My huswband has MS. Why is it that when he is out in the sun for to long it seems to drain all his energy.?

Question

When my husband in in the sun to long it zaps all his energy like he has run a marathon or something. He can hardly move. Why is this?

Answer 1

HI there

I presume you know what MS is. mitral stenosis. That means blood from the left atrium, which normally flows through a mitral valve with area of 4-6 sq cm, now has to flow through a smaller one (less than 4 sq cm.).

There are many consequences that migh follow, depending on how severe your MS is. Naturally it would be expected that he will have a shorter durability and stamina than normal people. Blood from the left atrium, might accumulate and the pressure might cause this chamber to enlarge, or the pressure might just dam back to the pulmonary vasculature _ pulmonary veins, pulmonary capillaries, pulmonary arterial system.

Moderate to severe MS can cause episodes of pulmonary congestion. that is, blood and fluids might accumulate in the intertitial space of your lungs.

Another factor : there will be less blood that flows from the left atrium to left ventricle, Naturally, there will be less blood ejected from the heart to supply the end organs, One of these end organs of course, are your muscles. Thats why he is drained out after relatively less activities.

Answer 2

There are two possible reasons I can cite:
>>1. Heat can transiently increase symptoms in MS. Many patients with MS experience increased fatigue and other symptoms related to MS when exposed to heat. The reason why some people with MS should avoid any activity or factors( including hot showers) that can increase body heat . Increased temperature possibly has effects on nerve conduction.
>>2. Sunlight exposure gives off Vitamin D which is an important immune system regulator. So by sunshine exposure, he gets Vit D and does some activities in his immune process which generally affect his body functions.

That is as far as I can think.

Answer 3

FYI -chriscchengmd- MS is actually Multiple Sclerosis not Mitral valve Stenosis.

I do not know the exact reason why MS patients are instructed to stay out of hot temps, but this is common for all autoimmune diseases such as lupus, MS, etc.

I would guess that it has something to do with the nervous system being compromised and not able to regulate the increase in temp in a autoimmune surpressed body.

Here is a link:

http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/3400/3467.asp?index=11665

Answer 4

There could be a couple different things going on. The one that I am sure of is that any time a person's skin is exposed to UV light, it will produce Vitamin D. Maybe this excess "D" is causing him to feel drained.

Other than that, if he is on any type of meds that cause a reaction when exposed to sunlight, it may not be a great idea to take him outside without some SPF lotion applied. I would try this first, since it will be the easiest and least expensive method.

Answer 5

Find this really strange. My husband has had MS for 11 years but luckily he has it under control. He finds being in the sunshine gives him a real boost. We live in Scotland which can be really cold and damp but when we go to a sunny country on our holidays he has so much energy.

Answer 6

The vitamin D theory is bunk, but many MS folks are very sensitive to even small increases in body temperature. He's getting too hot.