Cough, "zap," cough...

Healthy adults recover from a cold or flu in about 3-5 days.  For those with compromised immune systems, it drags on and on...

Everyone wondered why I was always sick.

Years later - add the immune-modulating medication into the mix, and I wonder if I'll spend the entire winter dueling with my immune system.

Here's why:

When a person with an autoimmune disease gets sick, those fighter T-cells from the immune system that are supposed to destroy the invading bacteria or virus attack the body instead of the real culprits.

With MS, the attack means that inflammation in the nervous system will likely occur, causing present or past symptoms to worsen and perhaps causing new symptoms to appear. The probability of a relapse is high.

My boys got sick, and got better. 

And now here I am - a week later - getting worse.  And it's just a simple cold. 

A simple cold that for me, also means a tingling and numb left foot and hands, a weak right leg, a crawling sensation all over my face, a continuously vibrating eye, and weird little "zaps" around my body.

And I know someone will ask... No flu shot for me - it triggers an even worse immune response.

But thank you Benylin for drugging me just enough.

As unpleasant as it is to experience, the science behind it is fascinating.

I'm tempted to put my degrees to work and create a controlled experiment right here!