What are the three most common symptoms of multiple sclerosis?

Common symptoms include:
  • Numbness or weakness in one or more limbs that typically occurs on one side of your body at a time.
  • Tingling.
  • Electric-shock sensations that occur with certain neck movements, especially bending the neck forward (Lhermitte sign)
  • Lack of coordination.
  • Unsteady gait or inability to walk.

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What is the number 1 symptom of MS?

Feeling fatigued is one of the most common and troublesome symptoms of MS. It's often described as an overwhelming sense of exhaustion that means it can be a struggle to carry out even the simplest activities.

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Where does MS usually start?

Here's where MS (typically) starts

Although a number of MS symptoms can appear early on, two stand out as occurring more often than others: Optic neuritis, or inflammation of the optic nerve, is usually the most common, Shoemaker says. You may experience eye pain, blurred vision and headache.

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What does MS feel like in the beginning?

Early MS symptoms may include blurred vision, numbness, dizziness, muscle weakness, and coordination issues. MS is progressive and can worsen over time. Eventually, the disease can do damage directly to the nerves, causing permanent disability.

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How do people cope with multiple sclerosis?

Some research suggests that vitamin D may have potential benefit for people with MS . Relieve stress. Stress may trigger or worsen your signs and symptoms. Yoga, tai chi, massage, meditation or deep breathing may help.

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Multiple sclerosis - causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, pathology

23 related questions found

How long does MS take to disable you?

A person with benign MS will have few symptoms or loss of ability after having MS for about 15 years, while most people with MS would be expected to have some degree of disability after that amount of time, particularly if their MS went untreated.

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Does MS show up in blood work?

Blood Tests: Currently, there are no definitive blood tests for diagnosing MS, but they can be used to rule out other conditions that may mimic MS symptoms, including Lyme disease, collagen-vascular diseases, rare hereditary disorders and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

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When should you suspect multiple sclerosis?

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.

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How long can you have MS before you know it?

Most symptoms develop abruptly, within hours or days. These attacks or relapses of MS typically reach their peak within a few days at most and then resolve slowly over the next several days or weeks so that a typical relapse will be symptomatic for about eight weeks from onset to recovery.

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What mimics MS?

These include fibromyalgia and vitamin B12 deficiency, muscular dystrophy (MD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), migraine, hypo-thyroidism, hypertension, Beçhets, Arnold-Chiari deformity, and mitochondrial disorders, although your neurologist can usually rule them out quite easily.

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How is MS diagnosed in Australia?

A combination of tests is used to diagnose MS. The best test is an MRI of your brain and spinal cord to detect areas of damage. You might also need to have blood tests, a lumbar puncture and tests to measure nerve activity.

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What is often confused with MS?

Some conditions that doctors may commonly misdiagnose as MS include migraine, RIS, spondylopathy, and neuropathy. To accurately diagnose MS, doctors must rule out conditions with similar symptoms and look for signs and symptoms specific to MS. As such, the process of diagnosing MS may be lengthy and complex.

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How can I test myself for MS?

How to self-assess multiple sclerosis symptoms. A multiple sclerosis (MS) self-assessment cannot diagnose MS, but it may help a person understand their symptoms and know when to contact a doctor. An MS self-assessment may focus on energy levels, physical sensations, vision problems, and more.

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What triggers MS?

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.

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What are the first signs of multiple sclerosis in seniors?

What are some of the common symptoms of MS?
  • fatigue.
  • numbness and tingling.
  • loss of balance and dizziness.
  • stiffness or spasms.
  • tremor.
  • pain.
  • bladder problems.
  • bowel trouble.

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What happens when you are first diagnosed with MS?

Feelings of shock, denial, fear, anger, anxiety, loneliness, sadness, uncertainty and guilt are all a normal part of coming to terms with a diagnosis of a lifelong condition like MS. You may feel a sense of relief or acceptance, especially if you've spent a long time trying to find out the reason for your symptoms.

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Does MS show up on CT scan?

A computed tomography (CT) scan is not used to diagnose MS; although it can be helpful in ruling out alternative diagnoses. Overall, MRIs are significantly more sensitive in detecting abnormalities within the brain and spinal cord tissue.

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Does MS always show up on MRI?

While it is true that almost all people with MS will have evidence of brain lesions on MRI, not all people with brain lesions have MS.

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Does MS show up on MRI?

MRI plays a vital role in how we diagnose and monitor MS. In fact, over 90% of people have their MS diagnosis confirmed by MRI.

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What happens if you leave MS untreated?

With MS, when you don't stay with your treatment, there's the chance that the disease will continue unchecked. That means your immune system can go on causing inflammation and damage in your central nervous system. And “time is brain”: If there's damage, it can be permanent -- you may not get that function back.

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What is the life expectancy of a female with MS?

On average, the lifespan for people with MS is about five to 10 years shorter than for the general population, but this gap is getting shorter as treatments and care continue to improve.

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What autoimmune disease mimics MS?

Sjogren's syndrome is an autoimmune disease that can mimic some of the symptoms of MS such as fatigue and joint pain.

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