Re: Newcomer

Karen Luglio (tootsie(AT)voicenet.com)
Tue, 8 Apr 1997 14:19:22 -0400 (EDT)

At 03:06 AM 4/8/97 UT, you wrote:
>Hey Everyone!
>Very glad to learn you are all here and helping each other. Much like Kara,
>my TM began 5 months ago - first urinary retention (did you ever think you'd
>be discussing your pee habits with the world?), then numbness in the legs,
>then sudden "electrical" pain down my back, and, within hours, paralysis from
>the waist down. Used and abused for 10 days in the hospital, I begged for
>rehab and recovered well - until I had a complete relapse (which "doesn't
>happen") in mid-Feb. They ordered me back to the hospital and I said no - did
>you know that you could say no to doctors? I didn't. Sure enough, they set
>me up with my IV Solumedrol at home, and now I'm starting from scratch -
>learning to walk for the second time in six months. Questions: I have none
>of the pain that everybody's talking about, just the numbness from the waist
>down and that lovely Saran-Wrap-wrapped-tightly-around-my-legs feeling. I
>know MS responds negatively to heat. Anybody experience that with TM? I am
>most interested in the ups and downs we all experience, seemingly for no
>reason. I can't detect a pattern. I'm trying herbs, vitamins, Chinese meds
>as well as Zoloft and Vicodin. Massage keeps the circulation going. I too
>have experienced slow healing of cuts on feet. They say mine is post-viral.
>My question is, how do they know the virus is gone? How do we turn off an
>over-active immune system? Why are our bodies attacking ourselves?
> Love to all, especially Jim
> Julienne
>
>
>
Hi again:

I forgot to add in my reply that a post-viral reaction means that you are
over the virus already. It is hard to explain, but it is the result of the
virus, not a symptom of it. Our spinal cords have a barrier, called the
blood-brain barrier. Very few elements can cross this barrier (sort of like
the placenta), but certain chemicals, antigens, etc. may have this ability.
Sometimes something like a virus can weaken the blood brain barrier,
increasing its permeability and making it easier for certain things to cross
over. I hope I'm not confusing you. I am a nurse and understand a lot of
the physiological "happenings" but still have alot of questions of my own.
In my case, I had an epidural steroid injection at the level of the L4-L5.
I was told that this "thinned" out my blood brain barrier, allowing
"something" to cross over. I was also told that it could have been an
auto-immune response to this procedure. There are a lot of questions, but
few answers. This list is very helpful and also very supportive. Keep us
posted.

regards,

Karen