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]

So, the stabbing pain in my ear, could that be a paresthesia?  I was just thinking today that I had not had much ear pain in the past week, but here it is again, waking me up during the night.  If it is a "p," it is one of the most painful one I've had.  I get dull pains in my arms and legs (what started as tingles for me progressed to burning and sometimes pain, though I occasionally still just tingle).  I do sometimes get sharper pain, esp. in my right foot.  A few times, I have awoken with my R foot hurting so much that moving it even slightly sends sharp pains.  It eventually works out, but is a nasty issue.

I've had my ears looked at 3 times since this started happening, and no signs of infection were seen by the doc.  I wish I could look in there and check again, since an ear infection would be a more satisfying explanation!

I'm glad I've never had issues with smell.  I'd hate to lose that sense, since I love food so much.  I've been eating carefully out of concern over my symptoms, but I can still smell whatever I want!

OK, I am just cranky/silly now.  Here is a technical question, from a person who never really mastered language:  what is the plural of paresthesia?

Thanks!

[jensequitur]

Quix, is there any information about the location of a lesion that would cause strange smells or tastes?

I think of all the paresthesia, the smells and tastes are some of the strangest.  Why is it always burning smells, or nasty smells?  Maybe because when we smell cinnamon or lilacs, it smells good and so we don't think about it.

[LATW]

Thanks for the explanation.  I CAN NOT smell my children's messy diapers or the smell of natural gas but I do think I am smelling other awful odors no one else smells.  It is very frustrating.

Not smelling a messy diaper makes diaper changing easy but not smelling my gas stove is not a good thing.

LA

[Quixotic1]

People with MS can have stresses on peripheral nerves, just like people without MS.  If a particular position puts a little stretch or pressure on a nerve that is damaged by MS (but which otherwise isn't damaged enough to speak ) then that nerve may show its problem.  I'm not sure that is the only answer, but It is likely one.

Quix

[Quixotic1]

WonkNot - The disorders that are most likely to cause symmetrical paresthesias are 1) those that affect the whole body like metabolic problems  (B12 deficiency, diabetes), and diffuse vaculitis (Lupus) and infections (Lyme, Syphillis) and 2) disorders of peripheral neuropathy like Guillain-Barre Syndrome, or forms of CIDP, Marie-Charchot-Tooth Disease.

If you think about it, MS does its damage one nerve at a time.  So, initially, it tends to hit one foot or arm.  But, since it has a preleliction for the same nerves, over time the paresthesias may become bilateralo, but usually not symmetrical.  That is, both feet may be numb, but one is worse or extends further up, or some such difference.

Rena - We have 4 cats and so I am paranoid about the cat boxes and odor.  When my nose goes bad I smell cat pee everywhere.  Why cant I smell cinnamon or lilacs??

Quizzle

[Rena705]

When we returned from the lake in May, I could smell garbage in the kitchen.  Now we had been away for 10 days and the garbage can had been cleaned before we left (as I always make sure I do).  I insisted that I could smell garbage and hubby said "I don't get it...I don't smell anything!"  This went on for over a week and I wouldn't even let hubby invite friends over because I thought the kitchen smelled of garbage!  He went so far as to take the trap out of the kitchen sink (which had nothing in it because it is a fairly new sink) so I cleaned all the cupboards and everything!  We found nothing and all of a sudden one day it was not there!

So now I may have a reason for what hubby calls my psycho smells!  I thought that there was an awful smell coming from the toilet in the 5th wheel which would be understandable but hubby couldn't smell it...again it just sort of went away with no explanation until now!  Well, Quix, you have saved me from the psych ward at the local hospital once again!  ha ha  

Between the problem with my ears and sense of smell and the little "sperm" in my left eye and the wavy peripheral vision in my right eye...at least I have a little more insight that I certainly wouldn't get from the evil neuro would I?

Lots of Hugs,

Rena