MS bizarre happenings
Sometimes I do things so strange that blaming it on multiple sclerosis isn’t even fair. Last year I came close to having a bathroom accident trying to make it to the toilet in time before an explosion wiped me out. When I got to the bathroom I barely had enough time to pull my pants down, quickly lift the toilet seat cover, and transfer to the toilet. I didn’t notice anything odd until I pushed the knob to flush the toilet and I could feel water gushing past my bum.
Well I did it again. I discovered that when I lifted the toilet seat cover I actually lifted the seat along with it so I was sitting on the edge of the toilet bowl itself. I came so close to actually falling in the bowl. After a quick shower and a giggle at the absurdity of the event, I replayed what I had done. Out of everything that had happened I blame my right hand for it all. My right hand is more of a paperweight than something of use so when I had lifted the cover I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. The motion of lifting something was all that mattered in the moment.
Will this happen again? Probably.
How can I avoid it? Keep the cover lifted all the time.
With the cover lifted, will my dog make more of a mess than I did? Probably.
Which mess do I want to deal with? I still haven’t determined the answer to that question.
Sometimes bizarre things happen with MS just because it exists. After all, we live with a strange, unpredictable disease. The strangest symptoms I’ve dealt with include:
- Feeling of an internal earthquake taking place inside my body.
- Experiencing ringing in my ears that sometimes is louder than a crowd at a ball game.
- Feeling as if water is dripping on me when I’m no where near a faucet.
- The unrelenting crushing feeling of the MS hug which is more like a tight girdle wrapped around the rib cage.
- Feeling as if food is stuck in my throat when I haven’t eaten anything.
- Involuntary movements of my body like me accidentally kicking the doctor.
- Abnormal sensations on my skin such as burning, pins and needles, and even itching that nothing seems to be able to alleviate.
- Feeling an electrical shock sensation through my arms and legs when I tilt my neck downward.
- Feelings of dizziness and being off-balance which accompanies nausea.
- Experiencing emotional incontinence which brings on uncontrollable laughter or tears.
- Dealing with 3-D illusions like when an object is moving straight towards you but it appears to be swerving and shifting in its path.
It’s necessary for a person on a journey with MS to be able to recognize why coping with their illness is difficult. Knowing these things can help ease the burden, even if only for a little while. You got this.
1. Simplify your life.
Thanks for posting this. I am a weird case, having been diagnosed at 53, presenting with seizures as the impetus for finally being diagnosed. There are SO many things, if you look back on my klutzy, weird-body existence, that if put together, could have pointed some doctor to MS, but no one thought of that. So–I am here now, dealing with it. The thing that made my day is your mention of ringing in my ears–no one had told me that could be involved. Mine drive me nuts. I chalked it up to ‘loud music in the 80s’ though I did not understand why it suddenly was manifesting now. I wanted to say thank you for your writing and encouragement. My neurologist looks at me quizzically still, because I am a bit of an anomaly–but reading your blog and others tell me that like my spectrum children–everyone with MS has a different set of symptoms. Have a great day!
‘My right hand is more of a paperweight than something of use’
So glad to read something like this, oddly!! My left hand is experiencing the same…even though, I’m certain, it would weigh down papers that it was tasked to do, until it *suddenly scattered* them!! …yeah, MS releases control over parts of one’s own body.
What fun, what fun…
MS can bring with it an appreciation for sarcasm!!
Just seeing this.
Great analogy although I am right handed have taught myself to do things left handed – like eating, typing ng(thanks MS)
I just discovered ur page this morning ad feel so incredibly blessed! U are describing things I’ve lived with for the past 45 yrs but wasn’t diagnosed until I was 52, I’m now 68. My dx was BENIGN MS… thats not bad right? It’s just invisibly annoying… the war rages, my body rebels, drs l a bel more issues as IBS-C/D, Urinary incontinence, sexual dysfunction, migraine disease, cardiac issues triggered by MS Autonomic failure, dysphagia, the list goes on but there’s a specialist managing a piece of everything.
But im BENIGN- my lesions aren’t normal standard fare, neurons really hate that. My original tried to disprove it for 2 yrs so concluded MS clinically. Now new neuros want to start all over… I refuse… I’m too old for their trials, I am JC virus positive so that eliminates a host of options, and I too get irritated with all the ” so this and u will cure your MS”.
So sorry for the lengthy intro but reading ur site is so refreshing! Thank you!!!