A diagnosis of benign MS doesn't guarantee you'll be free of symptoms. You might still get things like fatigue or problems with your memory or thinking. MRI scans can still show MS is damaging your brain and spinal cord even if yours seems mild.
“MS may lead to a loss of sensation in whatever area of the body corresponds with the damaged area of the brain or spinal cord,” Dr. Scherz says. This can cause numbness or a tingling sensation—for instance, in the fingers or toes. The feeling usually comes and goes, and can be mild or severe.
Parts Of Your Body Feel Numb Or "Strange"
This is especially true if it's been in the form of numbness or weakness in one or more limbs, women's health expert Dr. Donnica L. Moore tells me. You might also feel repetitive pain or tingling sensations in various parts of the body (like your face).
Contents. 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.
Disease Course of MS Is Unpredictable
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.
MS can occur at any age, but onset usually occurs around 20 and 40 years of age. However, younger and older people can be affected.
Some people are told they have benign MS. The term benign MS is sometimes used to describe a version of relapsing remitting MS with very mild or no attacks separated by long periods with no symptoms. 'Benign' means 'something doesn't cause any harm'.
Fatigue. Occurs in about 80% of people, can significantly interfere with the ability to function at home and work, and may be the most prominent symptom in a person who otherwise has minimal activity limitations.
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.
Only a small percentage of people with MS receive their diagnosis after age 50. In some cases, these people have late-onset MS. But for some, the diagnosis represents a delayed identification of years — or even decades — of unrecognized symptoms.
There is no cure for multiple sclerosis. Treatment typically focuses on speeding recovery from attacks, reducing new radiographic and clinical relapses, slowing the progression of the disease, and managing MS symptoms. Some people have such mild symptoms that no treatment is necessary.
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 Does MS Feels Like? A lack of feeling or a pins-and-needles sensation can be the first sign of nerve damage from MS. It usually happens in your face, arms, or legs, and on one side of your body. It tends to go away on its own.
Muscle spasms and stiffness: Formally called spasticity, this symptom can range from mild feelings of muscle tightness to severe and painful spasms, according to the National MS Society, and it most commonly affects the legs.
MS dizziness and vertigo is likely to make you feel nauseous. Many people with MS experience symptoms related to digestion, including dyspepsia, which causes an uncomfortable feeling of fullness and bloating along with pain. Digestive problems can also lead to nausea. MS bowel problems can leave you feeling queasy.
While there are no definitive blood tests for diagnosing MS, they can rule out other conditions that may mimic MS symptoms, including Lyme disease, collagen-vascular diseases, rare hereditary disorders, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Benign multiple sclerosis (MS) describes a form of MS that a person may have for several years without experiencing any of the severe symptoms that the condition generally causes. MS is a chronic inflammatory, demyelinating, neurodegenerative disease.
Sarcoidosis is another inflammatory autoimmune disease that shares some symptoms with MS, including fatigue and decreased vision. But sarcoidosis most commonly affects the lungs, lymph nodes, and skin, causing a cough or wheezing, swollen lymph nodes, and lumps, sores, or areas of discoloration on the skin.
In many patients, over a span of 5 to 15 years, the attacks begin more indolently, persist more chronically and remit less completely, gradually transforming into a pattern of steady deterioration rather than episodic flares. This pattern is referred to as secondary progressive MS.
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.
Vision problems, like blurred or double vision. Dizziness and a lack of coordination. Trouble walking, feeling unsteady, a loss of balance.