Describing symptoms - putting it in words

[Lulu54]

Doctors always want something more specific in our descriptions when they ask us to describe what is going on with our bodies.  Just saying *it hurts* or *It doesn't feel normal* is not enough - and that is understandable.

Likewise saying *I feel like I was run over by a truck* doesn't fit the bill, either.  These are all too general or vague for our doctors to get a true picture of what is going on.

I am wondering what phrases or combinations of words you use to relay these strange blips, twinges and pulsations we get with MS.

Some examples I can think of -----

buzzing = feels like a cell phone on vibrate

piercing pain = like an ice pick is stabbing me repeatedly

Do you have descriptors that can be added to a list for use?


Normally I'm not at a loss for words,
Lu

[doublevision1]

MS Hug - like my torso is wrapped in a giant BP monitor cuff pumped up as much as possible, without the release.  

Neuropathy in hand - same as above but add to that the cell phone vibration; repeated sharp stabs like bee stings; pins and needles like limb 'fell asleep'; numb like it's shot up with Novacaine; supersensitive like a bad sunburn; gritty like it's been rubbed raw with sand; and like occasionally getting an electric shock when I pick up some random, innocuous item.  All of those sensations at the same time, ALL the time, every single day.  The only variation is the intensity of one sensation overpowering another at any given time.

[doublevision1]

also a feeling of being wet and also itchy.  No metaphors or similes needed, these are self-explanatory. :)

[doublevision1]

wet and itchy hand, not torso.  Perhaps I should finish a thought before clicking Post Comment.

[missy72450]

Buzz: Like someone has a tazor and is repeatedly useing on you head.

MS Hug: Like a bear has a deathgrip on your torso.

Neuropathy: Like a really bad sumburn that is on the inside working its way out. Even clothes hurt to wear them.; The cell phone vibration is good.

When your limb just won't do what you wants: like your are actually trying to carry a bag of trash to the curb with no help.

Vertigo:Like gettting off the titl a whirl at the fair and feeling that motion sickness all the time.

Numbness inyour feet: almost like when you were a lttle girl and danced on your daddys feet.It is like your feet do not belong to you yet it is painful to walk across the floor on them.

[Valerie64]

numb: both my arms and left leg were numb but different kinds - right arm felt like my face does when injected with novacaine, left arm and leg both felt like your foot does when you been sitting on it and it goes to sleep.

L'Hermittes: electric current or buzz runs down my back, through my pelvis (which feels like I've swallowed a mobile phone set on vibrate)  

supersensitive skin sensation: alternates between feeling like touching sunburn or a bruise to feeling rubbery

itchy skin: like having chicken pox and continuously itches no matter how much you scratch

numb head - even my hair hurts

Bladder issues: hesitancy - like it's standing on a diving board but scared to jump off (that might be just mine however lol)

Hope that's given a few different ways of explaining things

Val x

[Sarahsmom46]

Great thread Lu.

Numbness/tingling in extremity = Feels like when your foot/leg falls asleep after sitting on it and it won't "wake" up.

MS Hug = Feels like a belt is being tightened around upper back and chest.

That's all I can think of at the moment since everyone else's descriptions captured what I would have said.  

Julie

[meg321]

Fatigue:  body feels like Superman when he is sitting on kryptonite

[lovemy6monkeys]

Great thread idea!

Vertigo- Like I was on a tilt-a-whirl that was moving very slowly but I was still being pulled to the side.

Burning/Stinging (in my feet, my longest constant symptom)- the feeling you would get if you were outside in below freezing weather and your feet get freezing cold, and then you go in the house and they start to warm up. (I know that is pretty wordy, but that is the best description I can come up with LOL)

The feeling like cool water is moving around under your skin.

muscle twitches- like popcorn popping under my skin.

And the icepick induced stabbing pain, that's the newest one for me.

~Jess

[Guitar_grrrl]

Oh, yeah...love the thread!

MS Hug - Blood pressure cuff pumped up to 300 mmHg around my chest and upper abs.
Arm and LegSpasms - Charlie Horse on steroids.
L'Hermittes - Electrical stim used in physical therapy turned up just to the threshold of fasciculations and then backed off just a wee bit.

I tend to cross my legs really tight when describing urinary urgency, and pantomime trying to pull down my zipper on my jeans LOL!

[rendean]

Moving buzzes: vibrating worms moving under the skin

burning: standing too close to a fire

patch of numbness and cold sensation: feels like an ice-pack or ice was held in the one spot

pins and needles or ant bites

[rendean]

I forgot the muscle fatigue. There is a mountain near me that is also a  park so I say my legs feel as though I had just climbed Stone Mountain.

[Lulu54]

numbness - feels like I'm wearing a rubber glove - I can feel I'm being touched but can't actually feel the touch itself.


You have come up with some excellent descriptions.    Any more?

[supermum_ms]

Abnormal gait: Walking like a string puppet

Hot spot: wearing hot rollers that are too hot

Numb and tingly spots: like the constricted blood flow feeling but in places that make no sense.

Internal tremor: like standing on a vibrating machine

Action tremor: reaching for something and missing it by a mile

MS Hug: natural childbirth

Eye pain: ice pick rythmic stabs, squeezing the back of my eyeball

Face tingles: electric static crackling

Lexical losses: missing nouns and only nouns, not being able to name family but still know who and what they are in connection to me.

Fatigue: varing levels that build to not having enough energy to hold up my body in space to not having enough energy to do anything more than breath.

Brain fog: not being able to focus long enough to understand whats been said or what i'm saying.

Do you want anymore?

Cheers.........JJ  

[Rubyrocket]

L'Hermittes - like getting zapped with a cattle prodder for moving wrong.

MS Hug AKA Banding - I agree with supermum, it mimics pregnancy I actually thought I might have been pregnant but was sooooo relieved to find it was part of the MS Hug. LOL

Temperature sensations - warm water feels like ice and cool water feels like fire.

Joani

[Sarahsmom46]

One more to add to this great list of symptom descriptions -

Abnormal Gait - (without an assistive device) = Looks like I have been to the bar for a couple of drinks.

[steph74]

occipital neuralgia:  Like I'm being zapped with a strong electrical current while simultaneously being hit in the back of the head with a baseball bat.

[jibjen]

Hi,

I'm in limbo land and ALWAYS have a tough time explaining my symptoms..Thanks for some of your explainations!!! The fit to a "T".

Be Well
Jibs

[supermum_ms]

Freezing limbs: I cant feel the cold but i'm told my hands and feet are so cold they hurt when i touch their skin

Knee pain: sledge hammer blows, excruciating pain that last for 20-30 seconds that makes it impossible, while its happening, to put any weight on the leg. I actually walk in circles trying to hold on to my balance, then the leg just walks funny for a while.

Incontinence: thought = leak

Feeling wobbly: Like walking in a blow up childrens castle

Muscle spasms: muscles react like i've done too much during a working out but all i've done is walk across the room to put the kettle on

Cheers........JJ

[tjj3761]

I wanted to add:

"Goosebumps" sensations in different areas of body, random, but WITHOUT the bumps....

[moose28]

This is the most helpful thread I have seen so far - exactly what I was needing.

So great to know others have the same symptoms I do and also do not know how to explain them.

I don't have anything to add right now though.......you guys covered them really well for me :)

[Lulu54]

this has been helpful and also entertaining in a strange, only someone with MS or suspected neuro problems could appreciate way.  Thanks everyone for your thoughts - maybe we should put this all into a new HP for future reference?

-Lu

[Mike_Shuswap]

wooden arms - the first sx I really noticed...I could bang my arms on the edge of the table and feel nothing

uncoordination - the second sx i noticed, and the one that convinced me to go to the ER (with my wifes urging), dropping tools, difficulty getting up from a kneeling position, tripping, stumbling, difficulty climbing stairs......etc.......

limping for no reason - I used to limp sometimes because of back pain from an old disk injury, but this limping is without any pain. (gait problems...I guess)

[Lulu54]

I hope something in here will be of help the next time you have to describe a feeling to your doctor or anyone else for that matter. - L

[Lulu54]

Anyone have anything else to add....?