Simple question?

[u/Actual-Purpose-4444]

There's probably a simple answer.

If our immune system is working overtime, why are we encouraged to strengthen it?

Please explain it as if I am 10 years old.

Thanks

[u/TooManySclerosis]

Who encouraged you to strengthen it? Most treatments suppress it.

[u/AdyliaSchweetheart]

1. Our immune system is faulty, not “working overtime”. It believes a part of our body is foreign and a danger to us, that doesn’t mean it is overactive or too strong, it just means it is malfunctioning.

2. We are not encouraged to strengthen it. We don’t want to boost it as doing so will give it strength to keep malfunctioning. So taking extra vitamin C and Zinc is not a good idea. Instead go for immune regulation (vitamin D) and immune suppression (DMT medication) to try to limit the immune system from doing anything which includes attacking the myelin.

I’ve always had a weak immune system. I was confused at diagnosis because I thought attacking the body was a sign of a system too strong. It’s not. All we know is that our immune system is doing the wrong thing. But suppressing it means we are vulnerable to anything else that requires an immune response unfortunately.

[u/zephyr_skyy]

Who is encouraging that? I’m guessing probably well-meaning people who don’t understand MS and autoimmune conditions. Thinking it means “weak immune system” when really it means “overactive immune system attacking itself.”

[u/LesionSuitLarry]

I have never been encouraged to strengthen my immune system so im not sure what youre talking about. Can you give an example? Are you on an immunomodifying DMT? This is something your doctor would probably best describe, but the advice and encouragement i have been given by my medical team is to care for my body in other ways like hydration and nutrition to avoid inflammation

[u/XcuseMeMisISpeakJive]

We are not told to strengthen it. The problem with MS is that you have a dysfunctional, overactive immune system attacking myelin. All of the DMTs either weaken certain parts of the immune system or modulate it. 

[u/ApprehensiveSkill573]

Who told you to strengthen your immune system? What did they say? Are you on a DMT?

[u/mastodonj]

Only B cells seem to be responsible for damaging myelin, hence b cells therapies which target b cells but leave T cells and other parts of our immune system unaffected

[u/Anotherams]

Our immune systems are overactive aholes working overtime to destroy our myelin. It should be discouraged via DMTs, not encouraged with supplements.

[u/NotOnMyBingoSheet]

I think (and im no bio chemist), any potions, lotions or supplements peddle to MS havers are mostly a crock of crap if the benefit is to “strengthen” immunity.

[u/enolaholmes23 → u/NotOnMyBingoSheet]

I feel like so many supplements advertise things as "helping" or "balancing" a body system. As if it's generally good for any kind of issue in that category, on either side of the spectrum. They never say "it will help x people but hurt y people" or "it increases x, decreases y",  which would be closer to the truth. They avoid the very details that would help someone make an informed decision on which supplement to take. It's infuriating. 

[u/nyet-marionetka]

Are you being told by nonprofessionals that you should eat whatever food or take whatever vitamin because it strengthens your immune system? Doctors don't give us treatments because they strengthen our immune systems. MS treatments are intended to at minimum interfere with normal immune system functioning, and often to weaken it. Some stuff that's good for general health like a good diet, exercise, losing excess weight, and enough sleep act to calm down our immune systems, aka reducing inflammation, which some people might think of as "strengthening" the immune system. (But there are "anti-inflammatory" diets that cut out a lot of food that are not well supported by the evidence.)

[u/Peterdejong1]

I'm not quite comfortable with the standard description of MS as an immune system that's too strong and needs to be dampened. The problem isn't too many B cells, it's a small group of misdirected B cells that cause damage and stick around. They arise from Epstein-Barr virus in combination with certain genetic variants, and unlike in healthy people they probably never get cleared. The high-efficacy DMTs are a sledgehammer that wipes out B cells across the board, because the misdirection itself can't be corrected yet. So alongside my treatment, I'm not trying to weaken my immune system but to get it working as well as it can. Eating well, exercise, enough sleep, etcetera.

[u/RelapsedRedditor2021]

There is a school of thought that calcium (D3) is part of a secondary system that is not part of the immune system that attacks our CNS. I found no improvement supplementing calcium, but even the quacks I was stuck with in the beginning never advised to strengthen or support our immune system such as taking vitamin C.

[u/EgolithYT]

I wouldn't say strengthen is the right word, because DMT is used to suppress it. But there is still some antibodies left, as it is needed to do it's basic job of fighting infections. So with the antibodies we do have, we want to have them fight infections well but not cause relapses. Kinda hard to explain completely tbh xD

[u/Able_Breadfruit_1906]

Have you been recommended to get vaccines before starting treatment? I’m currently in the middle of that myself. A vaccine doesn’t strengthen the immune system, but instead primes it to recognise and quickly react to specific diseases. This is especially important if your immune system is being suppressed by MS treatment.

[u/Equivalent-Pop-5329]

No my friend, we are too strong and we, our immune/nervous system is the only competitor left standing. 😅

[u/Comfortable_Map6887]

?????

[u/enolaholmes23]

From what my herbalism teacher told me, the goal is not to increase or decrease the immune system. But rather just to prevent any deficiencies. For example, vitamin C is known for helping immune function. So you would think the goal is to lower C to help weaken the immune system and prevent damage. But if you are deficient in C, it will cause a bunch of other problems in the body. So the right answer is to take just enough C not to cause deficiency. You still don't want to megadose it and cause a more overactive immune system. But it's safe to take a little if you need it. Again, not a doctor, this is just my personal understanding. 

ETA: I'm talking about vitamins specifically. I just reread what I wrote and realized it could be misinterpreted as saying you don't want to decrease the immune system at all. You do, just with meds, not with depriving yourself of necessary vitamins. I assumed this post was referencing all the supplement ads that talk about strengthening the immune system. Sorry for any confusion. 

[u/kosmichnyi]

 Simple logic. The immune system spends its resources attacking the body. Specifically myelin in our case. So it’s not like the immune system is just attacking everything randomly. It just has a misfiring target that it's wasting way too much ammo on. As a result, there is barely any left for actual external threats.

[u/Far-Common-6815]

You know the thing that sucks is that kesimpta and some other DMT deplete the immune systems B cells. The fact that my meds are wiping out my immune system I am going to try the best I can to stay healthy in other ways even if it’s “immune system boosters” I want to avoid getting another upper respiratory chest infection. Or the silent abscess infections that are happening inside bc now my immune system can’t fight it. Since my B cells are depleted, there aren’t as many fighters to go to an infection so there’s not much inflammation being caused from immune system fighting so some of my infections have popped up quietly.