Dizziness or Vertigo?

It’s disturbing when it happens…& what about TMJ, while we’re at it?

Over the past few months, I’ve woken up in the morning with a strong feeling of dizziness. I’m calling it that because I really don’t know what it is exactly. If I sit quietly and try to observe what I see and how I feel:

The room doesn’t seem to be spinning

I don’t feel dizzy, in the way that we did as children, when we’d spin around and around, to induce a fun feeling of being dizzy, or after getting off a merry-go-round, either.

I just feel “off,” and unsteady and a little afraid to try moving around. I know that dizziness is a classic symptom of having MS. Ages ago, I can remember feeling dizzy if I turned my head too quickly, but these past few weeks have been different. They largely pass and I’m happy to forget about them altogether. But I do think I will leave a message for my neurologist’s advanced practice registered nurse.

I’m getting close to the dates of my next infusions of Ruxience. Is it possible that the effects of the infusions I received last December are wearing off and that after I get the next infusions this troublesome symptom will go away? I don’t believe that Ruxience is expected to improve symptoms, but to hold them at bay, and HOPEFULLY, prevent them from worsening.

I am grateful that I don’t have this sensation constantly. I’ve known people with MS who experienced it for months, and had them hanging on to whatever was around to keep from falling.

Another bizarre symptom I experienced today, for the first time in years, is sharp pain in my left jaw. The nature of the pain is severe, and were it to persist consistently, I’m not sure what I would do. It always demands my immediate and focused attention! I tend to put my left hand over the area, which doesn’t do anything, but I guess it’s a self protective reaction, in hopes of calming the area. I’ve never been diagnosed by any dentist as having TMJ (temporal mandibular joint). Dr. Google brought up the following notes about TMJ & MS:

• TMJ symptoms in MS patients may be more severe and persistent than in people without MS. 

They can also be accompanied by other MS symptoms, such as:

• Facial pain or numbness 

• Headache 

• Difficulty swallowing 

The only symptom I have experienced is facial pain. I have been fortunate to have only brief episodes of this pain. Moreover, I had believed that this symptom was purely attributable to having MS, but Dr. Google seems to make no differentiation between TMJ in the non-MS population and those of us who have MS. I will bring it up to my doctor when I see him later year.

If I had a wish that an MS Fairy could grant me, I would ask for the ability to walk normally, or even just as well as I did in 2007 and earlier. I required no cane or walker and most of the time, my only problem would be if I got too ambitious and made multiple trips trying to move things, and the dreaded fatigue, experienced almost universally by people with MS, would kick in, forcing me to stop and rest, rest meaning sit down and don’t try to walk for at least 20 minutes. An MS Fairy would be a fabulous thing to have! Can you blame me for indulging in some wishful thinking, now and then?