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

[wonko]

Yes, I think js has mentioned the sensitivy to (certain, in terms of pitch) sounds as well in another post, I think Quix has mentioned it, and I too get that.  Some sounds, though not loud, can make me jump and have other strong reactions, even on days when I skip my coffee.  

Rustling of plastic bags/wrappers can do this.  All the more reason I use canvas bags at the store!  I used to ride a crowded commuter train, and if someone near me was eating out of a loud wrapper, I'd just about go mad and would have fists clenched the whole ride.  

I don't think I'm simply hypersenstive to sound.  Prior to my current residence in MD, I lived in W. Philadelphia for ~6 years, and I can sleep (or work, depending on time of day!) through car alarms, construction, and other loud urban noises.  The sounds that set me off are very specific, as others have shared.

It is very difficult for me to rate the duration and severity of the ear pain.  Sometimes it will be annoying, but not awful, for weeks.  Sometimes it will be stabbing and overwhelming for hours.  Like most of my mystery symptoms, it is unpredicitable.  My ear pain yesterday had a sudden onset when I laid down for bed, but did not go away by getting up or changing the elevation of my head.  

I also in general notice a correlation between my eye pain and my ear pain.  Sometimes my eyes feel swollen, and get visibly bloodshot.  This often overlaps the ear pain.  Weird, eh?

I'll need to google Geniculate Neuralgia the next time I am so inclined.

Though yesterday brough some ear pain, I'd like to share that in general, after almost 4 solid months of discomforting, interfering symptoms, over the last few days I seem to be getting a lot better!  I've been on neurontin for ~3 weeks, but I really think the underlying cause (whatever the heck that is!) is improving.  I am very excited, though using some caution since I worry that if I dive back into life at full speed it might set me back.  I didn't think this was worthy of it's own post, so I'm just tacking it on here.  I sincerely hope others who are not feeling well soon get the relief I seem to be experiencing!

Take care!

[Rena705]

I get the horrible jabbing, sharp pain in my ears usually for a week or two at a time and then it lets up only to come back a week later.  It also seems that my hearing is super sensitive and I can hear things that most people don't!  My lgp is supposed to send me for a hearing test although I don't know what that will prove.  I believe that I have Geniculate Neuralgia that Quix is speaking of and I have to say that listening to myself talking with a raised voice and emptying the dishwasher are the worst for causing this agonizing pain.  I also get ringing in my ears and a whooshing sound on a regular basis although I don't know if these are considered part of the Geniculate Neuralgia.

Rena

[jensequitur]

I get this pain in my left ear, along with a muffled sensation (I need to tell the neuro about it, too!)  As to what to do about it, er...  haven't found a solution yet.  When it was really bad, I could put my warm hand over that ear, or press the little fold in front of the earhole, and it would relent.  As soon as I took my finger away, it would start up again.

[doni54]

Thanks, that was very informative as always.

My nose has been very sensitive for the past couple of years.  I smell things that the family never smells and sometimes they look at me like I've lost my mind. They tell me I have a better nose than our bloodhound, Sadie...ha...ha...ha.....

As for the nerve pain/damage.  I started having the nerve pain years ago, but just last summer I started with the following:  having the awful nerve pain in the calves of my legs and down around my ankles, then started running from my knees down my shins to my ankles. After a little while this pain will have intermittent numbness in these areas where the pain originates.  This has now become an everyday happening, some days the pain is worse than others, but the numbness has been present for close to four months.

Is this paresthesias?  

Thanks Quix, glad to see you back.  Hope the fatigue has let loose a little.

Love,
doni

[wonko]

What would you (Quix or whomever may read this) recommend I do about this ear pain?  I first noticed it in late March.  It seems to come and go, It is not constant, but can be severe for several hours at a time (about 6 hours last night).  I've had it in both ears, but it happens more and is worse in the R ear.  

I've been to my PCP about it, and she just notes that my ear is not infected, and explicitly said that an ENT would not be able to help.  I see my neuro again soon, and will probably mention it, but I heard from his office that my recent brain MRI shows no changes from Feb. (yippee!!)  So I don't know if/how he can comment on it or help understand it.

Can this type of pain lead to hearing loss?  If not, I suppose I might just tough it out, but I would not want to put my hearing at risk.  I've read on the boards that sudden vision loss/changes is a big deal that we don't ignore.  Is that true of hearing as well?  If so, any advice on how long a hearing deficit should last before we seek urgent care?  The hearing in my R ear gets spotty sometimes, but just briefly (like minutes at a time) so I think that is still in the range of normal fluctuation.  

Usuallly I think of paresthesias as very annoying, even painful, but harmless.  Is that mostly true?

Sorry for all of the q's, and thanks for the grammar tip.  In the middle of the night, I was thinking that the plural was something funky, like "paresthesae" or something?  Do I get partial credit for creativity?

Thanks all, and hope you're having (or will have, for all of those out West) a good day.

[Quixotic1]

paresthesias

Stabbing pains in the ear can be something called Geniculate Neuralgia.  It is similar to the pain of Trigeminal Neuralgia which is also known as the "Suicide Pain."  Yes the stabbing, lightening jabs of pain in certain places can be excrutiating.

Pain without cause is a paresthesia

Quix