Can MS cause cold feet?

Doctors believe that MS can cause blood vessels in your hands and feet to overreact to cold temperatures. If you have MS, you may also be at risk for Raynaud's phenomenon, a condition in which your fingers and toes lose heat.

What neurological condition causes cold feet?

One medical cause for cold feet is a condition called peripheral neuropathy, the term for damage to nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord. If your feet are cold and you feel a burning sensation — or you feel as if you are walking on a cloud — you might have peripheral neuropathy.

Does MS make you feel cold?

Sensitivity to cold is not as well-known as heat sensitivity but both occur quite frequently in MS. Just to confuse things, some people are sensitive to both heat and cold so the temperature needs to be just right for them to feel at their best.

How does MS affect your feet?

Foot drop, or dropped foot, is a symptom of multiple sclerosis caused by weakness in the ankle or disruption in the nerve pathway between the legs and the brain. This disruption means it is difficult to lift the front of the foot to the correct angle during walking.

What does MS feel like in feet?

A condition that doctors call “erythromelalgia” is a painful MS symptom that affects the feet. The feet may feel tight or swollen as well as have a burning sensation.

Cold Feet Information, Treatment

What were your first signs of multiple sclerosis?

Where do you itch with MS?

Itchy sensations can occur virtually anywhere on your body, usually involving both sides. For example, both arms, legs, or both sides of your face might be involved. Occasionally, though, the itchiness may be confined to a single location, usually an arm or leg.

Does MS start in your feet?

Numbness and tingling can occur in your feet, legs, hands, arms or face. In my example, it started in my feet and then spread to my legs. I had a subsequent relapse where I experienced numbness and tingling from my face to my toes on my right side.

What does MS foot drop look like?

Some people with multiple sclerosis develop foot drop (sometimes called “drop foot”), a weakness in the ankle and foot muscles that makes it hard to flex the ankle and walk with a normal heel-toe pattern, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS).

What mimics multiple sclerosis?

These include fibromyalgia and vitamin B12 deficiency, muscular dystrophy (MD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), migraine, hypo-thyroidism, hypertension, Beçhets, Arnold-Chiari deformity, and mitochondrial disorders, although your neurologist can usually rule them out quite easily.

Can MS cause cold hands and feet?

Doctors believe that MS can cause blood vessels in your hands and feet to overreact to cold temperatures. If you have MS, you may also be at risk for Raynaud's phenomenon, a condition in which your fingers and toes lose heat.

What causes extremely cold feet?

The main medical problems that cause cold feet are decreased circulation in the extremities and nerve damage, known as neuropathy. One cause of decreased circulation is atherosclerosis, where arteries are narrowed by fatty deposits and impede blood flow in the limbs.

Why do my feet feel so cold?

Poor circulation can make your feet cold. (It's possible to get peripheral artery disease without having diabetes. Smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and age all raise your chances of getting the condition.) Your thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland in your neck, might be to blame for your cold feet.

Why are my feet cold even with socks on?

Poor circulation

This is one of the most common causes of cold feet. Poor circulation can make it difficult for enough warm blood to get to your feet regularly, keeping them cooler than the rest of your body.

Can a pinched nerve cause cold feet?

However, experiencing the sensation of cold feet that don't feel cold to the touch may be a sign of a nerve problem. For example, peripheral neuropathy can cause this symptom. Peripheral neuropathy occurs as a result of nerve damage caused by injury or an underlying medical disorder.

Why do my feet feel cold but they are actually warm?

Sensitization of Your Nervous System

You or someone else may notice that your feet are warm to the touch, despite the fact that they feel cold to you. This is because in MS, the myelin sheath—the protective coating around the nerve fibers in your brain and spinal cord (your central nervous system)—are damaged.

Does everyone with MS have foot drop?

While symptoms may vary among individuals and across the different types of MS, one symptom that can be common to many patients is foot drop.

Does MS cause neuropathy in feet?

Symptoms. The two conditions share some symptoms, but, in general, MS produces a wider range of symptoms than peripheral neuropathy does. Both MS and PN can cause tingling, pain, or decreased sensation of the hands, arms, feet, or legs, but patterns and timing differ.

Can MS affect both feet?

Another telltale sign that MS is likely the culprit is if you experience weakness in the same area as your numbness or in your opposite foot. “People with MS may have more weakness on one side and more numbness on the other,” Dr. Nealon notes.

Does MS show up in blood work?

While there is no definitive blood test for MS, blood tests can rule out other conditions that cause symptoms similar to those of MS, including lupus erythematosis, Sjogren's, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, some infections, and rare hereditary diseases.

Can I test myself for MS?

Performing a multiple sclerosis (MS) self-assessment cannot diagnose the condition, but it may help a person understand their symptoms and know when to contact a doctor. An MS self-assessment can include paying attention to energy levels, physical sensations, vision problems, and more.

What does a MS flare feel like?

Increased fatigue. Tingling or numbness anywhere on the body. Brain fog, or difficulty thinking. Muscle spasms.

Do you gain weight with MS?

It's also common for people with MS to gain weight due to their symptoms. It's important to try and reach a moderate weight and maintain it. Being overweight or underweight can worsen MS symptoms.

What does MS leg pain feel like?

This pain is described as constant, boring, burning or tingling intensely. It often occurs in the legs. Paraesthesia types include pins and needles, tingling, shivering, burning pains, feelings of pressure, and areas of skin with heightened sensitivity to touch.

Do MS symptoms get worse at night?

“MS pain that commonly interferes with sleep is neuropathic pain — often described as burning, shooting, searing, or deeply aching. This pain can be relentless and is often worse at night.”