Hello, I need your opinion and experience if the following symptoms can be treated as a relapse.
On the morning of January 5th, I felt tingling in my left foot, it lasted for a few minutes, then after it ended, it started on my left palm with emphasis on the fingers, it also lasted for a few minutes, then it stopped. I didn’t pay attention. In the evening of the same day, I felt it again in my left palm and fingers, but since I was sitting with my elbows on the phone, I assumed that it might be because of that, so I went to bed. In the morning, when I got up, I still felt tingling in my left palm, and then in my left leg. Throughout the day the tingling stopped and started. All this lasted for two days. There were periods in these two and a half days where I either had no tingling at all, or only in my arm, or only in my leg, or both. The intensity varied, but it wasn’t terrible in terms of preventing me from doing daily activities. There was a period where I felt tingling in my right arm and leg.
Would this be a relapse since there have been interruptions in the tingling? At least I felt there were breaks…
I had magnetic resonance imaging in October, I had active lesions, but I had no relapse, but I received cortico.
I have no idea, but if something happens like that in the context of other strange things happening, one does wonder whether they’re connected. I would at least keep a note of symptoms and dates and inform whoever’s looking after your case. When they’re trying to join the dots, they need to know about where the dots are. Maybe it’s relevant and maybe it isn’t: best for that to be their call rather than yours.
Hello there Tay, thank you for describing it quite well an detailed.
Let me try to share some of my own experiences to see if they might help you.
It just so happens I have had a very similar experience, and also in the left hand’s fingers (particularly the pinkie and ring).
It started like you just very slight, sometimes. And then eventually a little in my left foot toes and a little under the foot too. I went for an MRI within a week and the doctor saw nothing particular so we didn’t really do anything about it. Time passed and it became a little more persistent as days came and went. from the tips and then further down the fingers. On the side of my hand. The side of my arm. Eventually I could feel part of my left shoulder and chest felt a little strange.
I was eventually then put on a 3 days steroid IV, which made it become a lot better. I went for another MRI of the back of my neck rather than my head, and there was now a visible wound. Now, a year and a half later, my fingertips all have some tingling, and parts of my palm, but the arm and shoulder etc got all better.
I, like you, did not just have nonstop tingling, and it lead me to severely doubt if I was just imagining things for quite a while, and so treatment was delayed with the leftover symptoms still making fun of me for that.
I believe my relapses have waves in their feeling. They seem to feel the strongest in the morning when I am about to get up or just got out of bed. Then they calm down up throughout noon and early afternoon, and then return stronger again in the evening. That is at least my impression after my experience explained above and then following relapses a year later.
It has been difficult to convince my doctor it isn’t just pseudo attacks from being too hot or too cold suddenly or such.
The symptoms never went beyond a little reduced sensitivity in feeling stuff, and then otherwise just gradually intensifying tinging, over quite a while. Intensity varied from day to day, and during the day like I also explained.
Rather light symptoms overall so wasn’t really affecting me too much beyond the worry and slight irritation.
To then answer your question, yes this could absolutely be a relapse. It has been very strange and difficult for me to read and talk about MS and always hear about these month long nonstop symptoms attacks that then eventually fade when every single of my attacks have been much faster in flicking on and off but never completely fading until I got steroid treatment.
In my lips I could literally feel the spot moving slowly across the lips to the right, where the tinging feeling had reached, cutting the lips in half between a tingling and a normal side, making clear how far the attack had reached.
This is now for maybe 4 months. I have about 1 centimetre of normal lips left all the way on the edge now.
If you get a round of steroids it might stop the attack from spreading further and allow it to heal faster and indeed better. I definitely regret not getting the steroids immediately when I first had the little tingling, MRI result or not.
That said, tingling, and in the extremities no less, can be for any amount of reasons such as indeed how you sit with your phone. It sounds consistent with the same area that I had my myelin damage though. My history in consideration I am deeply biased, but I would recommend seeking treatment. A few weeks of corticosteroid pills or a few days on IV drop could be very helpful, and if you aren’t doing it regularly 3 times a year or something you should be fine.
But just personal bias with a dash of anecdotal evidence. Apply plenty of salt before consumption!