Stay Low Campaign and MS Focus Foundation
Deanna B Gayle, MS Support Group in Atlanta, Blacks and MS
In MS, resulting nerve damage disrupts communication between the brain and the body.
Multiple sclerosis causes many different symptoms, including vision loss, pain, fatigue, and impaired coordination. The symptoms, severity, and duration can vary from person to person. Some people may be symptom-free most of their lives, while others can have severe chronic symptoms that never go away.
Physical therapy and medications that suppress the immune system can help with symptoms and slow disease progression.
The Symptoms
People may experience:
Pain areas: in the back or eyes
Pain circumstances: can occur in the back due to head nod or with eye movement
Tremor: can occur during precise movements, in the hands, or limbs
Muscular: cramping, inability to rapidly change motions, involuntary movements, muscle paralysis, muscle rigidity, muscle weakness, problems with coordination, stiff muscles, clumsiness, muscle spasms, or overactive reflexes
Whole body: fatigue, dizziness, heat intolerance, poor balance, vertigo, or weakness
Sensory: pins and needles, abnormality of taste, reduced sensation of touch, or uncomfortable tingling and burning
Urinary: excessive urination at night, leaking of urine, persistent urge to urinate, or urinary retention
Visual: blurred vision, double vision, or vision loss
Sexual: erectile dysfunction or sexual dysfunction
Mood: anxiety or mood swings
Speech: slurred speech or impaired voice
Also common: constipation, depression, difficulty swallowing, difficulty thinking and understanding, flare, headache, heavy legs, limping, numbness of face, rapid involuntary eye movement, sleep deprivation, tongue numbness, or difficulty raising the foot
What is it really like?
MS is feeling alone and isolated, sometimes by choice and often by other people. MS is can be very unpredictable and it could drastically vary from each patient. However, the most common symptom shared with many is fatigue. Now, I'm not talking about your typical "I'm tired after a long day, only got a few hours of sleep, need coffee" kind of tired. It's the kind of overwhelming feeling that you can't lift your legs to take another step or the feeling of carrying a person on your back upstairs. This can occur at any moment and time without notice, and on top of that, you can't just rest or take a nap to make it go away.
