Medical IDs for Multiple Sclerosis

MS symptoms vary from person to person, they’re often unpredictable and some symptoms can even change over time. Most people won’t experience the same symptoms.  

According to the MS Society, there is a long list of symptoms, and they vary widely from person to person. Possible symptoms for MS include these: 

• MS Hug (Dysesthesia): Often a first symptom of MS or a relapse, an MS hug is a squeezing sensation around the torso that feels like a blood pressure cuff when it tightens.  

• Weakness: Weakness in MS, which results from deconditioning of unused muscles or damage to nerves that stimulate muscles, can be managed with rehabilitation strategies and the use of mobility aids and other assistive devices. 

• Fatigue: Occurs in about 80% of people, can significantly interfere with the ability to function at home and work, and may be the most prominent symptom in a person who otherwise has minimal activity limitations. 

• Walking (Gait) Difficulties: Related to several factors including weakness, spasticity, loss of balance, sensory deficit and fatigue, and can be helped by physical therapy, assistive therapy and medications. 

• Numbness or Tingling: Numbness of the face, body, or extremities (arms and legs) is often the first symptom experienced by those eventually diagnosed as having MS. 

• Spasticity: Refers to feelings of stiffness and a wide range of involuntary muscle spasms; can occur in any limb, but it is much more common in the legs. 

• Vision Problems: The first symptom of MS for many people. Optic neuritis, neuromyelitis optica, blurred vision, poor contrast or color vision, and pain on eye movement can be frightening — and should be evaluated promptly. 

• Vertigo and Dizziness: People with MS may feel off balance or lightheaded, or — much less often — have the sensation that they or their surroundings are spinning (vertigo). 

• Bladder Problems: Bladder dysfunction, which occurs in at least 80% of people with MS, can usually be managed quite successfully with medications, fluid management, and intermittent self-catheterization. 

• Bowel Problems: Constipation is a particular concern among people with MS, as is loss of control of the bowels. Bowel issues can typically be managed through diet, adequate fluid intake, physical activity and medication. 

• Pain & Itching: Pain syndromes are common in MS. In one study, 55% of people with MS had “clinically significant pain” at some time, and almost half had chronic pain. 

• Cognitive Changes: Refers to a range of high-level brain functions affected in more than 50% of people with MS, including the ability to process incoming information, learn and remember new information, organize and problem-solve, focus attention and accurately perceive the environment. 

• Emotional Changes: Can be a reaction to the stresses of living with MS as well as the result of neurologic and immune changes. Anxiety, mood swings, irritability, and episodes of uncontrollable laughing and crying pose significant challenges for people with MS and their families. 

• Depression: Studies have suggested that clinical depression — the severest form of depression — is among the most common symptoms of MS. It is more common among people with MS than it is in the general population or in persons with many other chronic, disabling conditions. Depression can be both a primary symptom and/or triggered by the challenges of the disease itself. 

Because the symptoms of MS can vary so widely, medical IDs for multiple sclerosis can add an immense sense of relief and safety to those living with the condition.