Signs and Symptoms of MS

Page 12

MS is a variable condition and symptoms depend on which area of the CNS has been affected. There is no set pattern to MS and everyone with MS has a different set of symptoms, which vary from time to time and can change in severity and duration, even in the same person. A person with MS may experience more than one symptom. It is important to remember that most people with MS do not have all of these symptoms. The most common symptoms are:

  • Vision
  • Sensation
  • Speech and swallowing
  • Bladder control
  • Bowel dysfunction
  • Sexual function
  • Cognitive function
  • Fatigue

There is no typical MS. Most people with MS will experience more than one symptom, and though there are symptoms common to many people, no person would have all of them.

Visual Disturbances:

  • blurring of vision
  • double vision (diplopia)
  • optic neuritis
  • involuntary rapid eye movement

Balance:

  • loss of balance
  • tremor
  • unstable walking (ataxia)
  • dizziness (vertigo)
  • clumsiness of a limb
  • lack of coordination

Weakness:

  • this can particularly affect the legs and walking

Spasticity:

  • sudden and involuntary contraction of the
    muscle or muscle stiffness which can affect
    mobility and walking

Altered Sensations:

  • tingling, numbness, sensation of burning (Paresthesia)
  • pain may be associated with MS, i.e. facial pain (Trigeminal Neuralgia - a stabbing pain in the face that can occur as an initial symptom of MS. While it can be confused with dental pain, this pain is neurological in origin)
  • Lhermitte’s – a stabbing, electric shock like sensation running from the back of the head down the spine, brought on by flexing the neck

Abnormal Speech:

  • slowing of speech
  • slurring of words
  • changes in rhythm of speech
  • difficulty in swallowing (Dysphagia)
  • difficulty speaking (Dysarthria)

Fatigue:

  • a debilitating kind of general fatigue which is unpredictable or out of proportion to the activity. Fatigue is one of the most common and one of the most troubling symptoms of MS

Bladder & Bowel problems:
• bladder problems include the need to pass urine frequently and /or urgently, incomplete emptying
• bowel problems include constipation and infrequently, loss of bowel control (incontinence)

Sexual Dysfunction:
• impotence
• diminished arousal
• loss of sensation

Sensitivity to Heat:

  • heat commonly causes a transient worsening of symptoms

Cognitive & Emotional Disturbances:

  • problems with short term memory, concentration, judgment or reasoning

While some of these symptoms are immediately obvious, others such as fatigue, altered sensation, memory and concentration problems are invisible. Theses symptoms can be difficult to describe to others and sometimes family and friends do not understand the effects these have on the person with MS.

*From: 1996 – 1999 International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis and the World of Multiple Sclerosis Website
World of Multiple Sclerosis: http://www.ifmss.org.uk/

 

© Copyright the MS Society, Calgary Chapter.  All rights reserved.