Re: morning numbness

[Kristin01]

I am copying and pasting the quote I found off another forum which really concerns me.

"This was my first sign of MS. Doctors told me it was carpal tunnel. I live this with morning numbness everyday. Mornings are the hardest for me."

I am really confused by this and hoping someone can lend some more insight.  Yesterday, I was given great info on how MS is real nerve damage, therefore numbness can not be shaken out.  But so many people from this other MS forum state that they have that symptom.  Sorry to bug.

[Quixotic1]

I want to bring the discussion back to "your" description of the problem.  You awaken with this numbness, which you are able to shake out "within a minute."  This is very different from paresthesias which move gradually from one part to another, or which come on or disappear more slowly.

I suspect if we were able to question the other person who had this as her "onely" symptom of MS, that her sensations would not be so fleeting (less than a minute).  I also suspect that she actually did had more problems than this.  If she didn't, than she is having a very mild course of it.

I will still say - knowing what I know about the body, after doing a lot of reading, and meeting several hundred people on forums - that what you are describing is not consistent with MS.  It is just too brief and too easily explained by other things.  And again, it would be unusual for MS to first present "during" pregnancy.  It can happen, but it is by far not typical.

One of the ways I make a judgment about whether or not to keep worrying about something is to think realistically about what my options really are.   You can't treat it while you're pregnant, so you can either worry yourself sick about it, put the idea away to be investigated later or if new symptoms arise, or resign yourself to having it.  If you can't be reassured, then just decide that you do indeed have MS and begin planning for your future with it.  Sometimes, thinking about it like this can help you put small things into perspective.  We all, MS or not, have normal, weird sensations that can worry us if we spend too much time thinking about them.

In all truth, no one here can say anything definite about whether less than a minute of numbness does or does not indicate MS.

I hope you can relax about this until you are able to do something about it.  Alternatively you can see a neurologist to see if your neurologic exam is normal.

Good luck

Quix

[Deb61]

I get numbness quite often.  It's the most frequent of my symptoms and probably the longest running one.  I get all sorts of numbness.  I get numbness in the morning, evening, afternoon.  I get numbness at night.  Earliest memory of it (years ago) was in my right leg.  Later on, my left side.  One period of time, I woke up with my left side paralyzed.  It did go away after I used my right arm to move my left arm around, etc. I thought that was that, but then started having this every day for a couple of weeks.  

Now, I have a chronic pain and numbness in my feet which I get on and off throughout the day.  I can always bet that something will be numb after lack of use like sitting or sleeping for about 30 minutes (sometimes even shorter periods of time).  My legs are always numb after getting up off the toilet in the morning (LOL).  My right arm will be numb after sitting in the recliner watching TV.  After sitting any chair, both my legs are numb (especially on the right side).  After moving about, the numbness usually goes away.  However, there are times I get numbness for no rhyme or reason--like right now, I'm beginning to feel my left hand go numb.  And something else weird, my tongue will go numb after drinking anything cold!!!!  

I know how you feel--is this symptom normal or something to worry about?  I wished I knew about this forum before my MS diagnosis.  It would have saved me a lot of wondering.  Hopefully others chime in about their numbness.  Having been sick for many, many years (but only recently diagnosed), I'm not sure if what I'm describing is typical of MS.

Deb

[AmishErin]

My numbness came on everyday rather than vise versa.... I worked second shift and about 2 hours into my shift my hand would be numb, by lunch I would be numb from the elbow down.  I thought it was a pinched nerve.  

I had to write alot... you cant write if you can't feel your arm... so I would go home.  Go to bed and wake up feeling great.  Pretty soon  I would wake up numb then my legs and then it moved up... then it didn't ever go away no matter how much I slept. My palms and bottoms of my feet are still numb.

  so just opposite... and in the beginning I could sleep to get it to go away but not stretching or anything.

[wonko]

I love this question.  I've read many testimonials of ppl with MS reporting that their symptoms can move and change intensity throughout the day, and on the flipside, I've read a lot of people without a diagnosis being told by doctors that is not like MS.

I've been told by 2 neuros that it is "good" that my symptoms spread from my hands/face/feet into my core when I lie down.  It is not a good thing for me, since as of yet no one can get rid of the symptoms, and this posture dependence leads to me often waking up disoriented, confused, and even frightened.

I think if your symptoms are fleeting, or can be easily shaken out, that doesn't sound like MS.  But if the changes happen more gradually with posture or changes in the day, I really don't know.  In my mind, I can imagine there could be an area of damage that is affected differently by posture.

I've read other testimonials about how the time of day can affect symptoms in some, and I am sure body temp can also vary with time of day, which would make sense to me.  

Like OllieO, I'm interested to see what others have to say.

[jensequitur]

Kristen, the most important part is how the numbness feels to you.  If it feels like your hand normally does when the circulation is cut off, I wouldn't worry.  If it feels like your hand has been injected with Novocaine, then it's more of a cause for concern.  

Yes, it's true that the novocained feeling goes away as I move around, but I've also woken up with a numb arm because I slept on it!  

[OllieO]

I usually wake up with some numbness which does seem to improve during the day unless some other factor (like heat) gets it going again.  I am in limboland, though, and am waiting on the results of a neck, lumbar, and cervical spine MRI.  Someone who actually has been dx'd with MS can give you a more meaningful answer.  Actually, I wanted to bump your post up because I think it is an interesting topic!

Mickey