Doctors believe that MS can cause blood vessels in your hands and feet to overreact to cold temperatures. If you have MS, you may also be at risk for Raynaud's phenomenon, a condition in which your fingers and toes lose heat.
If you have multiple sclerosis (MS) and often feel like your feet are cold, even when they're warm to the touch, you're experiencing a symptom known as dysesthesia.
Foot drop, or dropped foot, is a symptom of multiple sclerosis caused by weakness in the ankle or disruption in the nerve pathway between the legs and the brain. This disruption means it is difficult to lift the front of the foot to the correct angle during walking.
Although poor circulation isn't a primary symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic condition that involves the central nervous system (CNS), circulation issues can affect individuals with MS.
Raynaud's (ray-NOSE) disease causes some areas of the body — such as fingers and toes — to feel numb and cold in response to cold temperatures or stress. In Raynaud's disease, smaller arteries that supply blood to the skin narrow. This limits blood flow to affected areas, which is called vasospasm.
Poor circulation is one of the most common causes of cold feet. When the temperature outside drops, your body works to keep your core warm. As a result, your blood vessels in your extremities constrict to limit circulation to the core part of your body.
Cold hands and feet can be a result of iron deficiency anemia. People with anemia have poor blood circulation throughout their bodies because they don't have enough red blood cells to provide oxygen to their tissue.
Numbness of the face, body, or extremities (arms and legs) is often the first symptom experienced by those eventually diagnosed as having MS.
Doctors believe that MS can cause blood vessels in your hands and feet to overreact to cold temperatures. If you have MS, you may also be at risk for Raynaud's phenomenon, a condition in which your fingers and toes lose heat.
The Babinski Reflex is often used to test MS. Normally when stimulated with a blunt instrument, the toes naturally respond by pointing downwards. In newborns and some people with nerve damage, the big toe points up and the toes splay outwards.
People should consider the diagnosis of MS if they have one or more of these symptoms: vision loss in one or both eyes. acute paralysis in the legs or along one side of the body. acute numbness and tingling in a limb.
Vitamin B12 deficiency
This lack of red blood cells can cause poor blood circulation, especially in hands and feet, which can then become cold.
Temperature sensitivity in MS
Heat sensitivity or Uhthoff's phenomenon occurs in 60–80% of MS patients [1], where increases in core body temperature as little as ~ 0.5°C can trigger temporary symptoms worsening.
Those symptoms include loss of vision in an eye, loss of power in an arm or leg or a rising sense of numbness in the legs. Other common symptoms associated with MS include spasms, fatigue, depression, incontinence issues, sexual dysfunction, and walking difficulties.
A lack of feeling or a pins-and-needles sensation can be the first sign of the nerve damage from MS. It usually happens in the face, arms, or legs, and on one side of the body.
Early symptoms can include vision problems, trouble walking, and tingling feelings. MS affects people differently. But common problems are trouble with movement and thinking, and bowel and bladder incontinence.
While there is no definitive blood test for MS, blood tests can rule out other conditions that cause symptoms similar to those of MS, including lupus erythematosis, Sjogren's, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, some infections, and rare hereditary diseases.
Multiple sclerosis is caused by your immune system mistakenly attacking the brain and nerves. It's not clear why this happens but it may be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
People may experience blurred vision, double vision, eye pain or loss of color vision. Difficulty articulating words or swallowing and slurred speech may occur if there's damage to the area that controls the mouth and throat.
The main medical problems that cause cold feet are decreased circulation in the extremities and nerve damage, known as neuropathy. One cause of decreased circulation is atherosclerosis, where arteries are narrowed by fatty deposits and impede blood flow in the limbs.
This is normal. The blood vessels in your hands and feet constrict (spasm) when it's cold, to prevent heat loss from your core. Some people tend to have colder feet and hands naturally, without an underlying disease. It's a fairly common condition .
Without enough B12, you might not have enough healthy red blood cells to move oxygen around your body (anemia). That can leave you shivering and cold, especially in your hands and feet.