Overall, is pain better than no pain - pain being that your nerves aren’t completely shot?! Hi all, I’m new here, going through testing & scans etc been told possibly MS, my symptoms all match up & most other causes with the same symptoms have been ruled out. I’m just wondering, as I’ve had numbness & tingling for 6 weeks + now & it’s gone from neck pain to no neck pain but went straight onto my left arm then into my left leg within days of each other, following on with balance isdues, tiredness & loss of sensation on most of my leg arm & leg ie: cant feel the needle test nowhere near as much as my right side & feeling hot & cold temperatures of water is way off! Weeks down the line (about week 5, not that many but feels like Forever!) it started tingling in my right leg & arm, is this normal for MS to radiate around the body, so quickly? Now today I have done nothing but sit with my legs rested as ordered by the neurologist & I now have pains in both feet with like a vibrating sensation. I know nothing is normal as such with MS (I’ve done a lot of reading up since being warned it could be) but does it sound similar or like the path MS would take? Or could it be something else entirely…?! Hope this all makes sense, a bit fuzzy as I’ve just woken up, again! P.s I had an episode of illness last year which was side pain, like squeezing feeling that radiated from my left side around to back & up to my ribs, now wondering if this was the famous “hug” all tests came back negative ie: bloods, scans, also which was strange whenever the gp would examine me & pressed the area it didn’t hurt at all which astonished him & myself, is this “normal” for the hug? That continued for weeks then I had severe constipation after that issue was dealt with the pain still lingered on until mid jan then just simply disappeared! Had a few UTI’s since too which isn’t normal for me. Any advice given will be Greatly appreciated. Newby xx
Hello and welcome
To answer your first question (very vaguely!): it depends! I would guess the two main factors are how much it debilitates you and how long it lasts for. For example, I would rather go completely numb for ? weeks and then recover well than have chronic pain for years. And remember that any kind of symptom means that there is damage somewhere.
As far as MS moving about the body goes, then no, it’s not usual. A relapse can involve multiple parts of the body, but these would normally build up rather than move, e.g. left arm then left arm and left leg then left arm and left leg and balance issues then at some point symptoms start easing off, not necessarily in the order they started. Lesions don’t move so the symptoms they cause don’t either: they are either off or on (although the intensity can vary when they are on).
I’ve only ever had very mild hug, so I’m not the best person to answer that bit.
Do you have MS? Sorry, but there’s no way to tell. There are literally hundreds of conditions that can cause similar symptoms and it’s only when our neuro can put together all the evidence that we find out. The waiting is very frustrating and it can sometimes be very lengthy, so be prepared for a long haul. Hopefully you’ll get a pleasant surprise and not have to wait very long at all.
Karen x
Thanks for you reply! No I haven’t been diagnosed yet, I had my MRI y’day & am getting my results tomorrow from the neuro, she said she expecting there to be inflammation on my cervical spine from her findings from my physical exam & medical history & she said ms is possible as it causes this, I first heard about the possiblity from my gp who referred me. So it wouldn’t go into my right side too? Hmmm it must be something else then! Oh dear… Thanks for the advice
Your right side being affected could be a new attack or an extension of the current attack. Basically the lesions that were only causing left sided symptoms could not suddenly cause right sided symptoms - the lesion(s) would have to have enlarged or there would have to be new lesion(s), both of which mean new inflammation.
Tbh, it’s all guesswork without actually looking at your MRIs!
Hopefully your neuro will be able to explain it all tomorrow.
Good luck!
Karen x
Thank you very much, you are very helpful 
x