MS “zingers” refer to neuropathic sensations, such as pain or pins and needles, caused by multiple sclerosis-related damage. Treatment can involve medical treatment and avoiding triggers. Do you ever feel sharp, prickling, radiating pain that seems to come out of nowhere?
This is the name for a quick electric shock-like feeling that goes from the base of your neck down your spine and into your arms and legs. The buzzing might spread to your fingers and toes. Lhermitte's tends to happen when you bend your head toward your chest, like when you sneeze or pick something up off the floor.
Brain zaps are sensory disturbances that can feel like electrical shock sensations in the brain. A person may also notice a brief buzzing sound and feel faint or black out momentarily.
Lhermitte's sign. Lhermitte's sign is an electric shock-like feeling that runs down your spine from top to bottom. You may find it continues into your arms and legs. It can be a sign of multiple sclerosis, but also happens in other conditions.
Neuromyelitis optica is often misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis, also known as MS, or is seen as a type of MS . But NMO is a different condition. Neuromyelitis optica can cause blindness, weakness in the legs or arms, and painful spasms.
The term brain zaps has been popularized in association with discontinuing antidepressant medications. However, there are some other situations where people may describe similar sensations. The sensations are not considered harmful unless accompanied by other, more serious symptoms, such as vision changes.
Some people with MS describe a feeling of internal shaking or buzzing. This sensation is harder to assess and tie to a specific cause, but doctors believe it may stem from the same damage that causes visible tremors.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are the most likely antidepressants to cause withdrawal symptoms. Listed according to their risk of causing withdrawal, they include: With a high risk of withdrawal: Desvenlafaxine (Khedezla, Pristiq)
The 'MS hug' is symptom of MS that feels like an uncomfortable, sometimes painful feeling of tightness or pressure, usually around your stomach or chest. The pain or tightness can stretch all around the chest or stomach, or it can be just on one side. The MS hug can feel different from one person to another.
The hot bath test involved lying in a bath of warm water. If this caused or worsened neurological symptoms, it was taken as evidence that the person had multiple sclerosis. This test has not been used for many years. The hot bath test reflects the effect of heat that many people with MS notice.
These include fibromyalgia and vitamin B12 deficiency, muscular dystrophy (MD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), migraine, hypo-thyroidism, hypertension, Beçhets, Arnold-Chiari deformity, and mitochondrial disorders, although your neurologist can usually rule them out quite easily.
Legs like jelly or noodles, or legs that feel heavy like cement — these are some of the ways MyMSTeam members describe leg weakness, a common symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS). Leg weakness can come on suddenly and may happen after exertion, which means physical effort like exercise or heavy activity.
Research Insights About MS and Lifespan
The study, which involved about 34,000 people, including 5,800 with MS, showed that people with the disease lived, on average, to be 75.9 years old. Meanwhile, those without MS lived to an average age of 83.4 years old.
Introduction. Lhermitte's sign (also known as Lhermitte's phenomenon or the barber chair phenomenon) is the term used that describes a transient sensation of an electric shock that extends down the spine and extremities upon flexion and/or movement of the neck.
[1] Theorists speculated that brain and head zaps were caused by low levels of serotonin[2] and how the medications were trying to elevate them.
Minor Seizure Activity – Some theorize that brain zaps could be localized mini-seizures due to GABA withdrawal. However, there is no conclusive evidence supporting this claim.
Gradual tapering off antidepressants under medical supervision can minimize the occurrence of brain zaps. Additionally, strategies that promote relaxation and stress reduction, such as mindfulness and exercise, may help alleviate the intensity and frequency of these episodes.
We know early treatment improves long-term health and wellbeing by slowing down the build up of irreversible damage and reducing the number of relapses people experience. Starting MS treatment early is best but if you start later it can also have some benefits.
At this time, no symptoms, physical findings or laboratory tests can, by themselves, prove that you have multiple sclerosis. To make an MS diagnosis, the physician must: Find evidence of damage in at least two separate areas of the central nervous system.
The term benign MS is sometimes used to describe a version of relapsing remitting MS with very mild or no attacks separated by long periods with no symptoms. 'Benign' means 'something doesn't cause any harm'.