Welcome

Welcome to all who visit this Blog whether you suffer from Multiple Sclerosis or have a loved one who does. Hopefully this will help all who read understand that they are not alone even though MS affects us all in very different ways. Maybe it can help open eyes of those around who do not know the unpredictability of daily life with MS.
The purpose of this blog is to offer support and inspiration. Please feel free to share any useful information that you have gathered along your journey and words of inspiration. It is hard to overcome all the obstacles we must face and it is nice to hear ways people have adapted. Inspirational stories and anectedotes are especially sought after.
If you post and suffer from Vision disabilities you are welcome to post in all capitals and no one will think that you are shouting.
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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

"Just the Facts" from NMSS


This is from the National MS societies brochure called "Just the Facts"
What are the typical symptoms of MS?
Symptoms of MS are unpredictable; they can vary from person to person, and from time to time in the same person. For example: One person may experience abnormal fatigue and episodes of numbness and tingling. Another could have loss of balance and muscle coordination making walking difficult. Still another could have slurred speech, tremors, stiffness and bladder problems. Sometimes major symptoms disappear completely, and the person regains lost functions. In severe MS, people have symptoms on a permanent basis including partial or complete paralysis, and difficulties with vision, cognition, speech and elimination.

What causes the symptoms?
MS symptoms result when an immune system attack affects myelin, the protective insulation surrounding nerve fibers of the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). Myelin is destroyed and replaced by scars of hardened“sclerotic” tissue. Some underlying nerve fibers are permanently severed. The damage appears in multiple places within the central nervous system.  Myelin is often compared to insulating material around an electrical wire; loss of myelin interferes with the transmission of nerve signals.

I have pretty much all the symptoms listed above at one time ,except for paralysis, or another and sometimes all at once.  As I said in the past, the most debilitating for me is the extreme fatigue and walking difficulties.

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