The symptoms of MS can be both visible and invisible to others. Some of the most common MS symptoms involve: Motor control – difficulties with walking, balance or coordination, muscle spasms or tremors, muscle weakness, slurring or slowing of speech, swallowing difficulties, dizziness or vertigo.
Numbness of the face, body, or extremities (arms and legs) is often the first symptom experienced by those eventually diagnosed as having MS.
Behavioral changes are common in otherwise mildly affected MS patients with up to one third being affected. In this patient cohort, behavioral changes occur largely independent of disease characteristics, physical disability, and cognitive functioning but correlate with both fatigue and depressive symptoms.
Commonly cited MS personality changes include social inappropriateness, disinhibition, apathy, emotional lability, and impulsivity.
MS affects each person differently.
This may block or slow down the communication between your brain and spine with the rest of the body. You can have numbness and tingling, balance problems, dizziness, vision issues, fatigue, or other things including problems with sex or your bladder and bowel.
While many with MS will experience depression or anxiety at some point, more rarely, some people experience changes to their emotions or behaviour that don't seem to make sense, or that they aren't able to control.
Many people with MS can drive normally, but others may need adaptive equipment. Some people with multiple sclerosis may have to stop driving altogether for safety concerns. The best way to find out if it's safe for you to drive is to get evaluated by a driving rehabilitation specialist.
MS can affect mood
worry, fear, moodiness, irritability and anxiety: normal in the face of unpredictability; anyone can become a bit irritable when faced with difficult challenges. depression is one of the most common symptoms of MS and a major risk factor for suicide.
Average life span of 25 to 35 years after the diagnosis of MS is made are often stated. Some of the most common causes of death in MS patients are secondary complications resulting from immobility, chronic urinary tract infections, compromised swallowing and breathing.
"People with multiple sclerosis report a lower quality of life when compared to people without the disease, and even those with other chronic conditions," said study author Julia O'Mahony, PhD, of the Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg in Winnipeg, Canada.
Depression can occur in up to 50 percent of MS patients and is three times more common than in the general population. Up to 40 percent of support partners, such as caregivers and spouses, may also experience depression at some point in life.
Extreme fatigue, clumsiness, weird prickly sensations, sluggish thinking, wonky vision -- these are classic and common first symptoms of multiple sclerosis, or MS. But the expected stops here. Damage to the central nervous system, aka your brain and spinal cord, is what causes these symptoms.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Recently, numerous studies have shown that MS disrupts a number of social cognitive abilities, including empathy, theory of mind (ToM), and facial emotion recognition.
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 (MS) triggers that worsen symptoms or cause a relapse can include stress, heart disease and smoking. While some are easier to avoid than others, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and overall health and wellness can have outsized benefits for MS patients.
Here's where MS (typically) starts
Optic neuritis, or inflammation of the optic nerve, is usually the most common, Shoemaker says. You may experience eye pain, blurred vision and headache. It often occurs on one side and can eventually lead to partial or total vision loss.
You may have to adapt your daily life if you're diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), but with the right care and support many people can lead long, active and healthy lives.
In primary progressive MS, symptoms gradually worsen and accumulate over several years, and there are no periods of remission, though people often have periods where their condition appears to stabilise.
Alcohol's Effect on MS Symptoms
Even one drink can make issues like unsteadiness worse. “If you have a lot of trouble with balance, thinking, or memory symptoms from MS, it may be better to avoid alcohol altogether,” says Graves. Alcohol can also lead to sleep problems and worsen bladder symptoms.
More than 50% reported limitations in daily activities due to fatigue, physical weakness, problems with balance/coordination, heat/cold sensitivity, memory problems, numbness/tingling, trouble concentrating, impaired movement/muscle stiffness, and impaired sleeping.
MS patients are all at higher risk for dental issues because of the complications of MS. The disease itself affects the teeth and gums on a biochemical level. The medicine that is used to treat MS can also lead to problems.
MS involves relapse and remission
Most people who seek treatment for MS go through relapses and remissions. Remission is a period in which you have improvement of your relapsing symptoms. A remission can last for weeks, months, or, in some cases, years.
The researchers found that people with MS were more likely to be angry (trait anger), have a higher intensity of anger (state anger), and express anger either outwardly or inwardly, as compared to the control group.
[19] The result of the current study showed that the diagnosis of MS alone is not enough for creating meaningful changes in patients' personalities,[32] but it is possible for people with personality disorders to experience personality changes.