Making Sense of Baffling Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms

I will never forget the morning I awoke to my first multiple sclerosis symptoms, although I had no idea that's what they were. It would be well over two years before I knew the truth of what those symptoms meant. But before that morning, there was a red flag trying to alert me of something ominous that was brewing. The warning was so ambiguous though, I later questioned if it really even happened at all.

I had a few days of weird left eye pain that I could not explain, so I eventually just dismissed it from my mind and forgot about it. Those multiple sclerosis symptoms of pain weren't just weird, they were surreal. The pain came on so suddenly that I wasn't even sure when it started, never mind what it was or why I had it. The only way I could explain the feeling in my left eye, was that it felt like I got punched hard in it.

Besides the pain itself, I noticed how just turning my left eye caused pain. I had no infection, redness or drainage, and no black eye or bruising. I didn't have any noticeable change in my vision, either. The pain in my left eye was transient and sneaky, it came on silently and left the same way. I certainly was completely unaware of the implication of these multiple sclerosis symptoms.

I now believe that mysterious pain in my left eye was indicative of optic neuritis, one of many common multiple sclerosis symptoms. Optic neuritis is a condition which occurs when the optic nerve, which is the nerve that sends the brain visual images, becomes inflamed or "demyelinized." About 55 % of people with multiple sclerosis will have an episode of optic neuritis, and it's often one of the first multiple sclerosis symptoms presented. (From The Multiple Sclerosis Information Source Book, produced by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.)

When strange sensations mean serious multiple sclerosis symptoms

I was a 26 year old pediatric nurse at a city hospital and three months pregnant with my first child, when I awoke to my first multiple sclerosis symptoms. I was thrilled to be pregnant, happily married, and my husband and I were busy with preparations for our first bundle of joy. I felt that my life could not have been any better!

Then I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom.
I didn't notice anything amiss until the back of my left calf touched the cold porcelain of the toilet. The skin of my calf registered the weirdest sensations! I couldn't tell if the porcelain felt strangely cold, or strangely hot. The feeling wasn't normal, and all I could think was that something odd was going on because of my pregnancy. It actually felt kind of painful to feel the cold porcelain against my skin. When I crossed the floor, the cold tiles touching the sole of my bare left foot created the same weird sensations. When I touched the left side of my face though, it actually felt numb. Especially strange was that the right side of my face felt perfectly normal. It was like an invisible line had been drawn down the center of me from the top of my head down. My left side with the abnormal sensations, was perfectly divided from my right side which felt normal. I didn't know that multiple sclerosis symptoms are often noted on only one side of the body, or only the top or bottom half of the body.

What I was feeling was hard to describe, because the sensations would get all mixed up and hard to differentiate. I had pins and needles, especially in my left hand and arm. The left side of my stomach and back felt numb. Anything hot or cold touching the left side of my body would create a painful sensation against my skin. It became hard to tell what temperature the water was when I showered. I wasn't aware that these were all multiple sclerosis symptoms. I continued to feel this way for almost two more weeks, then the strange sensations gradually went away completely.

When I told my obstetrician about what I had felt, he minimized their significance and told me I was probably just having symptoms of carpel tunnel syndrome. He purposely avoided mentioning any possibility that they could've been multiple sclerosis symptoms. Carpel tunnel syndrome didn't make much sense to me, since I was having weird feelings on the entire left side of my body, not just my hand. I chose not to worry about it though, and the rest of my pregnancy continued normally. The following October, I delivered a healthy baby boy and everything seemed wonderful, at least for a while.

In a year or so, I would learn that the weird sensations I had during my pregnancy were sensory multiple sclerosis symptoms called paresthesia. Like optic neuritis, paresthesia can also be one of the first multiple sclerosis symptoms presented. I have continued to experience multiple sclerosis symptoms of paresthesia in one form or another since then.

How are multiple sclerosis symptoms diagnosed?

I didn't experience any more multiple sclerosis symptoms until my little son was about six months old. One minute I was vacuuming the carpet, and the next I felt numbness in my left hand, along with the pins and needles I remembered from my pregnancy. The numbness and pins and needles spread up my left arm, and when I undressed that night I could tell that my left leg felt like that too. I was in shock; something was seriously wrong, and here I was, a new mother with a 6-month-old depending on me!

I decided to start visiting doctors and neurologists in earnest. The reality of the situation hit me, and I experienced my first panic attack. What a scary time! My husband didn't know what to think. Was his new wife "losing it" or was she seriously sick, and if she was, what was going to happen to our little family now? I began to sleepwalk almost every night, waking up and finding myself with the medicine cabinet door open and holding a bottle in my hand. Subconsciously, I must've been searching for "medicine" to cure whatever was causing the strange symptoms which were happening to me!

I researched what I'd been feeling, and I began to believe that I really was having multiple sclerosis symptoms. So, I turned to my friends who were also nurses to help me make sense of things. But many of them felt that I couldn't be right, and thought I was just over-reacting. So, on top of having these strange multiple sclerosis symptoms, I felt embarrassed for feeling so frightened.

Even though I was now doubting myself, I told my neurologist that I thought I might be having multiple sclerosis symptoms. He listened, but he (wisely) wanted to rule out other conditions first. So, tentative diagnoses based on my symptoms were made over the next couple of years; carpal tunnel syndrome, a seizure disorder, Bell's Palsy and an anxiety disorder were all explored. In looking for a definitive diagnosis, my doctor ordered a sleeping EEG, which showed some abnormalities. Based on that, he felt I had a seizure disorder, and placed me on medicine which required weekly blood testing, to catch the development of a dangerous side effect associated with it. I remained on that med for a whole year.

About this time, I had one of my first multiple sclerosis symptoms of muscle weakness in my left leg. This made my leg feel heavy, as though I was trying to walk on sand or through water. The weakness in that leg caused some dragging of my left foot.

Finally, my neurologist decided to test me for multiple sclerosis. Since this was before MRI exams were commonly used, the tests he ordered to help determine if I was actually having multiple sclerosis symptoms were the lumbar puncture and Evoked Responses. So, based on the results of these tests, my doctor felt I did have multiple sclerosis.

A few years later, I would have my first MRI, which would show extensive lesions in the cerebrum of my brain and two on my cervical spine. These findings confirmed my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

Pain, weakness and fatigue are common multiple sclerosis symptoms.

One of the more troubling multiple sclerosis symptoms which I experienced a few years after my diagnosis, was debilitating pain. This pain traveled from the left side of my neck and down my upper left arm until it settled in my left elbow. This symptom of nerve pain was worse then the most horrible blow to my "funny bone" that I had ever experienced, and progressed until it became unbearable. The doctor called it pain traveling along a nerve root, and it lasted about a week. I felt so tired from being awake all night and in such pain. I remember just lying on my bathroom floor to try to get some sleep, in hopes that the coldness of the floor tiles would give me some relief from these multiple sclerosis symptoms. This nerve pain was so bad that I needed to have a narcotic analgesic prescribed for it. The pain eventually went away completely, but multiple sclerosis symptoms of pain traveling along a nerve root have recurred once or twice more after that.

I have had other unusual multiple sclerosis symptoms, too. Once, my left eye slowly turned inward over the course of two or three days as a result of weakness of the eye muscles, until it gave me the appearance of being very cross-eyed. Just lovely! I did have some double vision too, which is another one of many multiple sclerosis symptoms. This lasted about three weeks, but didn't go away completely. I still have an eye not quite centered, as well as no depth perception in that eye.

Not long after this episode, I developed multiple sclerosis symptoms of left sided facial weakness and that side of my face began to droop. This also continued until it was quite noticeable. My mouth on the left side sagged due to this weakness, so that fluids I tried to drink would dribble out. This facial weakness lasted about three weeks, then went away completely, or so I thought. As time goes on, I notice that slight multiple sclerosis symptoms of weakness of the left side of my face remain. The cause of my "crooked smile!"

Fatigue reared its' ugly head off and on during these early years, and still continues to do so. The heat of summer especially, can bring on symptoms of fatigue for me. The fatigue of multiple sclerosis, or multiple sclerosis lassitude, is another one of common multiple sclerosis symptoms. Multiple sclerosis symptoms of fatigue are "invisible," and so it may be difficult for others to understand or even believe it. According to Julie Stachowiak, Ph.D., the fatigue of multiple sclerosis is nothing like the normal feelings of tiredness which everyone has at one time or another; this fatigue is debilitating and affects almost 90% of people with the disease at one time or another.

Multiple sclerosis symptoms that are "accidents waiting to happen"

A couple of symptoms which I have had almost from the beginning are the multiple sclerosis symptoms of in coordination and poor balance. Mild at first, it has increased to a point where I can be somewhat of a danger to myself. I laughingly say that, "I am an accident waiting to happen!"

My clumsiness can be funny, and sometimes makes me look and feel goofy, but these multiple sclerosis symptoms can also become serious. My multiple sclerosis symptoms of in coordination and residual weakness in my left leg have caused a lot of trouble with my balance. Especially lethal when it's mixed with an eye with no depth perception! As a result, I have had many falls and accidents, and although they were mainly minor, a couple have resulted in a broken wrist as well as a broken nose.

Multiple sclerosis symptoms involving cognition

I have had various multiple sclerosis symptoms since my diagnosis twenty-five years ago. Although my symptoms have been trying at times, I always felt that they could have been much worse, so I considered myself very fortunate. Now however, I find that I may be facing my biggest challenge yet. For the past five years at least, the main multiple sclerosis symptoms which I have been experiencing are those involving cognition. When they began, I wasn't even aware of them. Once I did became aware, I mistook them for something else.

When I was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, little was known about its' effect on cognitive function and the emotions. Common multiple sclerosis symptoms involving cognition include a poor short term memory, difficulties sustaining attention and trouble with problem solving. If concerned about any of these issues, a neuropsychological examination can be performed to make the diagnosis.

Multiple sclerosis can also create changes in personality. These multiple sclerosis symptoms of inappropriate expression and control of ones' emotions and feelings, known as emotional lability, can be very troubling; not only for the person experiencing the symptoms but for their loved ones too.

Clinical depression is also included among the commonly seen multiple sclerosis symptoms, and understandably can result from living with the disease. Depression can also be caused from the damage done to the nervous system by multiple sclerosis. Depression, as well as emotional lability, are multiple sclerosis symptoms which many of us living with the disease struggle with every day.

Cognitive dysfunction affects not only the people with multiple sclerosis symptoms, it also affects their family and friends. Because the people we share our lives with may not really understand how we're feeling, they also may not understand why we react or behave the way we do. The problems created by this can seriously damage our own self esteem and also our relationships, having a devastating effect for all concerned.

For those with the multiple sclerosis symptoms of cognitive decline, the most frightening aspect is the possibility that it might continue to progress. But the good news is, serious cognitive symptoms have been "guesstimated" to be seen in only 5% to 7% of those diagnosed with them, according to the Multiple Sclerosis Information Source Book produced by The National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

There is much we can do for ourselves. We should keep ourselves healthy and avoid symptoms of infection. If we're on a disease modifying drug for our multiple sclerosis symptoms, continue with it and if not get on one. Stay as active as possible, both mentally and physically. Keep the brain exercised by performing mental tasks, particularly by working with numbers, sudoku is a great way to do this. Keep the brain stimulated by reading and working crossword puzzles. Let's keep living, loving and laughing, in spite of our multiple sclerosis symptoms! And let's go with the odds, because they are in our favor!