Hi,
I just wondered I have had symptoms of MS since 2007, did see a neurologist and had scans.
Was diagnosed in 2010. I have RRMS. So does it mean I have had ms since 2007 or 2010. I believe I had lesions in 2007. Any advise please ?
Hello ncm
If your scans in 2007 showed demyelinating lesions, then youâd count your MS from then not your actual diagnosis in 2010. In fact, as you were tested in 2007, you clearly had symptoms then, so regardless of scans, Iâd be tempted to say your MS dates from 2007.
Iâve had MS for 25 years in January. (My lovely 30th birthday present!) I wasnât officially diagnosed until 2002 because it was considered not worth telling me what my test results clearly showed in 1997.
In fact, although today this seems a bit wrong, in many ways it was a blessing. I lived my life for this 5 years without the spectre of MS looking over my shoulder. I still had relapses for the whole of that 5 years, but I just about managed to ignore them. It wasnât until 2002 that the first DMDs were available for MS so it would have served no purpose to have formal diagnosis earlier. My NHS record clearly states Iâve had MS since 1997.
In your case, this may have been different. Were you to have been diagnosed in 2007, you could have been on a disease modifying therapy from then. But you may have found like me that 3 years without diagnosis enabled you to do different things with your life than youâd have chosen if youâd had an earlier diagnosis.
Itâs definitely a thing worth discussing/considering.
Sue
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Good answer Sue 
I was only diagnosed at the start of 2021 having been misdiagnosed for abut 9 years (with lumbar spinal stenosis). Even so, in retrospect, my MS became progressive in 2016 and in 5 years Iâve gone from doing high intensity workouts and long walks to walking perhaps 100m with a stick before needing a rest. However, I think I had my first isolated episode in 2003 with a couple more in 2008 and 2013. I never had RRMS as such.
So, would I have wanted a correct diagnosis in 2003, 2008 or 2013. No! I was having way too much fun and it wasnât interfering with my life. In 2016 - absolutely, yes. If Iâd been able to put the brakes on the disease 5 years ago, Iâd still be working and leading a ânormalâ life. As it is, Iâm effectively retired at 59, canât enjoy sport or exercise, need a stick, have bought an electric wheelchair and there are tons of chores around the house I have to leave to others. Best not go there, eh? 
Best to deal with what we have and make the best of it 
Hi, i was diagnosed in 2007 with RRMS. Signs of things not right in 2005/2006 with numb left arm and part of leg, also balance. Doctors put it down to my weight and smoking. I lost weight and quit smoking, started to live a healthish life style, then i started losing sight in left eye. I had mri and then was dianosed.
I count mine from the start of my obvious symptoms, which were consistent over the years. That puts me back in 1980, rather than the actual diagnosis, which didnât occur until 2019.
Of course, I didnât know all those years what was wrong with me, but it was obvious that something was. My GP long believed it was neurological and kept sending me to specialists, but they all blew me off until I found my current neurologist.
Like Ssssue, an early diagnosis wouldnât have meant much to me, because there were no DMTâs back then.
Hmm, if only we could pick the absolute optimal time for diagnosis⌠no one wants to miss out on âlife without MSâ, but we all want to avoid disability!!
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Hi, my story is a longâŚbored with it tbh!
Long story shortâŚpresented with typical PPMS symptoms over 20 years ago.
Nothing showed on several MRIs, LPs, VEPs and other tests.
Diagnosed in 2019/20.
Boudsx
Diagnosed 2013, although looking back to âthings not being rightâ I could easily go back to my late teens, (now 58),.
I can definitely recall numb hands and tingling in my feet well over 30 years ago .
My consultants tends to agree that my MS probably started late teens early twenties when these odd symptoms would crop up now and then, but because they were mild I just tended to ignore it.
It wasnât until 2013 when something had clearly gone wrong with my walking, which literally happened like flicking a switch, not there one minute and absolutely there the next minute that spurred me to visit my GP.
As soon as I mentioned that MS was in the family the GP rang the neurology dept there and then at my local hospital and I was sitting in front of the consultant the very next day.
He pulled up a very old MRI scan showed small lesions within the spine that the original consultant years ago had missed, so this new consultant told me the same day that he suspected, from what he could see on the old MRI scan,my current symptoms and the fact that MS was in the family that I also had MS.
Fresh MRIâs and a lumbar punch confirmed it all.
The rest is history, as they say.
8 years on from being actually diagnosed with RRMS, and now SPMS, the probability is that Iâve had MS for well over 30 years.
I was âofficiallyâ diagnosed 4 years ago, but had been having symptoms since 2002, so a gap of 15 years between onset and diagnosis.
Before dx I just carried on with life as best I could. After dx the only difference was that it made it slightly easier to get PIP, as I had all the medical notes and letters from Neurology and GP to back up my claim.
I first had symptoms 21 years ago. I had a numb patch on my face. My gp practice referred me straight to Neurology and didnât mention anything about why.
Well back n the year 2000 I had 4 children aged 2, 5, 7 & 9 and life was busy. By the time the appointment came around the numbness had disappeared so i cancelled it! 5 years later came my next symptom (1st relapse) and then another 3 months later so I was then diagnosed with RRMS 16 years ago.