Pre diagnosis, before your first attack/relapse were you in perfect health or had you been, for want of a better expression, ‘on the blink’ for some time.
Hi, well I had been “on the blink” for 6 years when I was diagnosed I.e. I am sure I had my first attack 6 years before I was diagnosed. That was a long time ago, the first attack was in 1989, when I was 19, but had I been “on the blink” before that, well I think I probably had, my feet always felt cold and although that would never had led to a diagnosis of ms, most people of that age, I.e. younger than 19 probably didn’t complain of cold feet, sometimes they even had chilblains and I wouldn’t say that was something you normally associated with someone my age. I was also always quite clumsy, so was this a pre cursor to ms? Having Said that I did ice skate, relatively well and never seemed to suffer from clumsiness when skating, not to a greater extent anyway, that any of the other skaters. Cheryl:)
I think I have always been ‘on the blink’!
From about the age of 6 I complained about problems with my eyes (which looking back seems like optic neuritis.) Then from about 11 or 12 I had tingling / numb-ish feet all the time. (I used to sit with bare feet against the side of my parents Aga as they felt so cold and numb)
When I was about 14 or 15 I was really tired all the time and my legs got so tired.
I had my first relapse at 22 where I lost everything from the waist down. Was also diagnosed as dyslexic, which now I have been told is actually an MS symptom and not Dyslexia as such!
Then was finally diagnosed aged 31 after years of being told it wasn’t MS/ I was lazy/ imagining it/ unfit etc…
It is nice to now be able to say I have MS and it’s not all in my mind!
Isobel
I am not even sure when my “first attack” was.
Like Cheryl, I don’t think it was the same time I got diagnosed!
With hindsight, I’d had gradually deteriorating health for years prior to diagnosis, and probably a number of “attacks”. But mostly they were quite mild, and cleared up without incident, so I didn’t suspect anything sinister. I just blamed a variety of “bugs” and minor injuries for my seemingly unconnected symptoms.
And I thought my increasing fatigue was due to depression and/or my age (wrong side of 40).
Tina
On the blink from birth. Pi ns and needles all the time, trouble with my legs aged 12, then again at age 18. Always tired, major fatigue around 20’s. Had odd symptoms which nobody could explain, then dropped to floor and blacked out a few times. Would get vertigo, had double vision lots of times too.
Perhaps the now recognised double faulty gene begins playing up before other factors come into play like vit.d depletion or shortage?
Im one of 5 children, sister had tingling in her hands and eye problems aged 18 but no further symptoms. She went for tests - inconclusive. I went until age 49 then lost sight in my left eye and weakness on my right side, with various numbness.
It would seem the more attacks the more damage eventually. Perhaps we are having them but only small ones until the brain has to register them by overload, hence diagnosis?
Hope this helps.
bren
x
Nothing until first attack when I was 49 years old. I feel over playing tennis and couldn’t walk very well the enxt day, and it went downhill quickly afterwards. MS is in the family and I knew what is was because of the lack of pin prick sensation in my stomach.
I just got my final DX on the 1st Feb.
I have have major fatigue problems since I was 18 and my GP always put it down to having a young baby. I knew it wasn’t and would have been in tears trying to get her to listen. I also had severe constipation to the point I had an x-ray done and you could see the feaces compacted right up both sides of my abdomin. I got lots of tests done to find out why and was finally sent to a “shrink” (don’t know how to spell the proper word lol). Suffered from depression too but who wouldn’t when you feel so sick and no one will listen.
It was only last January when it all started to properly kick off. I had right sided numbness from my toes up to my chest, buzzings, pins and needles, cold patches and lots lots more. I am now one year later on my 4th possibly 5th relapse with quite bad right leg and left arm weakness. My neuro said from day one that if this did turn out to be MS (which it has) that I could most certainly put my past medical history down to it.
Hope this helps x
Looking back I had one episode where I had pins and needles in my thighs for a couple of weeks age 18. Apart from that I have been perfectly healthy. 10yrs later my face went numb on one side (gp said it was a virus!) then a month later I got optic neuritis in my right eye which led to diagnosis, so it really did come as a shock.
hi there, I would have to say I was in perfect health apart from unexpected vertigo the previous year which went on for 3 months. they blamed that on low B12. It went away by the May then the following June woke up with weak legs , numbness, pins and needles, raising up to my waist. This went on non stop with other symptoms until given steroids which cleared most of it up and was back to jogging again. Then hit by another relapse 3 months later and now on Copaxone and steroids when need them. Thankfully they seem to do the trick and I am still quite active. It all hit me when I was 45 now 47 and thankfully still active. Ive learned one thing, no one person is the same with MS, it is so variable. good luck heather
Love the “on the blink” description 
The first definite attack I had was when I was 19 although there were things before that which could have been MS. I had various things every few years until my first major relapse when I was 32 which led to my diagnosis. Before that there had always been an easy excuse to write things off (a virus, a trapped nerve, “just one of those things”, something to do with my bad back, etc). So, yes, I’d been on the blink for a long time! Karen x