Thermo-regulation and MS

[Deb61]

Is there a connection?  This problem is getting progressively worse.  I am unable to sleep like I used to.  I can get cold very easily in just air-conditioning and I'm dreading when the weather turns cold.  When I get cold, it takes a very long time to warm up--and when I do finally warm, I'm too hot!  

The problem with being too warm or too cold is a real problem.  I get painful spasticity.  Plus, I cannot sleep, making the memory, cognition, etc. worse than it already is!  

When I get too hot, I stay that way.  When I get too cold I stay too cold.  The heat caused me to be nauseous and weak and spasticity.  The cold causes pain muscle spasticity and pain.  AHHHHHH!

Does anyone know if this caused by a lesion somewhere in the brain?  If so where?  Maybe it's related to a lesion in part of the brain that tells the body to release a certain chemical/hormone.  I just don't know much about this.  Any ideas?  

[Deb61]

I wonder how likely it is to have lesion in the hypothalamus in MS . . .  This would really explain things.  It is so close to the brain stem!  

Has anyone every had a lesion in this area?

[supermum_ms]

This is one of my long term problems, being affected by cold or heat, sheesh i'd been talking about this long before i had visible signs that something was wrong with my thermostat. I have Raynauds in my hands and feet, left leg likes to go purple sometimes to just below my knee, and the joy (not) of frozen nipples, ahhhh i'm cold!

I'm like a danish pastry, layer upon layer upon layer, how many people wear bennies, scalfs and a 100 layers of clothing......inside their homes? ha visitors ask if i'm on way out,lol no just cold, yes the heater is on, thats why everyone else in the house are just wearing t.shirts, ahhh i'm cold!

Trying to work this out, i fell over this....

[To maintain constant temperature, heat loss from the body must vary with changes in heat production caused by factors such as: physical activity, food intake, type of food eaten, outside temperature and the condition of certain glands in our body.

Balance between heat production and loss in the body is controlled by the hypothalamus, a gland with a built-in thermostat situated at the base of the brain. It receives messages
about body temperature from the temperature of the blood circulating through it and from special sensors [receptors] which are part of the skin. When the hypothalamus is damaged, the body has almost no protection against over-cooling or overheating.]

In light of the lesions from MS i've been thinking that if you've got a lesion in your hyothalamus then that could explain thermoregulation issues too.

In Australia we are heading for summer, which brings on the opposite problem lol why can't we be like a car, send me in for service and with only a few buck to pay, pop in a new temperature gage and my thermostat is no longer on the fritz. lol

Cheers......JJ  

[Quixotic1]

There are two ways in which MS can mess with thermoregulation.  One is centrally as discussed in the article.

The other is locally.  It is common in a limb that is affected by weakness or spasticity to have problems with temperature, blood flow and edema in that limb.  In my wonky right leg, the lower leg is almost always purplish (sluggish blood flow), cooler than the left (constricted vessels) and swollen.  This would be a problem of the Sympathetic Nervous System.  I discussed this with my neuro and he told me that the Sympathetic Nervous System runs down the spine right adjacent to the motor tracts and that involvment of motor and SNS at the same time, by the same lesion, in very common in his experience.

All the info on sodium channels and their implication throughout the body came after I was out of training.  I don't know much about it.

Quix

[jenandherboys]

I have had the exact same problem for a couple years now-I thought I was going CRAZY!!  When you tell a Dr. that you have problems with night sweats, day sweats, unable to cool down AS WELL AS getting so cold you can't warm up and your fingers and toes look purple...well, I usually get a strange look and these symptoms are promptly dismissed (like so many others).

Sorry to hear this is such a problem for you as well, but glad to know I'm not losing my mind!  (Although, I'm pretty sure the NP at my neuro's office thinks I'm a basket case since she repeatedly suggested that I seek counselling and wanted to know if I had any OTHER problems going on at home...as if this ONE BIG problem that invades every aspect of my life shouldn't be enough to upset so much! LOL!!)

Stay well!

Jen

[rendean]

Quix,

Thank you for the link. Great article, I especially like the "cranial radiator" explanation.
I have another question and it is probably to complicated and involved for discussion here, but the article mentioned sodium channels and their function. I take several meds for HTN and they change the function of my sodium channels as well as another drug which causes hyponatremia.  So,  a simple answer will suffice, do these drugs and steady hyponatremia affect the the cranial regulator?

How are you doing juggling ALL the household duties? I hope you are are taking care of Quix too!  so we get to see a pic of the grand-nephew? Congrats to you as well!

Thanks!
Ren

[Quixotic1]

I did a quick search and hit the jackpot.  To see many cites discussing this topic just google the words:

thermoregulation multiple sclerosis

I didn't look at very many of the articles, but this is a topic that has certainly been looked at.  Here is one I intend on reading.

http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/92/5/1779

Quix

[Deb61]

I was diagnosed with Raynaud's years before the MS diagnosis and it does make things worse!  I also have a head tremor that is usually unnoticable until I get bone chilled, then my head really rocks like crazy!  

I guess things can be worse.  I count my blessings every day.

[rendean]

I'm diagnosed with RRMS and I have the same exact problem! I can be seen wearing jackets in the summer, especially at chilly restaurants, etc. My neuro keeps telling me everybody's MS is different.

He told me he has seen this phenomenon before and since he's in his sixties and learned to dx without and MRI , I believe him.

I also have Raynaud's which only serves to make the cold worse. I can't tell you what area has gone awry but if I can remember (ha ha) I will ask at my next appointmnet in a couple of weeks.

Ren

[thornygates]

I'm in limboland so I can't tell you if it is connected. I did want to let you know I do the something with cold. It takes forever to get warm, muscle spasms are worse and I get a real bad hard tremor that is different then the tremor I have in arms when pointing or reaching for something at arms length.

I'll be watching to see what other have to say.

[figuerpa]

Hi Deb,

Sorry I can't put much input here but wanted you to know that you are in my thoughts. I hope you get an answer to this. I am sure someone on here will have an explanation for you.

Take  Care,
Paula