This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Now i've had MRI's in the long past, but I seem to get numbness in my limbs especially when sitting or compression: Noones suspected MS, but this is more of a question of symptoms.

Specifically with any type of neurpathy (Such as numbness).

With MS: Would the numbness be constant? I mean it's from a lesion, so wouldn't you have it ALL the time rather than just specific times during the day (For me it's getting out of my computer chair (Which has poor support) or laying on the couch/bed and laying on an arm or something).

I suspect I probably have BFS, and apparently with BFS stuff can go numb VERY easily. But I mainly a just curious about something like this happening with MS: Would you just have numbness "all the time" while you had a flair up, or would it come and go throughout the day?

Thanks!

Mercfh wrote:Now i've had MRI's in the long past, but I seem to get numbness in my limbs especially when sitting or compression: Noones suspected MS, but this is more of a question of symptoms.

Specifically with any type of neurpathy (Such as numbness).

With MS: Would the numbness be constant? I mean it's from a lesion, so wouldn't you have it ALL the time rather than just specific times during the day (For me it's getting out of my computer chair (Which has poor support) or laying on the couch/bed and laying on an arm or something).

I suspect I probably have BFS, and apparently with BFS stuff can go numb VERY easily. But I mainly a just curious about something like this happening with MS: Would you just have numbness "all the time" while you had a flair up, or would it come and go throughout the day?

Thanks!

That sort of positional numbness you're describing is very unlikely to be due to MS. And I've never understood exactly where "MS numbness" would come from anyway. I get similar numbness in my arms when sitting at the computer, driving, sleeping, & many other positions, then tingling as the numbness goes away when I change positions -- usually my neck (I have NO spinal lesions there).

Mine is very obviously due to my many other medical conditions like these, for example:

**HNPP (Hereditary Neuropathy with Pressure Palsies) causes my peripheral nerves to go numb with pressure -- numbness often even lasting for weeks. It has also caused me to have carpal tunnel in both wrists & elbows.

**Residual spinal issues from a couple of whiplash incidents as a child -- spinal MRIs show quite a bit of deterioration there. When my arms go completely numb at the computer I can usually bring the feeling right back as soon as I turn my neck in the right position for a minute or so. Same thing when I sleep -- all I have to do is move my neck and change position -- then it's gone. The tingling tells me that the feeling (circulation) is coming back.

**I have a little patchy numbness in my feet from my latest issue: major circulation problems in my legs (from my increasing age ).

All of this has gotten steadily worse as I age (I'm now 65) and my peripheral nerves continue to deteriorate (& demyelinate) from the HNPP, but I have NEVER blamed MS for any of it. I'm also told I have a herniated disk, so who knows? And who cares? It wouldn't even matter to me if these WERE exacerbated by MS, because the treatment is the same -- just move my body. Exercise has also been extremely helpful.

And, your arm going numb when you sleep on it is the type of thing that can happen to anyone. In my case, however, the peripheral nerves are especially susceptible to damage from pressure.

Good luck!

P.S. What does "BFS" stand for?

BFS = Benign Fasculation Syndrome.

And thanks, I didn't think it was necessarily MS but it still worries me. I think my legs I feel it a lot partly due to sitting so much (Im a Softrware Developer). So im sure my circulation isn't fantastic.