Numbness and Tingling

[Gary]

I have a question about numbness.

Does it seem that you can feel pressure against the numb area? It seems that I can sort of feel an area if I press hard against it. I can pinch the skin up (like for a shot type of pinch) but no real feeling on the surface. No tingling in the "numb" area. I have the usual muscle pain from spastic muscles. But it seems to be getting worse as far as the numbness. Most of the time if it is REALLY pinched it will elicit a sharp pain.

Actually how I noticed this was a day or so ago I pinched my waist line area on the side, just about above your front pocket on my pants and what happened was my suspenders had work around to the point were it had pinched the skin and I finally notice it hiking up my pants. I sort of scared me when I looked to see why they wouldn't go up when I pulled up on them.

I have developed several areas on both legs. Some times the areas seems bigger than other times. What concerns me is accidentally cutting the skin or an abrasion. Feet and toes especially.



Finally the last whine: do you notice a significant "jump" in your muscles if you have a blood draw? It really hate getting a draw anymore as it is embarrassing that I cant hold still long enough to get the needle in. Not that it is really painful, at least any more so than usual. But I can almost knock the tech on their butt as I jerk so hard. I hate to thing if I have to ever get a ABG draw.

I guess it is yet another lovely MS benefit. I try to not blame everything on MS but still............

Anyone experience this and anyone have ideas or comments. And Howie I don't want to hear the joke about the man that went to the doctor and said "It hurts when I raise my arm" And the Dr. says "well don't raise your arm anymore."

``~Sigh~``

[Lazarus]

I often have large areas that stay numb for weeks at a time. So far, feeling always comes back to be normal. I do not know about what causes the numbness. Maybe these are the areas that end up getting black and blue marks when we don't remember bumping them. Sometimes I have areas that feel ice cold or very hot. These spots also last for weeks and then return to normal. Sounds like your areas of numbness also come and go.

One of my long term recurring symptoms is a monoclonal jerk. These jerks can be strong or weak. Once they start I can have them every few seconds. Then they stop for a few minutes and start up again. They are not painful but very noticeable .sort of a violent shudder.

None of these things interfere with anything I am doing but I can see how your numb areas make you concerned that you might not notice cuts. I guess we will have to rely on the panicked looks on the faces of our families!
Linda

[Cherie]

For years now there is not any rhyme nor reason seemingly to the spots that go numb, burn, feel like water dripping on them, tingle, get momentary jabbing pain. There's almost always something that falls under one of those categories the past 5 years most of the time. Prior to that it was episodic. Most nights I am absolutely convinced David's hand is on my hip as we prepare to doze off but it almost never is. I just feel the warmth and weight of a hand. And sometimes as Linda says, there is bruising where it is numb as if I am trying to stimulate circulation or feeling and may "over do" it causing bruising.

[Catdancer]

I hate to say this, as it seems like I'm trying to "one up" everyone.."hey, you got numbness in spots? *I've* been numb since 1985!!!"

Only problem is, it's true. Almost since diagnosis, my feet have been numb -- they feel like they're "asleep", like when you've pressed a nerve in your ankle or other part of your limb, and caused that numby/tingly feeling.

And then the feeling rather quickly moved up through legs, thighs, and on up, stopping mid torso, just below my ...uh...boobs. Now the farther down I go, the less sensation there is. In my case a good thing, as I have no pain attached to the pressure sore, so little that the doctor was able to dig around in there and snip off a piece of tailbone all without anesthetic of any kind...just could feel the added pressure of his hands.

But of course the "no pain" thing is an issue, like the time I was cooking on the stovetop, forgetting that I was also roasting something in the oven, and was leaning on the oven door....good thing I was wearing jeans. The old badly sealed oven through the jeans only gave me first degree burns. Or the time I was cooking breakfast half naked (never a good thing), spoiled hot bacon grease on my leg...second and third degree burns that time. Or the time I slipped, transferring from the toilet to the wheelchair, slammed into the armrests on the chair, badly bruising my side and kidney, not really knowing that until the next day when my husband saw this huge bruise from butt up to about mid back, and I was complaining of a "little muscle pain" in the area.


I always test shower water with my hands/ arms first before sticking legs in there. The numbness has never subsided for me, only increased.

As for the muscle spasms...only happens with my legs. Even the slightest pressure or position change can trigger them. Arms, so far, haven't been affected .

So yeah, a couple of those ms things...

[Howie]

Cat, I have numb toes too. They don't really cause a problem, except because of my poor balance, I'm always crashing my feet into things and don't take notice until later, when I take off my socks for bed. Then I'll see damage and think "boy, I'll bet that hurt"!

And my right arm is numb from shoulder to fingertips and I'm right handed. I can no longer hold a pen or pencil, so I write left handed now.

That's pretty much all the numbness. Tingling seem to be a part of the numbness for me. Poor balance is the biggest issue.

[agate]

I hate to say this, as it seems like I'm trying to "one up" everyone.."hey, you got numbness in spots? *I've* been numb since 1985!!!"

Only problem is, it's true. Almost since diagnosis, my feet have been numb -- they feel like they're "asleep", like when you've pressed a nerve in your ankle or other part of your limb, and caused that numby/tingly feeling.

And then the feeling rather quickly moved up through legs, thighs, and on up, stopping mid torso, just below my ...uh...boobs. Now the farther down I go, the less sensation there is. In my case a good thing, as I have no pain attached to the pressure sore, so little that the doctor was able to dig around in there and snip off a piece of tailbone all without anesthetic of any kind...just could feel the added pressure of his hands.

But of course the "no pain" thing is an issue, like the time I was cooking on the stovetop, forgetting that I was also roasting something in the oven, and was leaning on the oven door....good thing I was wearing jeans. The old badly sealed oven through the jeans only gave me first degree burns. Or the time I was cooking breakfast half naked (never a good thing), spoiled hot bacon grease on my leg...second and third degree burns that time. Or the time I slipped, transferring from the toilet to the wheelchair, slammed into the armrests on the chair, badly bruising my side and kidney, not really knowing that until the next day when my husband saw this huge bruise from butt up to about mid back, and I was complaining of a "little muscle pain" in the area.


I always test shower water with my hands/ arms first before sticking legs in there. The numbness has never subsided for me, only increased.

As for the muscle spasms...only happens with my legs. Even the slightest pressure or position change can trigger them. Arms, so far, haven't been affected .

So yeah, a couple of those ms things...

And yet a couple of days ago you said this:

One of the first things in gonna make when I get home is cheesecake. It's Tom Cat and the furkids favorite, and with everyone ailing and or missing mommas, they need a treat! The recipe I have is really simple, cream cheese, eggs, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, beat until smooth, pour into a Graham cracker crust (which I cheat on, and buy ready made), bake awhile, stick into the fridge and wait impatiently til the thing cools enough to inhale....uh....slice thin and eat daintily. Nah, inhale.....

Easy though it may be, why not put off the cheesecake plan a while?

Just a thought.

I find that cooking is an activity where things can be going along really well for a while, and then my hands and eyesight start to get weird, and that's usually at the very time when I most need them to be working well--taking something in or out of the oven, for instance.

What's scary is how fast I can crumble. I'll be puttering over something in the kitchen, peeling and slicing and dicing or mixing and beating and scooping, and then I drop something or cut myself. OK, so I did that, I think, and I keep on going. Then something else happens. Maybe I drop a whole bowl of batter on the floor. Cleaning it up and starting over takes more energy. The kitchen meanwhile is probably getting hotter as an oven preheats.

By the time the job is done, it's done badly and I'm a wreck. I've taken the easy way. I open my cabinets and find mixing bowls and loaf pans that have sat there unused for 6 years now. And that's all right. There are lots of pretty edible easy foods out there these days.

[Sunshine]

Yup. I get numb spots on my back. I also get spots on the feet that feel like they're starting to numb up but it's an illusion because I can feel touch.

The jumping sounds awful.

[Gary]

Agate does have a point.......for what its worth I am the king of "Its a good day so I should do way too much " and then I spend the next couple days recovering. Especially after a hospital stay. I feel so glad to be out and it usually ends about the same way.

[agate]

Thanks for the support, Gary. There are a number of people here who are striving for the workaholic award.

[Gary]

Thanks for the support, Gary. There are a number of people here who are striving for the workaholic award.

Yes there are Cherie and I have been having this argument for nearly 15 years. Good grief that is way too many years to be sick. Yeah I know, I know.....but you look so good!

[Catdancer]

Yeah, well I haven't tackled anything tough in the kitchen just yet. Did make pizza: everything, including the crust, was already frozen. So it was a matter of defrosting, putting together, then Tom Cat took over cuz he likes to operate the pizza oven he bought me for Christmas last year. Interesting c contraption: has a pizza stone base, lid with broiler built in. Plug it in, get it hot (about 5 minutes), slide in the pizza onto the hot stone, close cover. About 7 minutes later, dinner is served. Well, also salad from a bag, and store bought carrot cake. I love carrot cake, but have never made it. Don't know why.

And then "dump soup". Take out crock pot. Dump in one can black bean, one whole corn with peppers added, one can chili beans, one can tRo-tel diced tomatoes with peppers, two cans other plain diced tomatoes. Threw in about a half cup frozen peas I found while digging out the pizza ingredients the night before, a can of chicken broth, and the really tough part: defrosted and chopped up a chicken breast (skinless), dumped that in. Nothing else, no other spices, no other prep.

(if your really lazy, omit chicken. Add a can of mixed vegetables if you want. Or omit the chicken and stock, and it becomes totally vegetarian. Or add leftover beef and beef stock. Or leftover chicken from that doggie bag. Or whatever strikes your fancy.be creative).

When you're done dumping stuff in, turn crock pot on high, come back in 3-4 hours and eat. Or on low, all day. Don't have a crock pot? Dump it in a large kettle, bring to a boil, then turn heat down to simmer and let it simmer for a few hours. But then you have to come back and stir it every hour or so (not with the crock pot). Makes gobs, like most soups tastes even better the next day, freezes well. Most complicated cooking skill: opening all the cans. I have one of those manual can openers that breaks the seal rather than actually cutting the can, so don't even have to worry about sharp can edges.

Then roast beef or roast chicken from the deli sandwiches for lunches. With bagged salad (I love that stuff!). Some baby carrots and baby tomatoes for an afternoon snack. Our usual toasted muffin for breakfast. So nothing big so far.

Maybe later today I'll throw the half ham in the oven that Tom Cat came home with, when he went to the store for more muffins and milk. That's easy too: score the top (where there's fat), sprinkle on a little ground cloves (I'm much too lazy to stick in the whole cloves), set cut down in a roasting pan, add some water, no more than a quarter inch, probably less). Cover tightly with aluminum foil, throw in 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes per pound -- assuming this is one of those already cooked heat and eat varieties, which most of them are, these days). When done,pull off cover, set on platter, cut off excess fat and discard, slice and eat. Leftovers can then be used for a myriad of quick meals.

Maybe I should start a Lazy Cooking with Cat column. We could all add quick uncomplicated dishes we use, or have created over the years, either out of laziness, or have adapted as our abilities or energy have decreased...

[stillstANNding]

Yes to "Lazy Cooking with Cat" thread.

ANN

[agate]

Definitely another vote for that idea!

[Howie]

Or a good TV show. I watch a bunch of cooking shows. I would never try any of the dishes they make, but I love to watch them being made.

[Gary]

I am looking into that pizza oven thing. I cant resist a new contraption and one that makes something I like is even better. To be honest I never ate pizza growing up. In our house we never ate anything that you had to pick up to eat, besides bread at every meal lol. That means lots of things corn on the cob,hamburgers fried chicken etc. It had to be cut up or we didn't eat it at the table.