- Difference Between Flare and Attack

[Guest guest]

,

I know that you didn't direct the question to me.. but I always seem to try and get my two cents in anyway...

I do believe that according to the medical definitions.. there isn't a difference at all between a "Flare" and "Attack" or an "Exacerbation".. they are one in the same.

Then there's Donna's medical definitions, terms and general BS... lol

For myself, there's a difference between an Exacerbation and a Flare.. and for me, they can range between Very Minor to Very Major.. and I use the terms (except the minor and major) interchangably. I personally feel that a Flare would be a worsening of usual symptoms.. hmm.. my fingers are usually numb.. but a Flare (much like the actual flare that burst into flames, and then dies out afte a while) would be oops.. now my whole arm to my elbow feels goofy.. dead like for lack of a better term.. that would be, for me, a Minor Flare.. cause it's going to go away in a few hours.. If it doesn't go away in a few hours, then it's a Major Flare.... Is a Major Flare a reason to call the neuro? Maybe. Is a Major Flare a reason to go to the E.R.? (this again is for me) Not hardly.

If whatever is going on, new symptom, more pronounced symptom.. if it's NOT worth making a trip to the hospital E.R... then for me, it's NOT an Major Exacerbation. (I haven't had one of those in a couple of years now.. I've had new symptoms, I've had things that didn't go away in a couple of hours.. even in a couple of days in a few instances.. but they haven't, for me, been bad enough to justify sitting in a E.R. for at least five hours)... I'm not even sure, after my last experience in the E.R., that waking up one morning to find my legs not working at all, completely useless.. would entice me to go to the Emergency Room. It would cause me to call the neuro, and I'd argue the point that I wasn't going to sit in the E.R. for all those hours.. only to be admitted and have to wait for several more hours for a bed to open up. If he wanted to send me directly to admitting, then I'd go, otherwise, I can sit at home just as easily without the use of my legs.. at least I'd be at home.

Now, if there were a tremendous amount of pain involved.. I'd prolly go to the E.R... however the last time I was in a tremendous amount of pain, and did go to the E.R... they pain I was having, caused a nice rise in my blood pressure (I'd been in pain for more than several hours prior to going to the E.R.).. which got my butt through the door, and into a bed, and having IV Morphine (2 mg) within a couple of minutes.. I was still in there 5 hours or longer, but at least they were relieving the pain... I ended up with 8 mg of Morphine and a Demerol cocktail before the pain was completely relieved and I was on my way home... tells me that when I left the E.R. that morning (we'd been there that long).. if he'd have had a string and tied it to my belt.. he could have used me for a kite. All I know was that the excrutiating pain was gone.. That AND I guess when the doctor asked me to rate the pain on a scale of 1 to 10.. I sat up in the bed, looked him in the eye, and rather than giving him a number.. I said... I've had two children, both WELL over 8 pounds.. they were born naturally (no drugs).. and that THIS pain was worse.. Doctor popped me with another round of either Demerol Cocktail, or Morphine.. I don't remember which.. but it did the trick.. LOL...

The only thing you can do, if you're having problems, is call your neuro. Find out what he/she can do, or is willing to do to resolve whatever is going on at the time, and with his recommendations, decide what it is that you want to do, or are willing to do.. Might not be a bad idea to find out what type of drugs he wants to use to combat whatever is going on as well.. and then research them, and decide if that's actually what you want to do.

And, I started to ramble at this point.. so went back and cut out all the irrelevant material.. LOL...

|)onna

Re: going to hospital

Dear Kim,

Thank you for replying! I know alot more about it all now. I am not sure that I need the IV steroid treatment because all of this is so foreign to me. But I guess that is what the neuro will tell me today.......I don't know if I am suppose to wait until I can't walk anymore but then I figure if I did that then the neuro would probably say why didn't you come sooner. So I guess I'll act now and he can tell me where to go from there..... One question - what is the difference between a 'flare up' and an 'attack'? Thank you again for helping and supporting me. I don't know what I'd do without this group......Isn't it funny that my greatest comfort is conversing on the computer with a group of people I have never met!!

Love and peace,

.