Waves of Numbness

[Rena705]

Just a quick question...Since it has been really warm here for the last week I have been having a really strange sensation off and on.  Its like I am have waves of numbness going down my right leg and also starting from my scalp on the right side of my head and then like a wave down my right arm.  Its sort of like cold shivers but not really and it is almost always in waves...doesnt usually stick around but sometimes will last for a few minutes.  It is a really creepy feeling!

I also have been having trouble with my eyes with the heat it seems...last night after getting really overheated at the bbq, I was going to drive to see the fireworks but turned around halfway there because I really could not see well enough to drive!  It was really bad in that I was having trouble discerning distance and if I did not know where I was going I would have been royally s*rewed because I could not read the street signs!  Scary eh!!  I will be calling the Opthamologist to make an appt. for next week again so he can do his stupid vision acuity test.  I am hoping that he only hedged on my last appt. because he wants to see what else could be going on or confirm that it may be the MS.  

Anyway, does the waves of numbness sound like MS or do you think it could be something else (question mark)

I can not get my apostrophe or my question mark to work on my keyboard...they come out as (è) is the apostrophe and (É) is the question mark...any ideas (question mark)

Lots of Hugs,

Rena

[Quixotic1]

Yes, this is the MS.  I have heard people describe waves of sensations.  And many symptoms are subclinical, until brought out by something like fatigue or heat.  The nerves may be mildly damaged -not enough to show up when all things are okay, but enough to have a partial conduction-block when overheated.

ANY pattern is possible with MS.  And why would we suppose you have some additional neurologic disease to explain what is a totally common symptom of the disease you have already been diagnosed with??????  Pointed question????

Quixt off at EN and LGP

[jensequitur]

My numbness, tingling and buzzing got worse around the middle of the day, when I was the warmest, and also right after exercise... although I didn't get to do much of that!  Sometimes it seemed to follow my pulse, and sometimes it just buzzed continuously.

These days, when I get tingling, it comes intermittently - on, then off, then on again.

[Rmoon04]

Yes I have this too, for a year it so. It feels like tiny vibrations and it’s from my head and comes out my finger tips. It happens off and on on random days and it’s not my sugar, or my blood pressure.please does anyone else have this!

[doublevision1]

The heat affects my vision and sensory symptoms too.  My eyes muscles become less coordinated the longer I exercise.  I can tell that my left eye is drifting further.  It almost seems blurry to me.  The nerves that innervate these muscles obviously are misfiring with the rise in body temp.  Also, my Lhermitte's goes crazy when I work out.  If I have to bend down to re-tie a shoelace, it is like I am being struck by lightning (OK slight exaggeration).  Thank goodness it all goes back to normal - well, normal for me - once I cool down.  

Definitely include this in an ongoing timeline and mention it the next time you visit your doc.  It certainly sounds like MS is the likely culprit.  I'm not sure there's much that can be done other than to avoid heat as much as possible, while trying to still have a life!  

I find that dunking my hands and feet in really cold water for a few minutes seems to cool me down fast.

And I am THRILLED to report that our central AC was installed last week.  I am basking in this chilliness while it is an uncomfortable 30 degrees Celsius outside.  Even though we only need the AC for about two months a year, it is worth its weight in gold right now.

STAY COOL.

db

[Rena705]

YEAH...that is what it is like...my scalp is tingling and feels really weird!  Did this happen more if you got overheated?  Does it ever happen in waves?  Mine isn't constant but off and on...seems strange!

[jensequitur]

Numbness and tingling are the symptoms that brought me to the doctor in the first place.  My PCP sent me to the MRI clinic and the neurologist, and within a matter of months I was diagnosed.  

During the worst of the flare, my whole head tingled, and buzzed, and was numb too!  I also had a lot of vertigo, which made things difficult.

[Rena705]

I am hoping that it is going to cool down but sounds like it won't in the near future :(.  I have put it in my timeline along with my deteriorating eyesight and I made an appt. for the Opthamologist for next Thursday afternoon for the vision acuity test.  Maybe he will have come up with something other than another story of who has is so much worse than me and a lecture.  Trust me, I will not stand for another lecture and I will be sure to let him know that but I am sure he got the message after my retort about the poor old woman living alone in a wheelchair with MS and still doing well, blah, blah, blah until I asked him if she could see...it shut him up pretty quick.  Who knows, maybe I will have tied his bvd's in knots too by responding to his lecture and shutting him up quick?  

Ess...it is tingling rather than numbness I am feeling and it's really strange...sort of like when your foot goes to sleep but not really and it goes in waves through my body.  Like you said though it's nothing that the evil neuro would be able to see and so therefore I guess it can't be there right?  he he  

Lots of hugs,

Rena

[essdipity]

Hi, Rena. I strongly suspect that this is MS-induced, maybe the heat being the trigger. Numbness, I'm pretty sure, is a malfunction (is that a word?) of sensory nerves in that they don't fire at all for milliseconds. Similar feelings you could have are burning and tingling, which can come in waves. Sometimes I feel cold on top of the heat, which is really weird, as if I've rubbed in deep-heat mentholatum. This is from nerves firing, not failing to fire, but it's all in the same category.

I wish this could be something observable by your so-called neuro, but it isn't. At least you can put it in your journal or timeline to report.

Good luck,
ess

[monotreme]

That does not sound at all comfortable Rena and I am very sorry you are dealing with this too.

I have seen Craig suffering in the heat this summer and I would guess it is heat related.  Sometimes Craig does not feel his ankles when they are swollen but other than that, he doesn't experience it in waves.

I hope someone will come along who has experienced this and let's hope for cooler temps for you this weekend.

Elaine