Hi again,
Strange as it may seem, symptoms are NOT the basis for a diagnosis.
Technically, diagnosis CAN be made on symptom history alone - before we had MRI, VEPs etc, it was the only way. But these days, it’s vanishingly rare, and I think a diagnosis based on symptoms alone would be considered unsafe.
MS is such a variable disease there’s probably no symptom - including numbness - that everybody with MS always gets.
It’s a very common symptom, but not necessarily universal. I was finally diagnosed with MS following an episode of profound numbness in my feet (lost not only sense of touch, but even pain, and hot and cold).
However, I believe I had MS for a number of years before that, but numbness had never been a big feature. Perhaps a slight numbing of my intimate area about one year before the really dramatic numb feet thing, but it was so subtle I wasn’t even sure, if that makes sense. I.e. sensation seemed altered, but wasn’t lost altogether, so it was hard to be sure what had changed, or even if anything had.
Please, for your own sanity, stop trying to self-diagnose from symptoms. There are more than 100 conditions that can have similar symptoms to MS, so it’s not a reliable way to diagnose, and that’s why it doesn’t form part of the official diagnostic criteria.
Diagnosis these days is very heavily weighted towards clinical evidence, such MRI evidence of lesions, rather than reported symptoms, which can vary hugely, and are not unique to MS.
Tina