Prior to me coming down with GBS, my stress level was pretty high. Now that I'm almost back to normal and back to work, my stress level is creeping up again. Is there a correlation between stress and GBS? Did any of you have high stress before coming down with GBS?
Spencer, I had high stress, as well. I'm not sure if there is a correlation with stress but it seems to play a role in so many conditions. Do you know what caused your GBS? I just returned to work too. I get concerned when I hear about relapses. Probably would be a good idea to keep stress levels lower when possible. I'm trying to do this. I wish you well in your continued recovery!
Question for you both. My husband has GBS. How long did it take you to get back to work? Are you working regular hours and doing your full job?
My daughter contracted GBS at a time of great stress. 2 years on and The affects are still most obvious when she becomes stressed whilst at other times she seems recovered.
Hi Spencer, My neurologist told me that stress can contribute to the onset of GBS but it is not the actual cause. He said that stress can contribute to other conditions such as a stroke and also in those situations stress is not the cause. He also pointed out that some people experience stress and it does not cause any medical problems.
Spencer, I can't tell you how it felt reading about your experience. I often doubt my diagnosis of GBS due to being told it could just be stress. I had a hepatitis vaccine the week of onset of symptoms. My arms were affected first and within a week my legs stopped working.. After a night of rest I could walk again. I went through tons of tests of course and the only way that GBS was diagnosed was from spinal fluid protein level being slightly elevated. It was being called a mild case of GBS. I had IvIg and moved on. I've used a cane and a walker off and on and have random numbness/tingling all over esp my face and tongue. It's been a little over a year since my diagnosis and I feel a little worse the last few days then I have in a long time. My legs are not working well at all. I have had periods of extreme stress where I would have thought it would be much and times like now when stress is not very high but my symptoms are awful. I was told by more then one doctor that it could ALL just be stress and that the protein level means nothing.
I don't know. I feel lucky that I have had a mild version but getting around and mental state of mind are difficult at best sometimes. I am did travel after my diagnosis and I have gone back to work part time as a substitute teacher. I just know that walking up stairs and being active are quite difficult. I take it easy. I think that it is interesting that many of us seem to have the stress link.
Kelley
also, I have found that many of us have the “push myself to extremes”… exercising 7 days a week or so hard to great extremes,… I would do extreme rock climbing(without ropes) in sheer exposure areas of the local Red Rocks next to Las Vegas, and on weekends push myself to the max from 8 am to 6 pm ulstraight up steep mountains following younger fit guys when I am 54 yrs old… just my nature to drive myself hard… Im sure theres a certain amount of stress on the body with that, so I definitely agree… it is stress related, immunity related, reaction to a bacteria or virus, or drug interactions that go wrong Ive even heard.
Hello. I was told mine was stress related. I don’t know. I was In law enforcement for 20 yrs and had just retired. So I don’t know what stress I had. My mom had passed away in oct. I retired in march. I felt drained weak and then thought having a stroke ended up being GBS after spinal tap
I was out of work for about 5 weeks but I had a mild case in comparison to some. I started working this week and am able to do my full job. It helps that I work part-time. I am pretty tired when I get off though. I used to go to the gym after work sometimes but that's just not possible right now. I started working out a little on my time off but find that I'm more tired the next day. I guess I have to work up to it.
kimberpat12 said:
Question for you both. My husband has GBS. How long did it take you to get back to work? Are you working regular hours and doing your full job?
I can’t work. Iam lucky I just retired. Stupid doctor that did nerve test said when can you retire. I told him I already did. I said you knew I was in law enforcement did you think I sat on my butt. He said no I thought you where just a office work, I said sorry 20 yrs in a police car, jerk lol
Kimber, I was paralyzed from the neck down in May 2013 and went back to work by Jan 2014. So 7 months. I prayed every night to our Lord, every night. God answered my prayers. Docs, Nurses and Therapist were all surprised I went back so quickly. Back to work full time.
kimberpat12 said:
Question for you both. My husband has GBS. How long did it take you to get back to work? Are you working regular hours and doing your full job?
Kathy its hard when you use to pushing yourself. I find now I can’t, was told not to. I was told the old saying no pain no gain. That I could not think that way anymore. Nits frusting when I could do so much, now lucky to walk around the block 
Do you guys go a period of time feeling ok and getting around fairly normal then almost relapsing? I am still thinking my issue could be MS but, there is so little about real GBS stories. Out of nowhere I can hardly walk the last 5 days.
Hi ksmith! This actually happened to me today. I was feeling great for last few days. I ran a little this morning and washed my car, which was not as easy as before. Then I tanked. I took an afternoon nap but was still exhausted. For the last week, I was feeling so normal again. I hate the reminders and am always concerned about a relapse or something worse. How long ago did this happen to you?
April 2013 was when it all started for me but it never got very bad by comparison. Off and on I have times when my symptoms seem to exacerbate. I was doing really well.. Getting tired and the usual fatigue and such but the last 5 days now I am struggling to get around. Using my cane or walker. Not feeling confident at all. Walking up my house stairs is taxing. I've notified my neurologist and she ran some labs. I am awaiting the results. My last visit with her she stated that this is either a mild case of GBS or Stress. Ummmm... this is not created by stress. Stress may not help but stress could not have made my body do this. I am convinced of it. Especially like the rest of you said, this is not a particularly stressful time. Because I don't have the ability to talk to many with GBS I often think that this is MS and they just can't find it yet.
I am always concerned about MS. They did 6 MRIs over the last 3 months and none showed MS. Although I know stress is never a good contributor for anything concerning the body, I know stress alone did not cause my body to do this either. When they say stress, I sometimes feel that they put the responsibility on myself almost like I voluntarily caused it. My Rheumatologist did say that there was a definite causative factor. I did have a Tetanus vaccine for a leg injury and was put on two antibiotics after already having been on an antibiotic for a couple of weeks for cellulitis so I had some causes. I hope you will be feeling better soon, ksmith. It's hard to not get stressed even from dealing with the struggles of this. Everyone kept telling me that I was too stressed about all of this but I just don't think they can understand because they don't know how limiting it can be and how scary it is to have something that people seem to know so little about. Glad I have others to talk to!
Yup plenty of stress before i got it. I run a presales team for a big software company. My team covers the uk, ireland & israel, and we carry a quota of around $50m for the year. I got it just after our year end.
Cant find any trigger for the gbs(only had it a month now) - no virus, no bacterial infection nor any vaccinations, nothing…
How are you doing 1 month in James?
This "relapse" is a pretty bad one for me. Has anyone had a round of IVIg a second time later?
Still adjusting to the idea that something like this could actually happen to me.
Im reasonably sure its no longer actively damaging me, and waiting to begin physio to get things moving again.
I try to walk each day, and will try swimming this week,i hope - someone said you can walk without the pain in a pool.
My balance is rubbish - but I can walk a bit. Cant button a shirt or peel a banana, but I’m happy I got off so lightly really.
Hello. I use a kick board in the pool. I know when in the pool I feel I can do more, but I can’t over do it. Be careful getting out your weight less in the pool :). I still can’t open jars or juice bottles or soda cans. So stop drinking juice and soda.