
Early Warning Signs of MS
Multiple sclerosis, also known as MS, is categorized as an autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system in the body. This system allows for people to complete certain functions such as walking, and thinking. There are many MS symptoms that patients deal with on a daily basis including vision problems, tingling and numbness, pains and spasms, weakness or fatigue, balance problems or dizziness, bladder issues, and cognitive problems.
Read on to learn more about the early warning signs of MS:
1. Vision problems
This nerve damaging disease commonly attacks the nerves connecting your brain to your eyes. Normally, only one eye is affected, but it can result in blurry vision, dull eye color, eye pain when you move your eye, involuntary movement, and double vision. It is uncommon, but there have been rare cases where both eyes have been affected.
2. Tingling and numbness
People with MS will begin to feel numbness, and tingling in different parts of their body. This disease usually targets the legs ; however, some have felt an electrical shock when they move their head, or neck, and this travels down their spine, or into their arms as well. There is also numbness associated with this illness, which is often experienced in the patient’s face.
3. Pains and spasms
As mentioned before, Multiple Sclerosis will often Target the leg muscles. It can be an early sign for detecting if someone has this disease as they may feel stiffness, or they could feel painful spasms in their legs. When this occurs, doctors often treat this with muscle relaxants as these involuntary movements, and pains have prevented patients from being able to sleep.
4. Weakness or fatigue
There are people with MS that have said that they feel tired after getting an acceptable amount of sleep. This bout of fatigue normally occurs in the afternoons, and can cause muscle weaknesses, sleepiness, and slowed thinking. This type of tiredness has nothing to do with how busy someone is in a given day.
5. Balance problems or dizziness
Those struggling with MS can have to deal with bouts of dizziness, which make them feel light-headed. This is one of the reasons why these patients have trouble with balance, including walking. This is normally the cause of lesions close to the brain stem, or on the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls balance.
6. Bladder issues
Another one of the MS early warning signs is bladder issues. Patients have found that they need to use the bathroom more often, including at night, and have difficulty fully emptying their bladders. These people that cannot empty their bladders fully increase the risk of bladder infections.
7. Cognitive problems
MS has been known to be accompanied by certain cognitive problems. Normally these issues do not disrupt your daily life as between 5 and 10% of patients dealing with MS have serious problems thinking. Some of these issues include fuzzy memory, slowed thinking, and poor focus.