Paresthesias

[Quixotic1]

This is the beginning of a new Health Page on the ways a sensory nerve can be affected in MS.

PARESTHESIAS

One of the commonest problems is MS is that of a damaged sensory nerve causing sensation that is painful, weird, wrong, too strong, present all the time.  It can make an areas feel like it is being hurt or touched when it isn't.  It may also cause numbness or be reduced in reduced in intensity.  This pain, weirdness or numbness may occur in ANY sensory nerve.  It can happen anywhere you have feeling, including the buttocks.  It may be on one side or both, but it is more likely to be bilateral the longer you have had MS.

A erroneous sensation from a sensory nerve causes a "paresthesia. What a lot of people don't know its that there are several different kinds of sensory nerves.

The common kinds are pain, pressure, soft touch, hot, cold, and vibration, but there are another dozen types. On top of that there are the special senses: smell, sight, taste, hearing, and such. All of them can be affected by MS.

Also nerves can be affecting in two different kinds of ways. Their error messages can be positive or negative.  In the positive error the signal may send far too much signal as in pain where there is no reason for pain.  And it may send a signal all the time instead of just when stimulated.  In the negative parethesia, the nerve may fail to send any signal at all, or a reduced signal.

A POSITIVE paresthesia means that the erroroneous nerve signal will be something felt, or sensed, by the person. In the case of pain, it will be a sensation of pain from an area that is not damaged and has no reason to send a pain signal.  Hot may send a signal of a warm patch. We often perceive this as a warm, "wet" patch, but usually this "sense of wetness" is filled in by our brain because it makes sense and our brains often try to make sense of things that don't add up.  A positive pressure paresthesia may show as the band sensation we often feel in the trunk or the limbs.  And, so the sense of smell by show that is, too, is wonky, by providing us with abnormal smells. Too often these are not pleasant.  Eyes may send lights, wavy lines, colors or halos. You get the idea. Other types of positive paresthesiaS are the shooting or jabbing or electrical-shock pains that so many of us have.

A NEGATIVE paresthesia means the nerve shows its damage by not sending the signal at all, or by sending it in reduced amplitude.  Something may be completely without feeling or numb, or if the touch sensation is just reduced, it may actually feel tingly.  Something that is hot may just feel warm, or if the sensation is gone there is nothing to counter the cold sensors and the thing may actually feel cold.  The sense of smell or taste may be totally gone. The vision may lose whole segments of visual field or the color-sensing nerves may lose color saturation.

More later, questions now.

Quix

[santana8]

My neuro- optho, optho low vision specialist, and neuro did not tell me where in the brain the vision loss came from, only that it is indeed in the brain and not in the eyes.  I have done some studying on some of the other deficits that I have had since the attack ( right/left confusion, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dressing apraxia ect... These all can come from damage in the Parietal lobes, in which I do have lesions.  The deficits that can come from left Parietal damage that I have are in a syndrome called Gerstmann's.  One of the deficits I had at the beginning, dressing apraxia  described as damage in the right Parietal lobe.

What was interesting is that while studying the Parietal lobes  I found that optic radiations damage deep in either Parietal lobe can will produce the exact visual field defect that I have, which is not a real common one as far as visual field defects go.

I am going to take this new info into my new neuro on July 29th and ask about these deficits being caused by the Parietal lesions!

~Santana~

[Quixotic1]

Visual loss is a sensory loss.  It is completing analogous to a numb area or loss of taste.  The eyes are a specialized sensory organ.  Paresthesias happen in sensory nerves.  You seem to be asking if the vision loss is just in the optic nerve or could it be in the cerebral matter.  The answer is that I don't know.  A neuro-ophthalmologist would be able to tell you exactly where the defect is in left inferior harmonious quadrantopsia.  If the defect is found in both eyes it is by definition bilateral.

When ON causes flashing lights or halos it is the same as a paresthesia.  In general a paresthesia indicates wrong messages from a nerve and not the absence of a message.

The optic nerves come together and cross in the optic chiasm before they reach the brain.

Quix

[santana8]

I have a question. You mentioned that different segments of the vision can be lost. I was wondering if the visual field defect I have (left inferior harmonious quadrantopsia) which is loss of the left quadrant of the vision field in both eyes(or both sides of the vision field), would be considered bilateral and could this be sensory loss or parethesias  or both?

With both eyes tested separately on visual field testing, each eye shows this defect on the lower left quadrant.  The weird thing is that even though the defect is on the left in both eyes, the actual scotoma is visible to me on the right lower quadrant of my vision field.  This is because the nerve fibers from each optic nerve cross somewhere in the brain.

I guess what I am trying to ask is could this field defect be just a sensory loss of vision? If so, and if that is what it is, could this be perminent or if the nerve fibers remyelinate could this defect resolve.  I have seen a lot of my vision come back in this area, but the part that is now visible to me, looks transient or  like I can see the object there now that I couldn't see before, but  the object looks transient or shaded!!!  Could this be because the damaged nerves are being remyelinated or do you know why?

The improvements have been in spans of about a month over the last two years, very slow!!

The Parethesias in my arms and legs are also bilateral!!!

~Santana~

[Heartshome]

This is very helpful. I am lucky in that most of my symptoms seem to be these "Ps". However, I sometimes think that they'll drive me crazy, because even though they won't technically "hurt" me, they are always there.

Having hands and feet that buzz, tingle, are numb, and that weird pulling sensation in the palms of my hands and in my calves is a constant discomfort and a reminder that all is not well.

However, since so many here are dealing with so much more than I am, I will simply be thankful that I'm not worse off. This really helps me to understand what is happening to my body though and that's wonderful, since information is power! :)

[Akcowboy]

I find it kind of odd that I can feel most deep down pain but not cuts or burns, for when I do cut myself I end up having to look around to find where the bleeding is coming from and the same with hot stuff I can be burning myself just stand by a heater and feel just the warmth of it and not knowing that I'm blistering up from the heat, It's the same thing when I'm welding and grinding

  Maybe that's why my nerou told me to stop useing any power tools and to stop welding for now lol (not happening as I need things to do)

  Cowboy

[biowham]

Quix, that was an informative and useful writeup. Thanks.

I hope you are feeling more sassy and less fatigued.

Bio