When is this going to stop?

[shel67]

I felt good (I use the term loosely) Friday and by  Saturday I began to go downhill again. Every time I feel good, maybe even this rollercoaster will settle down for a little while and I feel I might even be able to make it, I feel bad again. Symptoms will even feel "better" in some way. I'm less imbalanced, clearer head, I feel like I want to move instinctively and feel like body wants to be normal.  But by late afternoon and when I woke up this morning,  I feel like I'm getting worse again. I'm so afraid more is happening to me subtly. Now my eyes are scraring me. Off and on blurriness.

Is this the way this goes? Isn't there a leveling off at some point?

[shel67]

I'm going to a counselor in a little while. I have all these fears. Like the fear of taking benzo drugs to calm me, and they do but I fear I'll be addicted. I take the lowest dose once or twice a week, one time at night. I still wake up around 2,3,4 am and have trouble going back to sleep cuz of worrying and waking up, realizing, oh, I have MS, and its not mild either. I want to know how to deal with this.

I have no problem taking an anti depressant but I read with depression that is caused by the disease itself, medication doesn't work.  it's all of these things swirling in my mind and it is making me crazy.

A question I do have, depression caused by a side effect of DMD, does anti depressants work on that?

This disease is just wrong. I'm trying to deal with it but I'm not in my right mind to deal with it and im not in my right mind because of this disease.

and another thing, I can't cry and let my emotions out because that can trigger an attack.

[kwarendorf]

For me it was anger. After being dx'd I started getting angry at everyone and everything. The whole world was p*ssing me off :-) I spent a year talking with a therapist and figured out that what I was really mad at was MS.

Anxiety, or other "mental" issues are not listed in the MS Book as symptoms. I'm thinking maybe they should be :-)

Kyle

[HVAC]

There was this 14 year old boy on the news last night. He lost his arm to a shark attack. He is a musician. He said "This is not going to define my life. They have better and better equipment for me to use". He talked about being left handed and now he will have to be right handed.

Alex

[supermum_ms]

The links i chose do go into more detail than what i quoted, a couple of pod castes worth watching too but most of the MS societies these days, bring up your point though it's not as clearly explained as it probably needs to be.....

The MS Trust is UK but it's a very very good MS source and M/H is likely the same issue any where in the world.

""The mind is what the brain does" - Prof. Steven Pinker: How the mind works.

MS is primarily a disease of the brain. As this is where mental functions are controlled, it isn't surprising that changes in mental status are common in people with MS (PWMS).

However, mental disorders in MS are frequently overlooked for a number of reasons:

*Changes in mental state are considered to be solely a 'reaction' to having a chronic illness
*Many mental health services have retracted so they only treat 'functional' mental illnesses
*The relatively few neurologists in the UK often restrict themselves to diagnostic issues and managing physical symptoms
*Understanding symptoms of mental disorder is a complex process, often touching on personal and family issues. It can be easier to stick to the physical and practical aspects of care.

The burden of responsibility for mental illness in MS usually falls on relatives, carers and MS specialist nurses, who don't always feel adequately skilled to advise. This burden is heavy and may contribute to reduced quality of life in MS.

Practitioners need a number of skills to manage mental disorder in MS, including knowing how MS affects the brain, understanding the effects of prescribed and non-prescribed drugs on mental function and being able to recognise major mental disorders, such as depression, psychosis and cognitive impairment. Additional skills include understanding psychodynamic theory and "family systems" theory."

http://www.mstrust.org.uk/professionals/information/wayahead/articles/07012003_02.jsp

I think your absolutely right but i'm not sure working out if anxiety is an MS primary or secondary, makes much of difference when your in the grip of it, though i do think primary could directly effect treatment and probably needs a lot more on going attention and personal understanding.

Cheers.........JJ

[essdipity]

For years I've wondered about depression, etc. in MS from the brain chemistry point of view. So here I'm not talking about situational depression, depression from fatigue, lack of sleep and so on, but depression caused by demyelination in the nerve center of the brain that controls mood, and thus a change in the chemicals produced. That this exists is a given--no one disputes it. It is also a given that there can be emotional lability due to the pseudobulbar affect, so that inappropriate laughter, for instance, is caused not by a defect in the thinking process, but by misfiring demyelinated nerves. In these cases we don't have to look at the particular circumstances of a person's life to understand mood causation, but at a much simpler answer--defects in the physical functioning of the brain structure.

I have to confess I haven't looked very hard, but your quotation regarding anxiety is the first I've seen in the context of MS. I've always thought that if depression is tied to MS in the ways that it is generally agreed to be, then why not other mood manifestations? After all, as I understand it, the brain does contain a mood center consisting of nerves capable of being demyelinated. Surely nerves and chemicals producing other moods have this ability as well.

Unfortunately, the statement about anxiety frames it only as an understandable result of MS, and not as a possible manifestation of the disease. If depression can be an MS symptom, and lability can as well, then why not anxiety?

ess

[supermum_ms]

Mental Health issues like mood swings, depression, anxiety etc, actually most commonly occur after a person experiences a serious medical situation and or after a person is diagnosed with a chronic medical condition..........you are not alone in the way you are feeling right now!  

INFORMATION:

"the 2014 ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting that more people with MS have an anxiety disorder than have depression. A study of 7786 adults with MS showed that 54.1% had “excessive symptoms of anxiety,” while 46.9% had “excessive symptoms of depression."
http://www.msconnection.org/Blog/September-2014/Anxiety-and-MS

"Generalized anxiety and distress
MS is a generally disabling, progressive, and unpredictable disease that can cause significant anxiety, distress, anger, and frustration from the moment of its very first symptoms. The tremendous uncertainty associated with MS is one of its most distressing aspects. People with MS never know when and if another exacerbation will occur or how severely they may be affected in the future. They do not even know how they will feel from morning to afternoon or one day to the next. The loss of functions and altered life circumstances caused by the disease are also significant causes of anxiety and distress.  

Professional counseling and support groups can be very helpful in dealing with the anxiety and distress that may accompany MS."
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Symptoms-Diagnosis/MS-Symptoms/Emotional-Changes

"“Depression” is a term commonly applied to a wide variety of emotional states in MS. These may range from feeling down for a few hours on a given day to severe clinical depression that may last for several months. People with MS and all those closely associated with them should be aware that depression in its various forms is common during the course of multiple sclerosis.

In fact, studies have suggested that clinical depression, the severest form of depression, is more frequent among people with MS than it is in the general population or in persons with other chronic, disabling conditions. Depression does not indicate weak character and it should not be considered something shameful that needs to be hidden. Depression is not something that a person can control or prevent by willpower or determination. In its most severe forms, depression appears to be a chemical imbalance that may occur at any time, even when life is going well."
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Symptoms-Diagnosis/MS-Symptoms/Depression

Truth..........situational depression and anxiety is a legitimate and understandable 'mental health issue' for anyone just diagnosed with MS!

Your 'current' mental health situation by your own words, truly shouldn't be over looked in the big picture of YOU, the well being of your self and your family will be better off in the long haul, if you recognise the state of your mental health 'before' you reach your crisis point and fall further into the black hole.

Make the choice to be proactive about the way you feel 'right now', be brave and speak to your doctor about getting some help to cope with being dx with MS, and to learn any of the emotional tools your currently needing....

Hugs..........JJ