Sunday, January 25, 2009 Maris B. Mohr asks

Q: MS sensitivity or Menapause

I'm 57 years old. I think I finished menapause about 2 years ago. I did have some night sweats then and stuff like that, but I thought it passed pretty gently.

This winter I find myself terribly heat-senstive. That hasn't been an MS sx until now (final dx 1998). We heat our house to what used to be a comfortable temp for me, but now it is unbearable . I break into a sweat just from walking by the kerosine stove that heats us.

My question is: How can I know if this is MS sensitivity to heat or something menapausal?

Thanks for all of your great share posts.

Peace & Serenity,

Maris in Israel

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Answers (3)

Merely Me, Health Guide

1/26/09 3:29pm

Hello Maris

You ask a very interesting question. Have you asked your neurologist or gynecologist about this one yet?

I am thinking that it might be hard to separate the two issues.

It is odd that you were not heat sensitive before. I am definitely affected by heat and really any change in temperature. I had thought mistakenly that winter would be better for me and it has been for the most part. But the simple act of going in and out of the house or in and out of the car...can make me have MS symptoms.

Are you having more of the sweats common with menopause or are you becoming overheated and then having MS symptoms? Usually when I am overheated I begin to lose abilities like the ability to walk or talk. Some people get weak. Some people slur their speech. Some people feel dizzy and sick. The symptoms are greatly variable.

Here is an article about heat and MS written by our Doctor Kantor that you can read.

Your best bet is to confer with your doctor(s) about this and try to find ways of staying more cool.

Thank you for this question. You have inspired me to look into this a bit more and do some research. I am heading into perimenopause myself and I am curious.

momdukes

1/26/09 3:17pm

Hi Maris I cannot anwser your question because I am not a doctor. I am not even sure if I went through metaphause. But I do remember the time when it was 20 degrees outside and I was breaking out in a sweat, pulling off my clothes. Everybody else was cold I was so hot, something was wrong with them not ME! In the winter I slept with a fan on my husband wanted to divorce me, but I was HOT! I was in my late 30's at that time I could walk on snow and melt it because I was so hot! So I know what you are going throgh. They are crazy, you are not. Feel better. Sherry

awordlover

6/11/09 2:47pm

Hi Maris: I am 55 y/o and probably not done with menopause yet. I had a hysterectomy in 1998 and went into all out sweats two days after the surgery. Alot of other symptoms too, but the sweating is the worst. I started sleeping with a fan directly on me while sleeping because otherwise the bed would be drenched.

Maris, I think the hot water bath test would be a true test for you! You would know one way or the other if the heat sensitivity was MS or menopause related. (Make sure you have a "close" friend nearby when you get out of the tub.)

This is how MS used to be diagnosed in the old days. The hot water bath was one of the tests I had! If your symptoms got worse when emerging from the tub, you had MS. I was diagnosed in 1976 after having symptoms for four years (since age 19 y/o). I was 23 years old and no doctor wanted to label it MS because young people didn't get MS -- it was supposed to be targeted to people over 40. Recent years have shown that there is even pediatric MS now.

I can remember getting out of the tub and hitting the floor, because the heat of the bath drained all of the energy out of me, lowered my blood pressure and caused my body temperature to rise over 103 degrees. I was put back into the tub with cold water and ICE to get my 103 temp down.

Now, I only wish I was done menopause! I would love to say that sometime soon. Real soon.

Take care,

Anne

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