The Unfeeling Digit

I woke up this morning with a numb thumb.

As seems to be the case about 95% of the time with me, I wake up with MS symptoms and weirdness out of the blue.  I guess that my MS is also a night owl just like the person it inhabits.

I mentioned the thumb-situation to my boss this morning and we both worried about an impending relapse for a while. This is until our day took off like a shot and we both got too busy to think about it anymore.  By the time I left for the day, my thumb was back to its old self.  So strange.  Or maybe not...I'm still pretty new to this whole MS thing so, perhaps this is exactly what it's all about?

Let's check in with the experts.   (insert Jeopardy music here................)

Well, interesting...it turns out that numbness and tingling are some of the most common of MS symptoms with 90% of us experiencing them.  This symptom is actually called paresthesia.  A pretty name for something that's really annoying.

Paresthesia is caused by lesions in the brain and spinal cord (surprise, surprise). Temporary numbness can also be caused by external factors such as heat intolerance or being overly fatigued.  I don't know what the cause of my numb thumb was but, I'm really glad its gone for the day.

This symptom can also present as burning, itching, shocking and vibrating sensations - I've had all of these too at one time or another and I know that most of you MSers can relate.  These sensations don't usually indicate a worsening or progressing of MS but, are an ongoing thing that we will have to get used to and work around until there is a treatment or cure.

If the numbness etc. gets too much to bear, there are a couple of medications that doctors are currently using to alleviate some of the discomfort:  Tegretol and Amitriptyline.  Strangely enough, I have experience and knowledge of both of these drugs for unrelated things.  My grandmother took Tegretol and let me tell you, this anti-seizure drug is not something that you can use and still expect to stay alert enough to drive or even stay awake most of the time.

I was personally prescribed Amitriptyline back in the day when my first neurologist told me that I didn't have MS but diagnosed me with aura migraines.  Oh how wrong she was!  Anyway, this drug can lower your blood pressure severely and caused me to have extreme dizziness, nausea, see spots and feel weak.

So, it's up to you.  In my case, I think I'll just live with the numbness as the above medications mimic other MS symptoms and it seems like you'd just be trading in one thing for another.  Oh well, as with everything Multiple Sclerosis, it could be better and it could be worse.

To make myself feel better and lighten the worry of this stupid disease, I often give the MS acronym different names; today lets call it Mother Sucker shall we?  Do you have any other ones and how do you deal with your numbness?

Ali.