MS Symptoms
While it is comparatively easy to make a list of symptoms of MS, this may not be terribly helpful, as multiple sclerosis symptoms can really mimic almost any neurological disease, and many other diseases as well. Because MS lesions can occur anywhere in the brain and spinal cord, MS symptoms can vary enormously from person to person. In fact, that is one of the hallmarks of the disease, that almost no two people will have the same symptoms of multiple sclerosis. To better understand the potential symptoms of MS, it helps to understand that different parts of the brain control different neurological functions, and the spinal cord transmits impulses up and down to and from the brain in a variety of modalities. These modalities include sensation, including light touch, heat, vibration, proprioception (sense of location of a joint in space), pain, and so on, and motor impulses to do with making muscles work; this is in addition to a variety of other neurological modalities controlled by the brain, including balance, the function of various organs, emotion, and so on.
Thus, multiple sclerosis symptoms can vary from altered sensation, feelings of hot or cold in an area of the body, pain, pins and needles, feelings like electric shocks, a feeling of heightened sensation, weakness, loss of balance, and so on. But there are also general effects that produce the commonest symptom of MS, that is a sense of profound fatigue, that the great majority of people with MS notice. As the brain also controls the senses, vision, hearing, taste and so on can be affected. Probably the most common of the early symptoms of MS is altered vision, with some people actually going blind. Others get double vision. Because the cerebellar system that controls balance and coordination is often affected, other symptoms of multiple sclerosis may include loss of balance, tremor when reaching for objects, frequent falls, and speech disturbances. There is no real difference between the symptoms of MS in women and the symptoms of MS in men.
Thus, multiple sclerosis symptoms can vary from altered sensation, feelings of hot or cold in an area of the body, pain, pins and needles, feelings like electric shocks, a feeling of heightened sensation, weakness, loss of balance, and so on. But there are also general effects that produce the commonest symptom of MS, that is a sense of profound fatigue, that the great majority of people with MS notice. As the brain also controls the senses, vision, hearing, taste and so on can be affected. Probably the most common of the early symptoms of MS is altered vision, with some people actually going blind. Others get double vision. Because the cerebellar system that controls balance and coordination is often affected, other symptoms of multiple sclerosis may include loss of balance, tremor when reaching for objects, frequent falls, and speech disturbances. There is no real difference between the symptoms of MS in women and the symptoms of MS in men.
So early symptoms of MS can be almost anything, from a slight patch of altered sensation that develops into a larger and larger area, to blurred vision, or noticing some difficulty walking, with one leg dragging. Many people have had a variety of symptoms, many of which disappear, before a firm MS diagnosis is made. Because these multiple sclerosis symptoms are so variable, MS symptoms alone cannot be used to make a diagnosis, but rather to alert the doctor to the possibility of MS, and therefore to further diagnostic testing, particularly MRI. Anyone who believes that the symptoms they are feeling may be symptoms of MS should consult their doctor to enable a firm diagnosis to either be made or ruled out.
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