I have no diagnosis yet but have been seeing a neurologist for over a year now.
Last night I had a new and scary symptom. I was laying in bed on my back with my arms by my side, I had just dozed off when I suddenly got a ‘bolt’ of pins and needles straight down my left arm and into my fingers, I could then also feel mild pins and needles going down the inside of my right arm to my thumb. It was so strong that it made my left arm jolt. The feeling of pins and needles lasted for about five minuets. For the rest of the night my hands and feet felt weak, today my hands are fuzzing all the time and still feel weak. For over a year I have had fuzzy hands and feet and pins and needles but this was on a whole new level!
Hi, yeh pins and needles are very common in MS. I get a strange thing in my legs sometimes…feels like a sharp scratch and then my foot will jump. Weird but MS is a weird entity.Boudsx
I’ve had similar to what you describe. In my last episode of symptoms I had this weird thing where if anything made me jump such as a loud knock on the door - we have a really loud knocker! - I got a shoot of intense pins and needles in my hands and feet that felt a bit like they travelled there. Kind of like a bolt of lightning in that it was a sudden flash of them. Worst one was when my husband dropped a frying pan on the floor and it made the loudest noise we both jumped out of our skin but it physically hurt me I was doubled over because of the electric feeling of the pins and needles burst.
So you’re not alone in experiencing something like that. For what it’s worth no doctor I’ve explained it to has paid much attention to it as an individual symptom, just sort of nodded along but never asked more about that one in particular. So I guess it just falls under ‘neurological symptoms’ which seem to cover pretty much anything! Sorry if that’s not much help. Just wanted to say that yeah, someone else has had that one too! Xx
Hi thank you for your reply. It’s reassuring to hear I’m not going mad or imagining things! That must be a pain for you with it happening with loud noises! The bolt of lightning was just how I described it to my husband. I’ve had no diagnosis yet but I seem to be getting more symptoms like this now. X
Still waiting for disgnosis too - got a couple more tests they want to run. Hope for you it turns out to be something else. Are you under a neurologist at the moment? X
hi, yes I’ve been under a neurologist for over a year now. Just had some lower spine scans done and due more brain scans in November. My first ones came back clear. So it’s now a case of watching and waiting. What other tests do you have planned and how long have you had symptoms for? X
I had a brain mri in March which was clear, although I’m now waiting to get hold of the actual images as I’ve just had another one and a spine one which showed two white spots on the brain. My neurologist isn’t sure whether they’ll be down to ms or something else yet. I’ve also had an evoke potential tests for my eyes which showed a slight delay in signalling. I have a lumbar puncture coming up soon, just waiting for the appointment to come through. So that’s the next step. So many tests! That’s great your first mris were all clear. Fingers crossed the November ones will be too xx
Oh and had symptoms since November. Although a few years ago had some tingling in my feet which GP wasn’t concerned about and I brushed it off as nothing. So that could well have been my first episode
Fingers crossed for you. My nuero was talking of doing a lumbar puncture but decided not to as the scans were clear. Do you have problems with your eyes? Touch wood I’ve had no problems there except my reading eyesight is deteriating quicker than expected for my age. Also the other day I had closed my eyes and after a few minutes it felt as if someone had poked me in my right eye whilst closed, then my eye really twitched. Very odd! Do you find it frustrating not knowing whats causing your symptoms? X
Hi, I have similar but doesn’t feel like a shock, I can feel a weird build up of sensation then that part will jump. Last night i felt it in my shoulder then it just jolted three times quickly. I can have it in my ribs and top of my legs. The bolt of pins and needles was the first electric shock feeling…actually when this started I could be sitting down and move my head and I’d get a tearing/ shock feeling run across the top of my back/neck. Haven’t had that for a while thankfully. It’s a strange thing to see body parts jumping around! Do you find the jumping worse at night? X
I’m as certain as I can be without being told officially that it’s ms for me. Now that I’ve had two abnormal tests and all these crazy symptoms that no doctor has been able to give me a viable alternative explanation for I just have no idea how it could not be. I think it’s just a case of him wanting more evidence before diagnosing now. Very sad and frustrating to have it all drawn out for so long, although it doesn’t seem like many people get a quick diagnosis. My eyes hurt all the time, especially after doing anything that involve close up work or long periods of focus. So a long drive will make them hurt, reading and screen time too. I get awful eye strain really quickly and I never used to get it at all. At its worst it’s kept me up at night and my eyes feel like they’re burning or have been stamped on they’re so sore. I’ve even watched tv with sunglasses on when they’ve been really bad as they get light sensitive when strained too! It’s not optic neuritis as it came on gradually and affects both eyes equally. My close up vision is weird now, it hurts to look at things too close up and constantly see my nose in my field of vision which is really weird and distracting. So not fun. I’m just praying it’s not permanent and will settle down at some point but it’s lasted a long time now so expect that’s probably too optimistic really.
How long have you had the lightning type feeling for? Are you keeping a symptom diary. Seen a lot of people on here saying that’s a really good idea xx
Hi, you poor thing, that sounds horrible with your eyes. It must be so uncomfortable and frustrating! The other thing I get with my eyes is an involuntary urge to blink really hard which can be uncomfortable. I don’t have pain in my eyes like you do. Looking at peoples comments it does seem to take a while for a diagnosis, i don’t know about you but if they told me I have Ms or something else I’d almost feel relieved to have a diagnosis, I can then get on and deal with it. I feel in limbo and I’m sure people think I’m going mad! Hopefully an answer for you is not too far away. That was the first lightning feeling the other day. The back ones happened about a year and a half ago. I’ve had ongoing pins and needles, loss of sensation and patches on my arms and legs that looses sensation for just over a year. I’ve been keeping a diary of everything. X