Hi Sunny,

When I had my original attack, they first thought a virus too. In fact, it probably was a virus (that triggered the MS) . . . but only time would tell if MS was the underlying cause.

Whether it had been a virus which messed up my nervous system, or a MS-attack, the immediate reprocussions were the same. I was incapacitated, damage was done, and I had ongoing disability from that EVENT forward.

What I had to do then was sit back and wait for the disease to come out of hiding, or not. I was hoping not ...

I was left with deficits, which continued to plague me and worsen. It's kinda' like when you see a stroke victim who's i.e. arm continues to claw worse and worse as time goes on. Once the damage is done, it either improves, stays the same (not usually), or gets worse over time . . .

So, what they did with me (as it seems they have done with you), is tell me to sit back and wait for the next shoe to drop. In my case it did, but not for 12 yrs. Things became abundantly clear at that point.

They are looking to see changes in your testing, and/or a sudden influx of new symptoms which should subside somewhat in time. This is basically how Relapsing Remitting MS unfolds.

On the other hand, if you had Primary Progressive MS, they would expect new symptoms to come on (generally in a diffferent neurological area of the body), and for them NOT to subside much over time.

It's a puzzle they piece together, as others have mentioned. Sometimes it takes a long time to do that.

Attached is information on what they are looking for to dx MS, and a list of other diseases/conditions that mimic MS:

http://www.neurology.wisc.edu/public...bs/Neuro_2.pdf

Good luck on getting to the bottom of your health issues.

Cherie

I don't think this is correct, Dejibo. From my understanding, O-bands found in MS are almost always permanent, and will not fully recover over time or with the use of drugs. That is not true with most other diseases that have O-bands though . . . .

Cherie