Tattoos and Phantom Vibrations

[Sarah_Ann]

I was just diagnosed in May with MS. I have suspected it for a while being my twin sister was diagnosed 6 years ago.

I am wondering how many people here have tattoos and if anyone else has experienced phantom vibrations?

Last summer I got a tattoo on the top of my foot signifying my sister being diagnosed with MS 6 years ago and my walk across Spain for the Camino de Santiago that happened only a few weeks after she was diagnosed. It was definitely a trying time in our lives to be separated. The tattoo is a reminder we need to trust our own two feet to get us where we need/should be....granted now that I am also diagnosed with MS, it is hard to trust my own feet sometimes. But at this point, even when I couldn't feel them during my relapse, at least they still worked.

When I got my tattoo, I could feel my tattoo vibrating for a month afterward. If I was at work, it would make me want to take off my socks and shoes to make sure it was healing properly. Of course everything was fine and there didn't seem to be any reason why I could feel that phantom vibration. It was really bizarre. It really made be question if I had MS then. I probably should have trusted my intuition, but like usual I didn't want to think about it so I pushed it aside.

I tried to google it and couldn't find anything about it online. I plan to get the tattoo expanded to include another MS ribbon for my diagnosis. I am wondering if I will feel that phantom vibration again.

Has anyone else experienced anything like that?

[Jesmcd2 CommunityAmbassador]

Hi Sarah_Ann and welcome to out chat group, wish it was for another reason though. This monster has a way of sneaking up on ppl. I tried to ignore it also. I just figured if ignored it, it would go away. Kinda like my optic neuritis lol.

I also have a tattoo on my shoulder 3 butterflies 1 for each of my daughter's. But l got it 7 yrs ago. And l was dx last yr. But l do know what you mean about the tingling, my whole body has a tendency to do it. I ignore it and it will go away. Lolol l hope anyway. I don't know if there's anything to take for it.

[Sarah_Ann in reply to Jesmcd2]

My legs and feet always feel weird right now. My tattoo is on my left foot which is where I had my symptoms start during my relapse. Maybe I wouldn't have had the vibrations if the tattoo had been elsewhere... It is definitely weird to realize you can't trust your nerves anymore.

[lauranell2u]

I get those vibrations all the time. When I worked in the hospital, I wore a pager, I was always checking it, thinking it was going off. Def a weird sensation. I have tattoos as well, they don't vibrate...Thank goodness!!

[Sarah_Ann in reply to lauranell2u]

Luckily the vibrations went away after a month or two. Being I felt it i had figured my nerves were messed up so it was a pretty good indication that I had MS but of course I didn't want to believe it. Yeah I always think my phone is going off. It is so weird our bodies are trained to instinctively feel them.

[Jesmcd2 CommunityAmbassador]

I have lost the feeling in both feet from the ankles down. Not related to MS. Might have been from breaking my back twice ldk lol but the vibrations are not constant, but lm always looking to see if something is against the couch or chairs. It's enough to drive ya Half batty's

[WAshingtongirl]

I don't have any tattoos, but my initial MS symptoms were buzzing, burning, and spider-web, creepy-crawly sensations. I was constantly checking my legs, swatting and rubbing them, suspecting an invisible bug was the culprit. To this day, I won't even sit in a massage chair. It feels too much like the hum that runs through my body. Strange disease. I've gotten pretty good at ignoring the sensory symptoms. But on those days that I can't, gabapentin is a big help. Prayers for a smooth/more benign course of the disease to you and your twin. It's a blessing you can truly understand what the other is going through. I'm just sorry it's MS that you share.

[Yobewood]

I have one but I never felt that.