Hoping for an explanation

[michaelkors]

I having been reading around about what people first experience when they get MS. I have this ever so slight tingling sensation in my arms and legs, that during a portion of the day entirely goes away, but at other times I can feel that it is there. It doesn't appear to be associated with my neck movements.

I am hoping could someone tell me what the initial feeling of lost sensation feels like in MS patients that had the "tingling in my hand" feeling that led them to their MS diagnosis.

A week ago I had 2 days of strong tingling in my wrist and index finger, however this feeling is now gone, but throughout my body I seem to have a very slight feeling, it's almost as if it's not a numbness feeling, but rather an awareness of my skin...

I would love to see a neuro however I live somewhere that makes that impossible at the time being... and will continue to be impossible for 5 more months. Do the initial signs of MS clear up in less than a week? Any additional help would be greatly appreciated.

(I have also been looking into the possibility of this being a paresthesia associated with HSV-1)

[michaelkors]

Hmmm, ok... well it seems as though my tingling doesn't fit nicely in here... as to the fact that it is running down my radial nerve in my arm. I'm just so frustrated being in med school, not having access to a doc and now having this odd feeling.

thanks lulu you've been very helpful!  

(when you first told me my symptoms didn't fit MS i felt much better, but for some reason I decided to take a stroll down google search lane a few days later, and now am terrified again haha)

Ohh p.s. IF I DID HAPPPPPEN to have it.. is it still viable to become a doctor? I hope that if these symptoms turn out to be worst case, I wouldn't have to give my dream up... :(

ohh and Lulu you've been so helpful... thank you

[Lulu54]

Some are persistent and can last for days and months without relief.  ON in particular seems to be hard to shake.  

Others  are experiencing these as temporary symptoms.  To be a new
MS sx, it needs to last 24 hours or longer, but that doesn't mean a steady, continuous 24 hours.  It very much can come and go.

The concensus here is nighttime is the worst for sx followed by the morning hours when we are first moving for the day.  Many of us do pretty good during the waking hours.  So go figure!

MS doesn't have rules and the symptoms definitely don't fit neatly into categories or definitions.

[michaelkors]

Lulu are these persistent feelings people are describing? Or does the feeling go away during points in the day?

[Lulu54]

you might check out

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/Describing-symptoms---putting-it-in-words/show/1288644

we're currently trying to assign descriptions to some of these symptoms.  It leaves us tongue tied at times.........

[michaelkors]

Lulu, I absolutely will take that to heart...

As to the tingling you all experience could anyone describe to me the extent of the tingling? Mine seems to be horrible in the morning during the first few minutes of being awake, and then may TOTALLY disappear during the day only to reappear VERY slightly at night. There also may be several sensations during the day, however, these are generally minor.

Is this similar to what any of you have felt?

[Lulu54]

"bad swollen lymph nodes, diarrhea, and pharyngitis" do not fit into the MS workup at all.  They could introduce a virus into your system, which may cause a flare of MS if it is lurking in your system.

Viruses can also cause the tingling you are describing - sometimes it can take a year or more for those sxs to go away.

I hope you'll come back around and ask all the questions.

I especially hope that when you become a doctor you will remember the feelings of worry and keep that in mind when treating patients with random and phantom symptoms.  One of our biggest frustrations here is so many know they are sick with something, but the doctors can't find the physical evidence and take the easy way out and lump everything into psych problems.  

Be well,
Lulu

[Sparkysarah]

I would agree with Jess that at least seeing your usual doctor would be a good first step. He may be able to run some other simple tests (bloods?) to rule out other possible causes, and perhaps give you something to ease the symptoms you are feeling.

None of us know what is going on in our bodies and my recenltyd iganosed MS started wiht mile hearing loss and a numbe small finger..that is all. I think you will find that it is different for everyone and there is no set pattern. There are many other conditions that mimic MS but I would suggest that you find out how long it will take to get a referral to an neurologist and at least then you have some idea of a way forward.

I hope that your discomfort eases...but I think it will be a while before you get any answers.

With best wishes

Sarah  

[lovemy6monkeys]

Can you have your regular doctor send you for a nerve conduction test? I could be wrong, but I think I was told before that hand/ arm numbness upon waking (or in the middle of the night) is a symptom of carpel tunnel. That might be the very first thing to get looked at.

Good luck!
~Jess

[michaelkors]

...Blahhh happened again today... wake up with some serious numbness in my arm shooting up to my neck which goes away within 30 minutes?

Is this a symptom that those of you with MS have experienced? I am in med school in a foreign country so I CANNOT see a neuro... it's driving me crazy and making it difficult to focus on school...

I know NO ONE can diagnose me here... but I am just hoping for some anecdotal evidence just to get me by. Thank you to anyone who is willing to share their thoughts with me!

[tonyad]

   Hello and Welcome to the Forum :)

  While some folks w/ MS do have this "Parasthesia" feeling w/ MS......That does not necessarily mean that one had MS becasue of having these sx......Hope that makes sense  :)

   Sometimes a pinched nerve can casue this or if it is always the same hand / arm it could be from a repetitive motion say...from work or something.  If one sits at a computer this could also cause that feeling.

   S, Please,  Do Not be scared / worried at this point of having MS.  Find a good Neuro, Keep a Journal of each day that you are symptomatic, write it down along w/ what you were doing when this happened and how long it lasted. This will be of great value to you when you go to your Neuro appt. ....Takes all the guess work out of having to remember each episode.

    Keep us updated, And again....Welcome to the Forum!   Have you checked out the "Health Pages at the top right hand side of the page? If not...This is a GREAT place for explanations and tons of other info in regards to MS.

    Have a Great Week,
Peace,
~Tonya

[michaelkors]

LuLu do you think my symptoms could sound like ms?

Before all of this started I had bad swollen lymph nodes, diarrhea, and pharyngitis... I am just praying it's related to that somehow

[Lulu54]

The crazy thing about this MySterious  disease is no two people seem to experience the same thing.  It would be hard for anyone to talk about how their MS began because it creeps in....

As for picking up all those twitches and tingles, the body is really incredibly noisy.  When we really stop and listen, all sorts of bells and whistles are going off!  I wrote about this quite a while back in my journal - you might want to read it and think about how we hear all these extra noises when we are tuned in ....

http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/68827/Things-that-go-bump-in-the-night?personal_page_id=5829


Depending on where you are, sometimes it takes almost 5 months to get an appt. with a good neuro  LOL-  I sure hope the remainder of your time passes quickly and that your symptoms quiet down until you can be seen by a specialist.

be well,
Lulu