Pins and needles - first sign of MS?

[MojoJojo71]

For the last few days I’ve had intermittent pins and needles and a sort of numb feeling in my left pinky and ring finger and down the side of my left hand. This morning I also have a weird tingly feeling and numbness in my left big toe. My mum was diagnosed with MS about 30 years ago, first relapsing remitting and then secondary progressive and and is now severely disabled and in chronic pain. I’m aware that as the daughter of a sufferer I have about 1 in 67 chance of getting MS and I’m terrified this may be the start of it. I can’t talk to my mum about it as I know she’d be devastated if I had it too.

Anybody with MS out there willing to share their first symptoms with me? Do you think I should speak to my doctor or wait and see if it goes away? I was even googling prices of private MRI scans last night!

I had this recently (thought the same as you) and it turned out the be a problem with my spine. It’s sorted now, but it did give me a bit of a jump.

That’s reassuring. I did actually have a pain in my back a week or so ago, I thought I’d pulled a muscle and it sorted itself out after test and a long hot bath but maybe it is a back thing. Did you go to the Gp? I’m worried they’ll just dismiss it as nothing

I went to the GP for (loads of) blood tests and also to an osteopath as I’d hurt my neck. Both came to the same conclusion (thankfully).

Pins and needles/numbness can be caused by lots of things, not just MS, although I can understand you have the extra worry as your mum has it.
You need to see your GP and get some tests done, it can be something as ‘simple’ as a b12 deficiency for example. Try not to worry until you know, but you definitely should get some tests done.

Thanks, I think I’ll give them a call in the morning. It’ll probably take so long to get an appointment that it might have gone away by then

My DSis had similar and was similarly afraid, it was a neck/spine issue. Did need surgery, but was all sorted fairly simply and she's fine now!

For my paternal grandmother, father and my mother, the first symptom (though tbh only with the benefit of hindsight) was unexplained falls. The next most obvious symptom for my Dad was his left leg not quite doing what he wanted it to do.

Thanks @1990s

Hopefully it’ll be something like that. Strange that spinal surgery sounds like the better option though.

Thanks @DentonsFringeArnottsWaistcoat

Sorry to hear you have so many family members who have been affected. I haven’t noticed any mobility issues but I have hypermobility and fall regularly anyway so not sure I’d be able to tell the difference!

Years ago I developed a lot of symptoms over the space of a few weeks -
Widespread numbness and tingling
Electric zapping sensations
Feeling like there was a huge lump in throat
Urinary urgency and frequency
Falling over
Unsteadiness when walking, felt like I was walking on clouds
Vision problems

All pointed to MS. My GP ordered blood tests first and it turned out I was severely deficient in B12 and folate,easily treated although I still have numbness in my hands and feet.

Good luck with your GP op x

OP just wanted to say that medication for MS has massively moved on since your mum was diagnosed and end results aren't always terrififying as they used to be.

@Farevalah that must have been scary. Glad it ended up being done thing straightforward to treat and that your doing ok. 🤞that’ll be the same for me.

@ScarfsForAllSeasons I keep reminding myself of that too. My background is pharmacology (although I’m a midwife now) so I’d be seeking out meds ASAP if I was to be diagnosed

I have MS and I'm often worried my children will have it too.

I went down the hit it hard route. I'd do it a again. No regrets.

Good luck, hope its a easy solution for you.

I've suffered from pins and needles on and off since I was 35. Both caused by B12 deficiency and anxiety.

@MojoJojo71

Thanks *@DentonsFringeArnottsWaistcoat*

Sorry to hear you have so many family members who have been affected. I haven’t noticed any mobility issues but I have hypermobility and fall regularly anyway so not sure I’d be able to tell the difference!

I do think, sometimes, I’m probably going to get diagnosed with it at some point, but I don’t let the thought rule my life or worry me. Like you and other PPs I have also had a bout of weird symptoms, including numbness and pins and needles. And also like other PPs it turned out to be a deficiency of B12 and folates, all controlled with drugs and injections now. Best wishes to you OP……

B12 deficiency causes pins and needles and numbness for me - hopefully it’s something like that. But with your family history it’s definitely worth getting it investigated.

I had tingling in my hands and arms, it would wake me at night. Turned out to be low ferritin.

Finally plucked up the courage to make an appointment. Had phone triage this morning with nurse practitioner who reminded me that there are lots of other explanations and not to jump straight to MS. I’ve got a face to face appointment and for some bloods next Wednesday. 🤞

Hope all turns out ok @MojoJojo71
I've been having pins and needles lately and my arms feeling 'dead' and then last night my face felt as though it was was twitching. Im terrified.

A lot of posters on here saying it was a problem with their spine, what was the problem, just because I have scoliosis (curved spine) and wondering if it could be that.

@OneMoreTime18 it could well be. There’s lots of reasons why it can happen and hopefully it’ll be something straightforward. Have you spoken to your doctor? I’ve been putting it off and putting it off but it’s best to get things checked out.

I've had these symptoms and it turned out to be anxiety.

I can see your post is a few days old ,so it’s probably not this . But I’m posting just to educate and inform people. This awful illness starts with pins and needles and can be very serious . My dd had it oh her first year of uni . She’s well now , 6 years on, but it was awful at the time. .

Oops. Forgot to add this to my post of 17.39 earlier today

Quick update. I spoke to the doctor and we had a conversation about blood tests, nerve conduction tests etc and then asked me to come in for a face to face appointment. When I went to see them though they backtracked about the tests (i’ve a feeling this has something to do with the national shortage of blood test bottles) and said they thought it might be carpal tunnel and asked me to wear a wrist brace for a few weeks to see if that helped. He even actually said ‘if it is MS a few weeks delay in diagnosis won’t make any difference’!

I had a week of annual leave from work where I wore it 24/7 but when I went back to work I couldn’t work with the wrist brace on (NHS, clinical role) so I wore it outside of work for another week and it made absolutely no difference. I’ve also now got weird tingly numb feeling in the whole of my right foot it’s definitely not carpal tunnel. I rang the doctor on Wednesday and they’ve arranged me to go in for blood tests on Monday. Once they’ve got the results of these then I’ll make a decision about whether I need nerve conductance tests or a referral but to be honest now I’ve got this funny feeling in my foot I don’t think I’ll be happy until I’ve had an MRI