The earliest indicators of multiple sclerosis (MS) are highly variable and unpredictable, but the most common initial symptoms affect vision, sensation, and motor function.
The first signs of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) often involve vision problems (like blurred or double vision, pain with eye movement), sensory changes (numbness, tingling, pins and needles), and balance issues (dizziness, unsteadiness). Other common early symptoms include overwhelming fatigue, muscle weakness, stiffness, spasms, cognitive difficulties (memory/concentration), and bladder/bowel problems, though symptoms vary greatly from person to person.
The early signs and symptoms of MS can be the same for women and men. One of the more obvious first signs of MS is a problem with vision, known as optic neuritis. This is often because it's a more concrete symptom as opposed to vaguer neurological symptoms like numbness and tingling.
What are the early symptoms of multiple sclerosis?
Symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS)
Some of the most common symptoms include: feeling extremely tired (fatigue) problems with your eyes or your vision, such as blurred vision or eye pain. numbness or a tingling feeling in different parts of the body.
Ms. – Can be used for any woman over the age of 18. So when in doubt, you can always use this.
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.
Here's where MS (typically) starts
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. Spinal cord inflammation, or what's called partial transverse myelitis, is the second most common symptom Shoemaker typically sees.
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.
Symptoms of advanced MS
Heavy Legs & Multiple Sclerosis
They may also ache and hurt. Some people with MS describe it as like having bags of sand attached to their legs. This muscle weakness combined with MS fatigue can be upsetting. Weakness in your legs can cause balance and walking difficulties and you may be more likely to fall.
Other Conditions To Rule Out in Diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis
MS Flare-up Symptoms
Multiple sclerosis flare-up symptoms are the same as the general symptoms of MS: Difficulty or urgency using the bathroom. Cognitive difficulties like trouble concentrating, memory problems, brain fog, and difficulty learning new things. Eye pain.
"In the CIS phase, individuals may experience their first notable MS symptoms, such as optic neuritis or vision loss, or sensory changes like numbness, or weakness possibly affecting only one side of the body or from the chest or waist down," Dr.
Numbness and tingling can occur in your feet, legs, hands, arms or face. In my example, it started in my feet and then spread to my legs.
Fatigue in MS is not just an ordinary tiredness, like you might get at the end of a hard day's work. People describe it as an overwhelming sense of tiredness with no obvious cause.
What are the early symptoms of MS?
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.
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.
More specifically, a brain or head MRI can show if there are any abnormalities in your brain or the surrounding tissues, including, but not limited to: Inflammation and swelling. Structural issues. Abnormal growths or masses.
Vision problems: One of the most common early symptoms of MS are visual problems. These might Include a loss or diminution of vision In one eye, often accompanied by pain with movement, or double vision.
The exact cause of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is unknown, but it's triggered by a combination of genetic susceptibility, environmental factors (like low Vitamin D, infections, smoking, and stress), and immune system dysfunction that leads the body to attack its own nervous system. Triggers that can worsen existing MS include heat, infections, stress, lack of sleep, and childbirth, while factors like smoking, obesity, and low sun exposure increase risk or severity.
Multiple sclerosis can cause numbness, weakness, trouble walking, vision changes and other symptoms. It's also known as MS. In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers, known as myelin. This interrupts communication between the brain and the rest of the body.
Headaches are not a common symptom of multiple sclerosis, but some reports suggest that people with MS may experience an increased incidence of certain types of headache such as migraine.