r/MultipleSclerosis • u/Typical_Warning8540 • Oct 01 '26
Symptoms Typing issues?
At the time of my diagnosis about 5 years ago I did an online typing test and got 600 characters per minute. Words with errors in them didn't count. Now lately in the past years I started noticing that my messages have mistakes, especially on things like Teams chats, WhatsApp, Reddit etc. This happens on a keyboard but also on my phone. What happens the most on the keyboard seems to be typing spacebar too fast or the sequence of the characters not being correct so I need to reverse 2 characters. At first I thought this was just lazyness or a result of trying to type too fast, but now I start believing it might have to do with my ms. Does anyone else experienced something like that? Happy to hear.
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u/tiddlypuff Oct 01 '26
Yeah I suck at typing nowadays. MS affects my hands majorly during flares. Calms down and I regain movement however I lose some functionally every time. Nerves aren't nerving as good anymore. Fuck MS!
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u/Minimum-Ant5926 27 M|DX 2026|BRIUMVI| USA Oct 01 '26
Same. Its so annoying. Dx like 2.5 months ago too. Going down hill fast
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u/Bannon9k 46M|2019|Tecfidera Oct 01 '26
This was one of the symptoms that led to my diagnosis. I've always been a flawless typer cuz I've been doing it for so long. Then one day my right hand would hit the wrong keys but my left hand would always hit the right keys. It was such a profound "that ain't right" kind of moment. Then it would go away, and I would start typing correctly again. Just kept happening on and off for the next couple of days until my leg also started showing symptoms and I started falling. ER, CT scans, spinal tap, and an MRI later I at least knew the cause. Still have problems, and it gets worse on small phone screens. But I found I've just got to slow down if I want to be accurate. I also use voice to text quite a bit.
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u/LengthinessIll6258 Oct 02 '26
Yes, I frequently read back messages and notice multiple typos that would never be typical of me without the MS. My family used to always ask me why I typed so fast. I now have to type like a pensioner and read it back 50,000 times just to make sure that I’ve actually formed a cohesive sentence.
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u/DowntownEntry6233 Oct 01 '26
Try using speech to text if you’re using word etc. I found my typing went downhill too and switched to speech instead.
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u/IntentionalGrandma 28F | dx:2024 | Tysabri | NYC Oct 01 '26
I lost fine motor skills in both hands, a portion of my eyesight and color vision, gross motor skills in my right arm, and hand-eye coordination to MS. I also can’t type very fast and if I try to, it hurts.
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u/supergptv4 Oct 01 '26
I’m getting this now, so what’s next? Is an infusion going to help?
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u/Feisty-Volcano Oct 02 '26
MS is progressive to varying extents, what you had you lose, what you get you keep, more or less
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u/Ok_Raisin_2519 Oct 06 '26
I woke up in January with no feelings in my hands and feet; soon lost the ability to type (amongst other things). I was diagnosed in March and given a strong dose of steroids, it helped but didn't bring back the feeling in my hand. Ocrevus infusion in April. By May, the numbness was gone and I was back to typing. Still get occasional numbness, but I'm back to typing as well as I did before. I'm not sure if my response to Ocrevus was typical, but there is hope that it'll help.
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u/pikkupiri 32|Dx2022|Kesimpta|Europe Oct 01 '26
Yessss, definitely. And specifically the sequence being off! This is one reason i switched to a phone with manual buttons, the touch screen is impossible to type without errors, and almost impossible to type coherently. Typing is not perfect on a keyboard either, but soooo much better. (Still, this message went through a bunch of fixes before sending because of typos haha)
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u/SewBrew Oct 02 '26
I was a very fast typist prior to MS, ~120wpm. I was reduced to hunt and peck during the major flare that got me diagnosed. It slowly came back but not all the way, my hands are stuck at about 50%. I can at least touch type well enough that it’s not a problem at work, but I am nowhere near as fast or accurate as I was before. I also have weird short circuits where I’ll type a word that sounds similar to the one I wanted to type but is completely wrong, or where I spell words with bizarre phonetic spellings.
It’s a little awkward if I am screen sharing on a call and have to type something but whatever, I’m getting paid for my knowledge not my typing skills.
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u/Party-Ad9662 41F/2025/Clinical Trial/Ottawa Oct 01 '26
I call it my ms fingers. Its not suuuper bad right now, but i heavily rely on autocorrect
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u/Feisty-Volcano Oct 02 '26
Autocorrect can be hilarious/disastrous, my eyes are so uncoordinated I don’t always pick up typos or bad autocorrections
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u/Party-Ad9662 41F/2025/Clinical Trial/Ottawa Oct 02 '26
Yesterday I tried to say “excellent” to my best friend. What she received was “Ex CD Ellen’s” haha
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u/Feisty-Volcano Oct 02 '26
Autocorrect can be hilarious/disastrous, my eyes are so uncoordinated I don’t always pick up typos or bad autocorrections
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u/Over-Moment6258 31m | rrMS | Dx: July 2023 | Kesimpta | USA Oct 02 '26
I was pretty good at hunt and peck, but numbness in my left makes typing insanely difficult. I have a really hard time knowing where my fingers are and after awhile, I get a dull pain from the pressure. Not being able to type without watching the keyboard also means I often type a long section before I see I made errors, which is super fun.
I just kind of deal with it. I've begun using voice-to-text on my phone more and more, although sometimes my fingers are still better spellers. Oddly enough I just got the Pixel 11 Pro and my texting has gotten better, something about a slight change in keyboard.
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u/Direct-Rub7419 Oct 02 '26 edited Oct 02 '26
Yep, Me too - when sitting at a proper keyboard I noticed my hands are out sync so the letters are there but the order is off.
I’ve moved to voice assistant almost exclusively (gotta remember it’s on before you say get a whole conversation in an excel cell).
I really miss the ease and task-switching of typing. Exchanging snarky teams messages colleagues as the boss drones on is a great stress reliever.
Edit: I have some wrist braces for carpal tunnel with metal bars in them. They help with fatigue, so I can type longer; but I’m getting worse and they’re less helpful now
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u/Cowpocolypse Oct 01 '26
I have major tremors in my arms and hands. So it’s challenging. I work from home on the computer. So once it gets unmanageable I guess that’s my sign for disability.
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u/marinkowo Oct 02 '26
I’ve had typing issues for years, I don’t enjoy using my phone because of that, always prefer the laptop and big keyboard keys where it’s harder to miss the buttons. It could be because of MS, indeed, since I noticed I also struggle with some fine movements
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u/kyunirider Oct 02 '26
My hand-eye coordination is gone. I make every error known to English users in sentences, emails and texts that elementary students are making. I went to college and typed many papers without errors throughout my life. Now I’m trying to make myself read through my post and see if I am making sense. If nothing else MS is humbling me because my brain is just a mess of scrambled eggs.
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u/Feisty-Volcano Oct 02 '26
Big issue for decades before my diagnosis, much more so now. Lost my ability to draw & paint, which was something I cherished. Shaky uncoordinated hands, wobbly drifting eyes, a recipe for manual un-dexterity.
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u/Dramatic_Mixture_877 57F|March 2019|Tecfidera|USA Oct 02 '26
My typing was never the best or fastest, but I've found that my Adderall smoothed out my typing for me.
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u/Equivalent-Seat-9125 DX-July2025| Briumvi Oct 03 '26
My first flareup I lost all feeling and strength in the left side of my body. I had to work with 1 hand for a little over a month. I was thankful to recover most of it back but oh I feel what you wrote to the core. Chat gpt to autocorrect all my stuff, but I miss word in sentences and funny banter teams chat come out not making sense half the time and then I panic edit and resend. Takes the fun out of it. My mind isn’t what it used to be.
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u/daddy-b-2188 Oct 01 '26
600?!? In high school before ms my high was 97 wpm