My hand is numb. Is it MS again?

Oh, no. Not again. I woke up in the wee hours of the night and realized one hand was completely numb. Even though I was awake, this single paw was still asleep. Did multiple sclerosis cause this?

It’s happened before. MS has knocked out the feeling in one hand, one foot, or another random body part before. It’s not uncommon for that to happen to an MSer. And the feeling usually returns at some point. Maybe it takes a few minutes, a couple hours, or even several days. But it always seems to come back.

I shook my hand a little. I tried to wiggle my fingers. They worked. I made a weak fist, and my hand started to tingle.

Those are good signs, I thought.

Still, my hand was asleep. And it felt cool to the touch. I groaned and wondered: What’s this all about?

I quickly considered several possible reasons for this strange loss of sensation in one mitt. Surely it wasn’t a stroke, a spinal cord injury, or another particularly scary occurrence.  I hadn’t caught frostbite in the night, huddled under my cozy quilt. I was pretty sure I had not suddenly picked up carpal tunnel syndrome while sleeping.  I don’t have diabetes, Raynaud’s disease, Lyme disease, or another potentially numbing disorder – except MS.

Did MS make my hand go numb while I dozed?

I clicked on my bedside light and looked at my hand.

Aha! There’s the culprit.

I had a spare hair tie looped around my wrist, which must have swollen somewhat while I slept. I slipped the band off and spotted the ring-like indentation in my skin.

Sometimes there really is a simple explanation.

Now, that’s a relief – this time around.

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Ever have a surplus of energy with MS?

Fatigue is a hallmark of multiple sclerosis. We get that. Sudden overwhelming exhaustion affects nearly everybody who battles MS.

Yup.

But if you have MS, have you ever experienced a seemingly random day (or even a few hours) of amazingly high energy? Ever surprised yourself with everything you were able to accomplish on a certain day?

That just happened to me. And it’s not the first time.

I’m not complaining. Just puzzled.

Maybe it’s not random at all. It just feels that way.

Once in a blue moon, I get to have a day when my head doesn’t throb or spin. My vision isn’t foggy and color-dim. Nothing hurts (at least too much). And I feel like checking all sorts of things off my never-ending to-do list.

 

It’s only noon, and I’ve already:

• baked a banana bundt cake from scratch
• changed the cat litter box
• cleaned out the refrigerator
• cooked a full breakfast
• loaded and emptied the dishwasher twice
• mended a pair of trousers
• polished the wood furniture
• prepared, published and posted a client newsletter
• refilled my bird feeders
• reorganized my pantry
• run a couple of laundry loads
• switched out the bedsheets
• taken out the trash
• tidied up my craft cupboard
• treated myself to a do-it-yourself facial
• updated a website
• walked the dogs
• wrapped a couple of birthday gifts
• written and mailed all my Christmas thank-you notes

… and I’m not through yet.

What a Saturday morning!

Maybe this is how the non-MS world feels all the time.

Tomorrow I’ll be tired. I’ll wonder what I was possibly thinking to go after so many projects today.

But I’ll still count it as worth the effort.

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