Hi to all & any!
i am breaking the trend here as i do not have ms or at least have not been diagnosed but i have something i want to share with as many as possible. I have had many of these symptoms that you & others write about & now don't suffer many of them. My sister of 49yrs has diagnosis & has been slowly getting worse & our symptoms are similar, im 44 this yr, i believe nutritional balance can help & this is the only thing that i have done to eliminate the symptoms that i have as i haven't been willing to use medication that doesn't treat the cause. nutritional balancing is not necessarily easy but if any of you want me to help you learn how i have done this i promise i will not give up on trying to show you how this might help you, & guide you with this. Understand that i'm not a doctor i am the patient & have only learned what i have learned by self study & trial & error. If i can help someone else i am willing to be there as a friend. My sister wanted nothing to do with this initially but now she is willing to try. perserverance is the only thing that we must adhere to as it is not a miracle & the body will take its time to repair itself once it recieves the correct nutrients.
I'm here for any one even if it's just for a chat to break the lonelyness from a friend. I have other illnesses that this has helped, i have been out of work for near 3yrs & now i feel there may be a chance soon of being able to gain work again.
all are welcome!
God bless!

hi everyone, i am 33 and in the middle of being diagnosed with ms. i have had my mri and go back to the neurologist in 2 weeks. i just hope they can tell me for sure that it is ms. i have had symptoms for a few years, but didn't realise that they were out of the ordinary! over this last winter i have got worse and more symptoms started happening and eventually i realised that it could all be connected and that i shouldn't ignore it. we have moved from britain to ireland and fortunately my doctor has referred me straight away and i have been seen quickly. there is a serious shortage of neurologists in ireland and especially in the area i am in.

i haven't experienced any problems with my vision or with obvious paralysis or numbness. i have big problems with my bowels and over the winter i have had worsening problems with pins and needles, tinnitus, walking, holding things and memory problems.

i have told my family and friends as it's not something i can hide from them and they are all great and supportive about it. at the moment i am not working and it could be that my working days are at an end. but i don't let that get me down.

madliz, have you read my post before yours? if i can help you in any way feel free to reply. if you want to send a private message click my username picture & select send a message. this goes for all who read this & would like to know more or want to talk.

I am 22, but I have had MS symptoms over a year now, since I turned 21. I am still trying to finish up with my college classes! Unfortunatley my Senior year of college I could only handle 6 hours a semester, because I was sleeping 17 hours a day with the migraines and fatigue. I still manage to be social and go out about 1 or two nights every week/ every other week. I am the Public Relations chair for my university, in a sorority, honor society and various clubs, so I do my best to still be involved with everything!! It helps staying optomistic!!
My Story: I went out one night with my friends got back to the sorority house, where I lived and woke up to my left leg feeling completely numb. My roomates told me It was probably just from wearing my high heels a couple of nights in a row. Letting that answer suffice, I let it go on for a couple of months, until the upper right side of my back began feeling numb, this was too strange so I decided that it was finally time to go in. My doctor went through all of the sensory testing etc... came back in and started tearing up and told me she had to get me in to see a neurologist ASAP, she thinks it's MS.
Three ER visits, a series of four different Neurologists, a couple episodes of bladder control, muscular spasms, numbness in left leg and right upper back, demylination of the discs in my spinal cord, 2 week period of loss of gait(walking), a spinal tap CSF protein range of 53 (right at the MS range which is 4, Numbness in face, extreme migraines, few lesions apparent on my first MRI and then unapparent on the last 5 MRIs.... Here I am still without answers! My doctor has recommended me going to either Mayo or Johns Hopkins, which means a lot of time, effort, money and energy- for possibly the same lack of explanation for my condition. Has anyone gone to any of the MS specialty clinics. I am sure that have more in-depth diagnostic testing, but I am not sure if it is worth the time, money and wait. Let me know if anyone is in the same boat, or has gone to a clinic?

well kan; I am nurse specialist in the UK as an independent prescriber with RRMS. the symptoms you describe are classical symptoms of MS and therefore should be considered as a diagnostic confirming MS; scaring to the brain matter; or plaques tend to come and go and therefore shold not be definitive. sounds like MS - get another opinion; or ask the dr what needs to be in place for him to confirm the diagnosis when you could be taking appropriate medication

hey.. I know so many people have replied.. i'm new to the forum :] .. I was diagnosed with MS in april.. It was a shock to me.. at first they thought I had a brain tumor but it was actually the lesion from the attack. The whole right side of my body, waist down went numb.. I was very scared.. I didn't know what was going on.. I thought I was having a heart attack or something.. :/ But yeah.. I don't know anybody my age with MS and I'm always thinking about it.. and sometimes I talk about it a lot.. I bet it gets annoying for other people lol :]

my husband is 38 and was just diagnosed with ms teusday after having a stroke in june. he is still going through the ups and downs and trying to come to terms with it. we still cant figure out which symtoms are from the stroke or ms. and we are both getting so tired of people telling us that he is to young to have a stroke or ms. obviously not if he has both. he has a ot coming to the house 2 times a week and a pt coming three times a week. so we have a very busy schedual. but we are trying to cope the best we can. he cannot be left alone so we are both together constantly. i wonder if i will ever get time alone again.

Dear Kan,

My daughter was just diagnosed in July. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted and devastated as she's only 15. We've started on Avonex and are crossing our fingers that the many new, encouraging drugs and tests will shortly result in a more permanent solution.

As to clinics...as you noted, Mayo and Johns Hopkins are among the best ms clinics around. I might also put in a plug for the Mellen Center For Multiple Sclerosis at the Cleveland Clinic. We chose it not only for its ranking among the elite clinics in the world, but they also are one of the few Hospitals with a separate and distinct Pediatric neurology department.

Most any highly ranked hospital center, which is also a teaching Hospital, is a good place to start!
We've found that having a Physician at the Mellen Center, as well as having a local neurologist who specializes in MS, works well for us so far.

Not knowing is much worse than living in limbo, if for no other reason than the current wisdom is to begin drug therapy as soon as possible, rather than waiting for further episodes to occur. So, make the time and get your butt off to a clinic! Good luck!

Randy

Dear Kan,

By the way, it's really no more expensive to hit an elite facility, than to go to your local Hospital.
The time set aside really isn't a very big thing when you consider the importance of getting a Dx and getting started on treatment if necessary. The only thing extra it cost me(other than time) was the added cost of gas in driving the extra distance. Good luck!

Hello, my name is Chelsae Dumbauld and I am participating in the National MS Society Bike Event. I plan to ride 25 miles or more in order to raise money for people with MS. My goal is to raise at least $200, but more would be wonderful! Please visit my page here:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/ Bike/NCTBikeEvents?px=6986657&pg=perso nal&fr_id=10800

ok i dont know where to start im 24 and i have RRMS and there are days i wish i could die i have a 3yr old girl that i cant keep up with or play with coz im so dam tired all the time i have no white matter on the brain but on the back of my eyes and im slowly losing my sight i have a walking stick which i use all the time due to my sight and lack of balance i fall over alot i often seem drunk and slur my speech i do not take meds for it but do take steroids which dont help a great deal and made be gain loads of weight
Im sorry that i have gone on and on
well that my story the girl from gibraltar

Hello to everybody. My name is Boki. Im 28 had MS since 17 maybe as early as 13. Been to meets with others with MS but keep running into problem that I see no younger people. Guess tonight I found some of you. My symptoms touch up on evry aspect of my daily life. Walking is bad for any longer distance with or without cane. Im on Tysabri injections once a month and have PRMS. Felt good to talk to younger people or post at least.

My name is Ron, im 21, Ive had RRMS for a year now i was told at 20 i had ms. Ive had 2 relapses in 6 months. Im on rebif shots. My legs are always tired and hurt. my eyes somtimes dont move side to side. Also my head is on fire from the time i get up until i go to sleep. I see a counsler now for depression, I was just demoted from being a manager at my job because i couldnt keep up anymore.Im trying to finish college while doing all this Welcome to my life, Any helpful ideas for medz 2 help with the headaches? thank you.

Im jessica, and I just found out last week I have MS. Im only 23!! I went into the ER with a migrane and they did a spinal tap and MRI and that how they found out. It has been life changing news but im trying to stay positive!! I hope this site give me hope that there are people just like me out there.

My name is Nick and I am 23. I was diagnosed about 9 months ago at the age of 22... although i had symptoms long before that. I experience leg numbness/weakness/uncoorination/pain/every thing else... i have absolutely no balance... when i have like 2 drinks i am stumbling like i am HAMMERED. I have actually been 86ed from a bar after 2 drinks because my balance is so bad. Anyways I live in Sacramento, California and would love to talk with someone my age with ms about whats going on with me. OH by the way i have been on Solumedrol (or however u spell it) which is a steroid that i get once a month for 3 days. It seems to be helping ALOT... especially with the energy level. I have gained like 20 pounds though... anyways let me knw it you want to chat sometime...

I'm 21, going on 22, but I was diagnosed after a massive attack at the age of 15 (my entire right side of my body and face became completely paralyzed after having the Hep. shot, and then later only partially - it took 6 months to recover) . It was my first attack, and started Avonex after my second attack at 16. Things have been a lot easier with time, I now know when I need to rest, or distress etc. I'm very social and active, I work part-time, and am in my last year of University, and people are shocked to hear I even have MS. I don't let it effect my life.
Good luck, and don't worry, you're not the only young one out there!