How the

brain prioritizes which things to process is a complete mystery to

me. It certainly would be better for MSA patients if it gave first

priority to the basic bodily functions, but that doesn't seem to be

the case. At least not always.

Theonly " cure " I know of is to rest and relax and avoid stressful

situations, including crowds and places/things with too much sensory

input. You will re-stabalize, but it will take a few days.

This disease really stinks, doesn't it?

Carol & Rob

> In the past few weeks, the stresses of everyday life (not even

> counting the stresses of MSA itself) have been piling up. During

this

> time, my symptoms have all gotten much worse.

>

> I've also had occasion to exert myself in multiple ways, some

> physical some mental. Saturday I had the stress and physical

exertion

> of cleaning out the offices that my business occupied for six

years,

> but which we now must close due to my illness. Saturday night and

all

> day Sunday I was very fatigued, and Sunday night I woke several

times

> in the night with my heart alternating between racing and going

slow,

> the clear sensation of " hearing " my heartbeat, not to mention

labored

> breathing, even with my CPAP. I also had flu-like body aches, which

> sometimes persist for days after I have severe periods of dystonia.

>

> I was just starting to get " back on my feet " so to speak, when I

made

> my first visit to the physical therapist this morning. Although I

did

> not have to exert myself at all, just the fact that she put my body

> into certain postures has lest me exhausted and cramped (and very

> sore). Now I'm sitting in a chair feeling like a vegetable and

having

> difficulty even typing.

>

> So, my question is, do other MSA patients suffer from this

seemingly

> disproportinate elevation in symptoms from what would seem to be

> relatively little activity or stimulus?

>

> I'm about to start a 4-6 week regimine of PT twice per week. My

hope

> is that over time, my body will adjust, but I also fear that I

could

> spend a lot of time in a pretty useless state, just when I seemed

to

> be finding some level of " groove " in this illness. I'm at the point

> where I've made the decision to be a productive person and not let

> the disease get the better of me, but I also frequently feel like I

> not only missed the bus, but that it ran me over.

>

> I have another question, which I'm going to write in another thread.

>

> Thanks for your responses.

>

> Pax,

>

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March 6, 2002