Hi,
I’m 25 and received my MS diagnosis on 18/12/25. I partly expected it due to my symptoms but hearing it confirmed still came as a shock and I’m not 100% sure I’ve even processed this yet.
At my consultation last week, my doctor noted that I had improved well from my optic neuritis spell from July & my overall examination was ‘great’ but I kept mentioning the lingering numbness in my knee which the doctor dismissed as my examination looked great (I had a short & relatively weak dose of steroids in October which were prescribed by an out of hours doctor, who I phoned in a panic as I had really reduced sensation on my left side and had no idea what was happening to me! But these seemed to help a lot with the discomfort).
I met with 2 MS nurses at my appointment who threw around a lot of big names (treatments) and sent me home with 6 booklets and told me to pick a treatment. My partner tried to ask which one they would recommend given my age and scans etc but the nurses response was “they’re all good”. Does anyone have any advice on how to go about picking a treatment? I know the intravenous options are probably not great for me as I have really poor access. I probably won’t start until February 2026 as this diagnosis has fallen at a bad time of year due to closures etc so my bloods aren’t happening until mid January and then I have a review with the consultant at the end of January. This is stressing me out too because I’m really worried these symptoms are going to last/cause permanent damage.
Over the weekend there my symptoms progressed where I now have reduced sensations from my left and right foot, all the way up my stomach and back. I’ve had the MS hug since Monday (22/12/25) and tingling in my fingertips. I phoned the MS team to report these symptoms on Monday (I felt like an idiot as I’m so new to this and had no idea what I was doing) and the nurse told me she would call me back but this never happened. Could these be a result of stress from being diagnosed? Do new symptoms mean new lesions and the disease is progressing quickly or can 1 lesion cause a range of symptoms? I wish I asked these at my diagnosis appointment but I wasn’t processing much that day - if anyone could help that would be great!
It’s now nearly 5am on Christmas morning and I’ve been up since 3.30 as my symptoms are driving me insane. I am so uncomfortable. The reduced sensation/cement feeling make me feel really panicky as it feels claustrophobic and I really hope this isn’t something I’m permanently dealing with.
Sorry for the long first post, I’m just really frustrated/uncomfortable and anxious about what the future holds. If anyone could provide advice on picking treatments and if new symptoms means new lesions/progression I would really appreciate it🥰
Merry Christmas to anyone who’s celebrating today!
O x
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Merry Christmas to you too @ornaghc
I presume that you have RRMS? I’m not an authority on DMD treatments so others will be better placed with what kind of treatment might work best for you. It might just come down to you and whatever you fancy trying. If it turns out not to be suitable, I’m sure that your consultant will take you off it and perhaps offer you the chance of another treatment. I don’t think that they will give you any kind of indication over what might be the best thing for you. Probably just covering their backs! Although it sounds feasible that new lesions equate to new symptoms. It’s not that black and white though. Because they’ll always be someone somewhere who doesn’t fit that bracket. It’s down to each of us as individuals how it manifests and affects us. We can try to mitigate against any worsening ms. Getting on a good DMD treatment to start with. They’re probably all good at what they were designed to do. Maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle. Where practical of course. Eating healthily we can all try to achieve. Being active is not always that achievable for some of us. But it’s probably something that most of us can do at least something to keep mobile.
Wishing you all the best now and in the future too. Hopefully you’ll have many decades of being as fit and as healthy as possible when you start your DMD treatment with no worsening of your ms for many years.
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Hi @ornaghc, Merry Christmas to you too and sorry you’re having such a miserable time with new scary symptoms/a very recent diagnosis. Very frightening and unpleasant.
In terms of deciding treatments for me, my choice was basically between Kesimpta/Ocrevus (both of which seems very similar/haven’t been around long enough to really have lots of data back yet). This meant my choice mainly came down to how the medication is administrated, and I went for the monthly injections since it was much easier for me personally.
These scorecards which others recommended on this forum helped me choose too: https://msselfie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MS-Selfie-Infocards-ver.-6.0-18-Feb-2024-3.pdf
I had a version of the MS hug too and it’s truly not fun! Feels very uncomfortable and sounds like you’re experiencing it very intensely, so my heart really goes out to you.
You’re allowed to feel really scared and a bit rough - perfectly normal under the circumstances. I also didn’t enjoy waiting a few months for treatment - wanted it immediately, but glad you at least have a rough timeline. Hope you’ve managed to enjoy whatever elements of the holidays you’ve been able to, and any other questions, feel free to ask.
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Thanks for replying 
Yes I have RRMS although that seems hard to believe right now due to the worsening & persistent symptoms!
I will look more into the treatments now that I have Christmas over me and will probably lean more towards Kesimpta due to its handiness but I’ll definitely do my research first!
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Thank you for your kind words!
Just wondering what I’m supposed to do with these symptoms. I’ve really reduced sensation in both my legs, hands and torso and it’s making walking and moving strange and difficult.
The MS helpline is closed & I already reported these symptoms on Monday (although they’ve became more intense since then), my GP is closed & I had phoned about my symptoms before my diagnosis and was told MS wasn’t an emergency and I’d have to wait a week for a routine appointment. I’m in Northern Ireland so my only other option is the GP out of hours service and they really emphasise how they only deal with “urgent” queries. Would this be considered urgent or do I need to wait a week for a GP appointment?
Can I ask for steroids or can the neurologist only approve medication at this stage in my diagnosis (as I’m a good bit away from treatment). It’s very confusing and I don’t want to deal with the intensity of these symptoms for a minute longer 
Thank you x
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Sorry to hear your symptoms have got so much worse @ornaghc.
I’m in South East England so don’t know the Northern Ireland medical system very well. Technically, I was meant to be able to request steroids via my GP. However, even when my symptoms got worse, my GP surgery (and a lot of others according to my neurologist!) still wanted neurology to sign off on this, so I went to A&E to receive my steroid prescription.
Steroids did help me out - I felt a bit strange/dreamlike, but it did get rid of some numbness in my legs more quickly. Might be worth a trip to A&E if you’re still worried about your symptoms or would like to see if a course of steroids is possible?
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I was about to add a link to the excellent MS-Selfie info cards, MB, but you’ve got there before me.
Ornaghc, the info cards that mackenzieblackman linked to might well look like an indigestible load of things you really don’t want to have to know about, but if you can face them, I do think that they are the best source of info about disease modifying drugs out there. These things can be really confusing, and overwhelming, and it can really help with decision-making when someone has gone through and set it all down in a simple and systematic way.
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I am really sorry that you’re having a horrible time. My own personal experience is that MS can be particularly active in its early stages, and I really feel for you. What a Christmas present! I know the feeling of just wanting this damned thing to give me a break already. There really isn’t anything nice to say about being where you are right now, and all of us on here will have our own versions of what being newly-diagnosed feels like. I know it can feel as if nothing will ever be normal again. In fact, most of us find that something that looks and feels remarkably like normal life does reassert itself sooner than seems possible - we are very resilient creatures - but those early days just aren’t fun at all.
Waiting for a treatment plan to be decided upon and arranged can take forever and even if if doesn’t, it feels as if it does. I am sorry to say that those MS nurses don’t sound terribly helpful. You’ll have found a link to the MS-Selfie info cards elsewhere on your thread, and I hope that they make more sense of the options available to you. It is so important to be able to think about what matters most to you. In my own case, efficacy is far and away the most important single guide for DMD choice. The most effective option that is available to me is the one I want. But there are lots of ways to look at it and different people have different priorities. I can’t help myself suggesting that you try to pay particular attention to efficacy, but that’s maybe just the projecting my own stuff as usual. You will make the best decision for you, and I hope that you get a bit more help from your medical advisors before you choose your option. It’s always worth remembering though that it’s rarely a one-and-for-all decision - people can and do change treatments. If one DMD doesn’t suit, another might. It seems to me that the important thing is getting on something as quickly as you reasonably can and to that extent I agree with the MS nurses - the drugs are all OK. It’s just that some are a lot more OK than others.
The general rule with DMDs is that, the higher the efficacy, the higher the risk of unwanted side-effects. That is why some treatments are only available to people whose MS is very active and aggressive - it’s a matter of balancing off the risks and benefits, as it always is with any drug. I do not know what menu options you have been given, but your choice might already be constrained by that.
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