Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis

List of symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis:

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Multiple Sclerosis includes the 53 symptoms listed below:

• Variable symptoms - mild or severe, long-lasting or brief. There are numerous possible symptoms because any area of the spine may be affected.
• Mild symptoms
• Sensation changes
• Movement symptoms
• Vision problems
  • Blurred vision
  • Double vision
  • Red-green color distortion
  • Blindness in one eye
  • Eye pain
  • Rapid involuntary eye movement
  • Flashing lights
  • Partial vision loss
  • Vision impairment in one eye
• Muscle problems
  • Muscle weakness
  • Coordination difficulty
  • Clumsiness
  • Balance difficulty
  • Unsteady gait
  • Limb tremor
  • Arm tremor
  • Leg tremor
  • Limb stiffness
• Nerve problems
  • Paresthesias (pins and needles)
  • Pain
  • Loss of feeling
  • Numbness
  • Hand tingling
  • Hand paresthesias
  • Foot tingling
  • Foot paresthesias
  • Facial paresthesias
  • Facial tingling
  • Babinski sign - a particular abnormal foot reflex
  • Abnormal foot reflexes
• Mental problems
  • Cognitive impairments
  • Concentration difficulties
  • Attention difficulties
  • Memory difficulties
  • Judgment difficulties
• Speech disorders
  • Slurred speech
• Incontinence
• Bladder incontinence
  • Bladder control problems
• Bowel incontinence
• Paralysis
• Impotence
• Balance disorders
• Emotional symptoms

Note that Multiple Sclerosis symptoms usually refers to various symptoms known to a patient, but the phrase Multiple Sclerosis signs may refer to those signs only noticable by a doctor.

More ways to research these symptoms: To research other symptoms use the symptom center, or to research causes of more than one symptom in combination, try our multi-symptom search.

Research More About Multiple Sclerosis

Do I have Multiple Sclerosis?

• Multiple Sclerosis: Introduction
• Multiple Sclerosis: Diagnostic Testing to confirm diagnosis
• Alternative diagnoses and misdiagnosis for Multiple Sclerosis
• Failure to Diagnose Multiple Sclerosis
• How serious is it?
• Treatments for Multiple Sclerosis
• More about Multiple Sclerosis

Wrongly Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis?

The list of other diseases or medical conditions that may be on the differential diagnosis list of alternative diagnoses for Multiple Sclerosis includes:

• Mental illness
• Single sclerosis
• Spinal disorders
• Spinal stenosis
• Other causes of numbness

See the full list of 51 alternative diagnoses for Multiple Sclerosis

More about symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis:

More information about symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis and related conditions:

• Other diseases with similar symptoms and common misdiagnoses
• Tests to determine if these are the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
• Symptoms that may be caused by complications of Multiple Sclerosis
• Underlying causes of Multiple Sclerosis
• Risk factors for Multiple Sclerosis

Other Possible Causes of these Symptoms

Click on any of the symptoms below to see a full list of other causes including diseases, medical conditions, toxins, drug interactions, or drug side effect causes of that symptom.

• Abnormal foot reflexes - see all causes of Reflex symptoms
• Arm tremor - see all causes of Arm tremor
• Attention difficulties - see all causes of Inattention
• Balance difficulty - see all causes of Balance symptoms
• Balance disorders - see all causes of Balance symptoms
• Bladder control problems - see all causes of Urinary incontinence
• Bladder incontinence - see all causes of Bladder incontinence
• Blindness in one eye - see all causes of Blindness in one eye
• Blurred vision - see all causes of Blurred vision
• Bowel incontinence - see all causes of Bowel incontinence
• Clumsiness - see all causes of Clumsiness
• Cognitive impairments - see all causes of Cognitive impairment
• Concentration difficulties - see all causes of Concentration difficulty
• Coordination difficulty - see all causes of Coordination problems
• Double vision - see all causes of Double vision
• Emotional symptoms - see all causes of Emotional symptoms
• Eye pain - see all causes of Eye pain
• Facial paresthesias - see all causes of Tingling face
• Facial tingling - see all causes of Tingling face
• Flashing lights - see all causes of Flashes
• Foot paresthesias - see all causes of Foot paresthesia
• Foot tingling - see all causes of Foot paresthesia
• Hand paresthesias - see all causes of Hand paresthesia
• Hand tingling - see all causes of Hand paresthesia
• Impotence - see all causes of Impotence
• Incontinence - see all causes of Incontinence
• Judgment difficulties - see all causes of Cognitive impairment
• Leg tremor - see all causes of Tremor
• Limb stiffness - see all causes of Stiffness
• Limb tremor - see all causes of Tremor symptoms
• Loss of feeling - see all causes of Detachment
• Memory difficulties - see all causes of Forgetfulness
• Mental problems - see all causes of Mental problems
• Mild symptoms - see all causes of Vague symptoms
• Movement symptoms - see all causes of Movement symptoms
• Muscle problems - see all causes of Muscle symptoms
• Muscle weakness - see all causes of Muscle weakness
• Nerve problems - see all causes of Nerve symptoms
• Numbness - see all causes of Numbness
• Pain - see all causes of Pain
• Paralysis - see all causes of Paralysis symptoms
• Paresthesias (pins and needles) - see all causes of Tingling
• Partial vision loss - see all causes of Vision loss
• Rapid involuntary eye movement - see all causes of Eye twitching
• Red-green color distortion - see all causes of Eye symptoms
• Sensation changes - see all causes of Sensations
• Slurred speech - see all causes of Slurred speech
• Speech disorders - see all causes of Speech disorders
• Unsteady gait - see all causes of Unsteady gait
• Variable symptoms
• Vision impairment in one eye - see all causes of Vision loss
• Vision problems - see all causes of Vision changes

Medical Books Online about Multiple Sclerosis

16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Full text. Free access without registration. The full text of published medical book chapters related to Multiple Sclerosis is available from published medical books for more detailed information about Multiple Sclerosis.

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

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Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis: Online Medical Books

16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Review the full text of medical books online, free, without registration, for more information about the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

Clinical findings in MS depend on the extent and site of myelin destruction, the extent of remyelination, and the adequacy of subsequent restored synaptic transmission.

Signs and symptoms in MS may be transient, or they may last for hours or weeks. They may wax and wane with no predictable pattern, vary from day to day, and be bizarre and difficult for the patient to describe.

In most patients, visual problems and sensory impairment, such as numbness and tingling sensations (paresthesia), are the first signs that something may be wrong.

Other characteristic changes include:

❑ocular disturbances: optic neuritis, diplopia, ophthalmoplegia, blurred vision, and nystagmus

❑muscle dysfunction: weakness, paralysis ranging from monoplegia to quadriplegia, spasticity, hyperreflexia, intention tremor, and gait ataxia

❑urinary disturbances: incontinence, frequency, urgency, and frequent infections

❑emotional lability: characteristic mood swings, irritability, euphoria, and depression.

Associated signs and symptoms include poorly articulated or scanning speech and dysphagia. Clinical effects may be so mild that the patient is unaware of them or so bizarre that he appears hysterical.

READ FULL BOOK TEXT ONLINE »

Article Excerpts About Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis:

NINDS Multiple Sclerosis Information Page: NINDS (Excerpt)

Symptoms of MS may be mild or severe and of long duration or short and appear in various combinations. The initial symptom of MS is often blurred or double vision, red-green color distortion, or even blindness in one eye. Most MS patients experience muscle weakness in their extremities and difficulty with coordination and balance. Most people with MS also exhibit paresthesias, transitory abnormal sensory feeling such as numbness or "pins and needles." Some may experience pain or loss of feeling. About half of people with MS experience cognitive impairments such as difficulties with concentration, attention, memory, and judgment. Such impairments are usually mild, rarely disabling, and intellectual and language abilities are generally spared. Heat may cause temporary worsening of many MS symptoms. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Multiple Sclerosis Information Page: NINDS)

Neuromuscular Diseases: NWHIC (Excerpt)

Numbness, weakness, tingling or paralysis in one or more limbs, impaired vision and eye pain, tremor, lack of coordination or unsteady gait, and rapid involuntary eye movement. A history of at least two episodes of a cluster of symptoms is necessary for a diagnosis of MS. Because MS affects the central nervous system, symptoms may be misdiagnosed as mental illness. (Source: excerpt from Neuromuscular Diseases: NWHIC)

Multiple Sclerosis as a Cause of Symptoms or Medical Conditions

When considering symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, it is also important to consider Multiple Sclerosis as a possible cause of other medical conditions. The Disease Database lists the following medical conditions that Multiple Sclerosis may cause:

• 5th cranial nerve disorder
• Cerebellar syndrome
• Chronic brain failure
• Constipation
• CSF lymphocytosis
• Demyelination, central nervous system
• Dizzyness
• Erectile dysfunction
• Fasciculation
• Fits
• Gliosis
• Horner's syndrome
• Incontinence, urine
• Internuclear ophthalmoplegia
• Lhermitte sign
• Muscle weakness
• Neurogenic bladder
• Neuromyelitis optica
• Nystagmus
• Oligoclonal bands (CSF)
• Optic atrophy
• Optic neuritis
• Papillitis
• Paresthesiae
• Pruritus
• Pseudobulbar palsy
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Sensorineural hearing loss
• SIADH
• Spastic ataxia
• Taste disturbance
• Upper motor neurone lesion
• Uveitis

Medical articles and books on symptoms:

These general reference articles may be of interest in relation to medical signs and symptoms of disease in general:

• Diagnostic Testing for a Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis
• Research Alternative Diagnoses for Multiple Sclerosis
• How serious is Multiple Sclerosis?
• More about Multiple Sclerosis
• Online Diagnosis
• Self Diagnosis Pitfalls
• Pitfalls of Online Diagnosis
• Symptoms of the Silent Killer Diseases
• Lesser known silent killer diseases
• Books on signs and symptoms

Full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis

About signs and symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis:

The symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis. This signs and symptoms information for Multiple Sclerosis has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of Multiple Sclerosis signs or Multiple Sclerosis symptoms. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they are indeed Multiple Sclerosis symptoms.