Odd Question

[boylecen]

OK this may sound odd to ask, but over the past 10 years I have been blaming my symptoms on fibro, and degenerative discs (some known and others I assumed were develoing) and so I have learned to ignore certain symptoms like pain and numbness. So can you describe the feeling of numbness to me. Is it the lack of sensation or is that seperate? And is that a symptom? Is it the fuzzy feeling like when your foot falls asleep when you sit on it? I understand tingling, thats kinda obvious, but this "numbness" thing.. I have to sit and concentrate on each part of my body to check it for numbness. I have had a decrease in sensation to my fingers, hands, feet for a while now-and can't determine temperature either...is that part of it?? anyway, thanks.

[hunterd]

debbie, i also have "lost feeling" in toes. the best way i can describe it is,' that feeling of when you have a slowed reaction time to stimuli'. when i get that feeling, i ask my wife or kids to move my feet around. they know what works for me. it actually hurts when it happens to me. i get a dull throbing sensation, kinda like a cramp that needs worked out. hope that helped more than it confused. good luck.

dave

[Jensequitur]

Numbness for me feels very much like the novocaine they give you at the dentist. You can touch the area with a finger, and your finger says you've touched something, but the skin that you've touched doesn't give you a signal. Or it's a reduced signal, like you're wearing pantyhose, or feeling it through fabric.

I have numbness on the left and right side of my face, my fingers, my arms, my back, my hips, both legs, and both feet. It's patchy and all over. I've given up trying to chronicle the numbness - there's too much of it.

[kudos]

I think it can also be more subtle, where theres parts of your skin that feel less sensitive to touch than the used to, like if you had your foot in icewater--theres sensation, just less. But mine is really patchy, kinda numb here but not there and at least for now comes and goes. Mainly in my feet and legs, its really subtle. I have a syrinx (syringohydromyelia) in my spine--basically a fluid filled cavity in my spinal cord. Always thought this was causing it but maybe its the MS.

[nightflyer]

The numbness I have is as tho the body part is asleep or some parts feel as tho I'm wearing a wetsuit and other times as tho the part is dead.

[JoanFrances]

the numbness for me is a strange thing. I can see that I am touching my leg, hand or what ever but can't feel it at all

I remember waking up one night and not being able to feel anything from the neck down to the point I wasn't even sure what end of the bed I was laying on

Another time I dropped a bead of hot solder on my finger that happened to have flux on it too. Instant burn, (3rd degree). All I felt, (thank God, in one sense) was a sting that lasted for days. The flux caused the solder to stick to my finger instead of just falling off.

Another wonderful blessing (if you want call it that) about the numbness is when I had all my teeth out, I only took 3 of the pain pills they gave me, and I only took them cause I was scared it would hurt. Never felt a thing, not so much as a twinge.

With the level of numbness I have, I have to be very careful of everything I do

[smokeycat]

When I first noticed something was wrong it was because I had a decrease in sensation in my legs. Now 15 years later, my feet and legs have that feeling. Some may call it a numbness but I can still feel when something touches them or when wind blows on them but there is a decrease in sensation for sure. I think it's those plaques covering those dang nerves. I have a few other places with that sensation too. That is the reason they tell us to be careful with hot water, stoves and such.

[boylecen]

Thanks

Thanks everyone for your help. I am tapering off a prednisone dose (my PCP was kind enough to perscribe to see if it helped-no dx yet) And all the numbness,and cog fog and most of the fatigue went away for almost a week and now that I'm at thw end of my tapering-few days left, my symptoms are returning and the "numbness" is now more easily recognizable on its return. It seems to be in a few spots persistantly and yet others sorta "float" in and out. Does anyone else have this??