Heat
Heat and multiple sclerosis don't mix. I noticed it before I even knew I had the disease. I was playing touch football in college and became dizzy. I sat out and noticed my vision was blurry. After about 5 minutes, my vision was fine and I returned to the game. Sure enough, once I ran around for a few minutes the dizziness and blurry vision returned. This was in Texas in September so it was probably 95 degrees outside when this happened. I saw an opthamologist who told me I needed new glasses. Looking back, I'm not sure why I didn't ask more questions - but, at the time, I was looking for an easy answer and new glasses was exactly that.
I still notice that heat causes problems today. When I do exercise (not often enough), I make sure it's not in the middle of the day when it's warmest outside. I was at Disneyland a few years ago and the high temperature for the day was 105. I was miserable. I'm not sure if it was just the MS (I've always hated hot temperatures), but I blame it on the MS because it gets me out of those situations...that's when having a neurological condition really pays off.
I've even read that cool showers are best for folks with MS; I don't particularly enjoy cold water pouring on me so I take warm showers and I don't have any problems. I think saunas are just torture chambers for anyone with MS. Even if I didn't have MS, I would want no part of a steaming hot room...
With summer here, try to stay cool.
Comments
I nearly collapsed the other day in karate practice ... I got too warm and could not get my body temperature to subside. Major-bad. I had to take it easy for the rest of the night or endure the same on/off symptoms as you did. Suckage incarnate.
Posted by: mdmhvonpa | July 17, 2007 02:37 PM
heat is so awful for me. any heat from cooking, going outside , even if i go into another room thats only a couple degrees warmer. It causes me terrible dizziness. Im pretty much always dizzy.
Posted by: sharon | July 17, 2007 08:31 PM
I would never like cold showers. As a matter of fact... my boyfriend would take luke warm showers and I would always go in there and make it hotter for him. And he would have a fit. And I would notice when I took a shower and did not wet my head it would make me really hot. Then my man explained that I needed to wet from head to toe. Well having long hair... that gets really old when you want to cool off real quick. So I ended up butchering my hair so I can take more showers in the day. O by the way... I take cold showers every day... I am so used to it now. And they are a quick fix to cool your core down.
Posted by: Jacqueline | August 8, 2007 12:18 AM
I was diagnosed with MS in 2004. I also have problems with taking showers. I used to take warm/hot showers, untill I could not stand getting out. When I was in the shower it never really bothered me, but when I got out I felt dirtier than when I got in, I would start swetting immediatly prefously, untill I felt sick. It would make me feel discusted with myself and once again hateing the MS. The neurologist sent me home and told me to forget that I had it, how am I supposed to forget about it when it is constantly thrown in my face. Now I have to take cold showers, I feel much better once I get out and it really works, but you know I remember the days that I used to take hot showers and I still envy those days, but I guess that was taken away from me.
Posted by: Jodi | September 5, 2008 01:59 AM