I know to be classed as a relapse symptoms have to be at least 30 days later. But is that 30 since the last relapse started or ended?
i would say āendedā, seeing as relapses can exceed over 30 days in duration
I donāt necessarily see that itās as clear cut as 30 days since beginning or end. How do we ever know that a relapse has ended? And if you have symptom one beginning a relapse on 1st January say, and that relapse continues into mid February, couldnāt you actually start a new relapse with a completely different symptom at some time during February and call that a separate relapse? Especially if for example relapse one was characterised by affecting motor functions, say your left leg or both legs, and relapse two was optic neuritis. I would have thought that inflammation of myelin was occurring in two separate places and at two separate times irrespective of there being a certain length of time between symptom one and symptom two.
Clearly Iām no scientist or doctor, but I canāt see these two separate events as being part of the same relapse.
Put me right (please!) if Iāve got it totally wrong.
Sue
Hi, I think Sue is correct. I had my first relapse on 1/1/2015 then Feb 2016 I had a visual problem that Iāve been told is optic neuritis. I am I hope remitting still from first relapse, walking/standing has improved greatly & the M.S nurse said the optic problem is another relapse. I am hoping the Tecfidera will stop me having another, fingers crossed! Helly.
I had to reread sues response a few times to take it in haha
Thank you for your replies. I think I may have had a relapse lasting 3 days. I feel brill today 
Sorry, sometimes I tie myself up in knots trying to organise what Iām thinking into plain language.
I hope you carry on feeling brill.
Sue
No need to apologise! I know how difficult it is.
Ive had a busy day and been left exhausted so I fell asleep just after 9. The joys hey
Clinicians do use 30 days as a minimum period between relapses but just to simplify things. I think what Sue wrote is essentially correct but since, as Sue wrote, āHow do we know when a relapse has ended?ā So they designated a time limit that seems to be true. Iām no medic either!
When i was dx i had optic neuritis then when that subsided (less than 30 days) I had major probs with my right armā¦that was classed as another relapse ā¦hence 2 relapsesā¦MRI and dxā¦all within 3 weeks of each other! Such Joy!!
So from what I understand isā¦its roughly around 30 days but can happen before or after that. I do find it strange that it has a time on it. Like the MS is saying āoh itās been 30 days, time to make our poor person suffer againā hahaha the bugger!!
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