Aahh, you’ve opened a can of worms there! Been researching and thinking about this for years and amongst my theories are the following culprits: Vaccines (particularly measles, as I had a bad reaction to that as a child and then caught measles afterwards, also TB vaccine got a bad reaction some years later) Environmental toxins – mercury in fillings, lead in atmosphere or petrol (as was), pollutants in food and air. A shock or heavy stress in your life that leaves you vulnerable (I had my first symptoms a few weeks after a major relationship break up) Epstein Barr virus embedded in deep tissues of body (Source: medical medium book) which does have some rationale when you think how the body attacks itself. I once read a description that it was like hitting a negative “jackpot” and if you had the vaccine, the shock and the environment then you won this illness. Then there are subconscious factors from your own mind that promote illness – avoiding circumstances that don’t serve you e.g. a job or situation that does not serve you spiritually or physically or mentally, or tying someone or something to you (e.g. you can’t abandon me now, I need you). The most interesting to me is the last one, but this is hard to take as it means an element of self-responsibility too (albeit a subconscious one). So how much power do I have in solving it is a key question for me which is why I have thought about causes so much? Conventional medicine seems to deal with symptoms in the main, but I want to know why too and then a real cure will come. I haven’t given up yet and will keep searching. Best wishes Vicky

I also had a viral infecction as a child and a polyp operation wherefore i had to stay 2 months in hospital but the trigger as i suppose was overcoming my limits at a cross-country, because after that my optical neuritis actually developed to a level at which i couldnt even see my palm.