@dan37 

Last reply

dan37

Newly diagnoised

Hi all, ive been diagnoised for about 3 weeks now, im just wondering where does it go from here? Late last year i had a attack and was off work for 3 months due to having un ordinary symptoms which involved my co ordination, speech, sensation.. i just felt helpless. After having numerous mri scans and blood tests the doctors pinned it down to two things, a possible ADEM attack or if a attack happens again they will diagnoise me with MS. I have just recently had another attack and symptoms and slowly disappearing but i still have the tight feeling in my face but everything else is ok. My questions are where does it go from here? How can you tell what type of MS you have? Any help and comforting wilp be highly appreicated. Thabkyou!
@Stumbler

@dan37 , you're probably still in a state of shock at the moment. It's a big diagnosis that you have received and you slowly need to learn about this condition, so that you can understand the way forward. So, I'm glad you found us here at Shift as we can help with this. Anyway, back to your questions. I would presume that you have Relapsing Remitting MS (RRMS), as you have had relapses and then you have recovered. There's some useful information about RRMS here :- https://support.mstrust.org.uk/file/store-pdfs/Relapsing-remitting-MS-WEB.pdf So, where does it go from here? Well, a lot of that is down to you and a lot is down to your medical support. You can adopt a healthy lifestyle, if you do not have one at the moment. A healthy, balanced diet, a moderate lifestyle (avoiding extreme highs and lows), some exercise (dependant on your fatigue levels at the time) and avoiding stress. The last point, stress, is very important as it is felt to be a major agitator of MS. Your medical support (Neuro, MS Nurse and Doctor) should provide advice and guidance in managing your MS from a treatment and ancillary health services perspective. Your Neuro, apart from delivering the diagnosis, should have given some indication of the way ahead for you. This may have been delegated to a specialist Nurse Practitioner, someone who specialises in caring solely for MS Patients. I would have hoped that you were given an introduction to your MS Nurse and an appointment being arranged. Your MS Nurse will discuss the management of your MS, and your symptoms. There should also be a discussion about adopting a Disease Modifying Therapy (DMT). As for a prognosis, well MS is an individual condition. No two cases of MS are the same. But, now is not a bad time to be diagnosed as there are a range of DMTs now available, with more in the pipeline. So, a future involving a wheelchair is no longer a definite. It would be useful if you could fill in some of the blanks regarding how your Neuro left this diagnosis with you, and the next steps suggested. In the meantime, continue to do your research into MS. But, avoid "Dr. Google" and focus your attention on creditable websites, e.g. the MS Trust, MS Society, etc.. And, do feel free to post any further questions you may have.

@grandma

Dear Dan37, as Stumbler says it's a shock and everyone is different. Don't. rush around changing things, you will learn in time what needs to be altered, be it eating habits, things with kids, sex life, partners, job changes, I could go on but you get my drift, I am a veteran of 24 years since diagnosis and I'm still here, fighting MS and Mr government where necessary but not getting stressed about it cos that's no.good for the MS. Keep your chin up, we're here for a question, a moan, a cry or a celebration😍 Jill