This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

L'Hermitte's syndrome ~ Any time I'd bend my neck forward, there would be an electrical shock type sensation down the length of my spine. Once I straigtened my neck, it would go away.

My first MS symptom was diplopia.
BB.

My first symptoms, knowing what I know now (13 years later), were numbness, bladder issues...can't remember now what else, but I know that's what made me going to a doctor then and 1 1/12 years later walking/talking drunk and going back to my initial neurologist in small-town Ohio, with my hearing it could be MS finally got me the right test/diagnosis. Luckily now I'm in the Atlanta, GA, area and have a neurologist I like/trust.

My daughter's first symptom--severe itching in one arm--immediately followed a Hep B vaccine that was given improperly.

In hindsite it was my bowels becoming sluggish, even whilst eating a generous amount of fruit and vegetable, explained it away as living in a hot climate and being dehydrated. Then it was itching around my right collar bone, GP had no clue and I dismissed it as stress. Followed by intermittant cartilage pain in my right ear.

The symptom that got me going to the neuro and got me on the road to an MS diagnosis was heat intolerance that caused my left leg to become floppy like a wet noodle. In hindsight - about two and a half years before the actual dx - I was stricken with what the doctor called a case of bell's palsy which I think was my first real MS exacerbation.

Chris55 wrote:My daughter's first symptom--severe itching in one arm--immediately followed a Hep B vaccine that was given improperly.

How was it given improperly? Just wondering.

The symptom that led to diagnosis for me was the tingling and numbness that began in the right foot and spread throughout the lower half of my body, up to mid chest on the right. There were other earlier symptoms that could be contributed to MS. Most notably, there were odd emotional symptoms that I've since noticed in conjunction with relapses.

Hi like many others had several seemingly mild issues until I got double vision that I got diagnosed!

I have not been diagnosed with MS. I found you because I have had weird symptoms all my life and just decided to try and find out what was going on. I've had high blood pressure since I was 25 years old. It doesn't run in my family, and at the time it wasn't weight- I weighed 103 lbs. I have never been overweight. I used to have frequent bad headaches, like 4 to 6 headaches a week! And I have brain waves- it feels like a huge wave in your head. They don't hurt. But I have to be real still until it has passed. When I don't feel well, its like the beach in my head- wave after wave. And the newest weirdness was my arms feeling like they weighed 100 lbs. each. It lasted a few minutes and then was gone. I forgot to mention I have tinnitus, ringing in my ears. I'm a mess. I'm looking for some help/suggestions... Thank you. eLF

DoraMaar wrote:I have not been diagnosed with MS. I found you because I have had weird symptoms all my life and just decided to try and find out what was going on. I've had high blood pressure since I was 25 years old. It doesn't run in my family, and at the time it wasn't weight- I weighed 103 lbs. I have never been overweight. I used to have frequent bad headaches, like 4 to 6 headaches a week! And I have brain waves- it feels like a huge wave in your head. They don't hurt. But I have to be real still until it has passed. When I don't feel well, its like the beach in my head- wave after wave. And the newest weirdness was my arms feeling like they weighed 100 lbs. each. It lasted a few minutes and then was gone. I forgot to mention I have tinnitus, ringing in my ears. I'm a mess. I'm looking for some help/suggestions... Thank you. eLF

Hi DoraMaar & welcome! I'm sorry you're going through this, but this site has a lot of information that may help you on your search for answers.

I am afraid, however, that your important questions may get lost on this really long, old (6 years), generic thread, so my first suggestion is for you to wander around the site, read, explore, and ask us any questions you want! Start your own threads with a specific question in the Subject Line and you should get a lot more responses.

As for my own experience, I had weird symptoms my whole life before I got a surprise diagnosis of MS at age 52, but every one of us seems to have our own unique set of symptoms. I suspect that it's because we also have our own unique set of medical conditions that contribute to them -- even if we DO have MS also.

I, too, have had hard-to-control high blood pressure since age 27, but NONE of my doctors think it's due to the MS. And my neuros all agree that it's impossible to identify which of my innumerable symptoms is from MS and which are from my innumerable other medical conditions (and age).

I'll also point out that we're not experts here -- just patients with a lot of varied experiences & opinions, so you really need to find a good doctor to work with to steer you through the process of testing and examination. Also, the best thing you can do for yourself in the meantime is try to optimize your overall health! It will make any future diagnosis much easier to handle.

Good luck to you!

Last year May, I suddenly started stuttering uncontrollably. It was hell to get a word out. After about two months of tests they did a MRI and saw Dawson's fingers. I am on Rebif now after being diagnosed last November.

The blind spots in my left eye was the FIRST symptom as far as I can recall back in 2011. But the fatigue that set in about 2015 was the worst and most prominent symptom (so far). I wasn't diagnosed until March of this year.

Blurred vision, bowel and bladder problems, numbness, pins and needles, leg weakness. All in first relapse 5 months ago. I believe my first symptom was blurred vision 7-8 years ago.

Three months ago I had pain in my left arm and shoulder. I didn't do anything about it and then woke up one morning with vertigo. At first the emergency room doc said I had blood clots in my jugular vein which was causing emboli which plugged the semi-circular canal on my left side. Then on the third day they did an MRI and said, "Oh, it's MS". I still have pain in the left shoulder, probably from blood clots.