People with multiple sclerosis (MS) exhibit a wide range of physical, cognitive, and emotional changes due to nerve damage in the central nervous system. How a person acts is highly individual and unpredictable, as symptoms vary in type and severity and can come and go over time.
MS and emotions
You may easily burst into tears, or suddenly get very angry. These emotions may build up very quickly, and you may have no control over them. Sometimes, these emotions are related to what you're actually feeling.
Depending on the location of the damage in the central nervous system, symptoms may happen, including numbness, tingling, weakness, visual changes, bladder and bowel troubles, memory troubles, or mood changes, for example. Multiple sclerosis symptoms vary depending on the person.
Changes in personality and affect have been recognized in multiple sclerosis (MS) for more than a century,1 and recent investigators delineate three primary affective disorders: depression, pathological laughing/crying, and euphoria.
What are the early symptoms of multiple sclerosis?
Three key warning signs of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) often involve vision problems (like blurred vision or pain with eye movement), numbness or tingling sensations, and fatigue, along with balance issues, weakness, and coordination difficulties, though symptoms vary widely and can include cognitive or bladder problems too.
The 'MS hug' is symptom of MS that feels like an uncomfortable, sometimes painful feeling of tightness or pressure, usually around your stomach or chest. The pain or tightness can feel like a tight band stretching under your breasts, around the ribs and back or stomach, or it can be just on one side.
numbness or a tingling feeling in different parts of the body. feeling off balance, dizzy or clumsy (uncoordinated) muscle cramps, spasms and stiffness. needing to pee more often or not being able to control when you pee.
Results. Findings suggested a significant association between psychopathology and core personality dysfunction in MS. Depressed/anxious MS patients exhibited more neuroticism, less extroversion, less agreeableness, and less conscientiousness than mentally healthy MS patients and normal controls.
Some people with MS lose sensation in their tongue. Some health care providers refer to MS-related tongue issues as “MS tongue.” Loss of sensation or numbness can make it difficult to move your tongue when you speak, chew, or swallow. Tongue numbness may also diminish sense of taste.
MS-related itching can happen anywhere on the body and can affect one or both sides. It most commonly affects the face, torso, arms, and legs.
Other more advanced symptoms include hand weakness, wrist drop (difficulty raising hand), curling fingers, poor sensation. You may notice that you drop items or have difficulty gauging how to pick up an item.
MS Symptoms in Legs
The top symptoms in the legs include: Weakness: Legs may feel heavy, fatigued, or harder to move, especially after walking or standing for long periods. Numbness or Tingling: A “pins and needles” sensation, or complete numbness, often starting in the feet and moving upward.
1. "At least it's not terminal." (Minimizes their daily struggles.) 2. "You should be grateful for the good days you have." (Invalidates the reality of their condition.)
Studies suggest around a third of people with MS have shoulder or upper back pain at some time. This could be caused directly by MS nerve damage in the spinal cord or brain. Shoulder pain and upper back pain can also be the result of living with MS.
The exact trigger for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is unknown, but it's believed to be a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental factors, including certain infections (like Epstein-Barr Virus), low Vitamin D levels (linked to less sunlight), smoking, obesity, stress, and potentially genetic susceptibility. These factors can trigger an autoimmune attack where the immune system mistakenly damages myelin in the central nervous system.
You cannot test yourself for MS at home. Medical professionals and equipment are needed for an accurate diagnosis. However, tracking and recording your symptoms can help doctors understand what you are experiencing and the conditions that may be linked.
There are four main types of MS: Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) Relapsing-remitting MS. Secondary progressive MS.
By affecting the autonomic nervous system, which helps regulate blood vessels, MS can lead to circulation problems such as cyanosis. Some people notice their toes or fingers take on a bluish tint, especially after being in the cold. This color change often comes with a cold, painful sensation.
The hot bath test reflects the effect of heat that many people with MS notice. Hot weather, hot baths or showers, exercising or an infection can all raise your internal body temperature. The raised temperature can cause your MS symptoms to appear or worsen. This is known as Uhthoff's phenomenon.
Invisible symptoms of MS – fatigue, pain, blurred vision, numbness, and brain fog – which often go unnoticed by other people, can also interfere with daily functioning and be just as debilitating.
Up to ~40% of all MS patients experience constipation at some point in their illness. Some people can be severely constipated and experience bloating and abdominal pain.
The most common pains in people with MS are burning pain in the legs or arms, back pain, painful spasms, trigeminal neuralgia (stabbing, intermittent facial pain), and Lhermitte's sign (shock-like sensation down the back and into the arms when dipping your chin to your chest).
Dyspepsia, also known as indigestion, is an uncomfortable feeling in the chest or under the xiphoid process that occurs during or after eating, and may have one or a combination of symptoms that include abdominal fullness, bloating, and gas.