I dont think your age has anything to do with when your diagnosed. Since I think most people with MS have probably been symptomatic for years, most people probably dont have symptoms that are bad enough to go to a doctor until they get a fairly acute or severe exacerbation that finally sends them to a doctor.

I know I had symptoms for at least ten years before I had that first experience with optic neuritis in August of 2006.

I'd wake up some mornings and my hands or fingertips would be numb. It'd usually go away in less than a day, but I wondered what was causing it. (thought I was sleeping weird and hurt my neck or something)

I had mononucleosis in early 1996, and I'm pretty sure that's what woke up the MS and made it active. I had a fairly high fever for about two weeks during the mono (hovered around 101 most of the time and was 103 - 104 at it's worst) and had problems controlling that. I've wondered if having that fever for as long as I did had something to do with the MS.

I actually think I had the MS before the mono tho. Since I can remember a time when I was probably about 9 or 10 and had vertigo for a month. I dont remember if I went to a doctor for that, but I was dizzy for at least a month...and then it went away and I didnt have a problem with it again until after the mononucleosis.

I also remember having pain in my ribs a few years before the mono that I know now is The Hug. So, I think I've probably had the MS for years, it just didnt get bad enough for me to have serious problems with it until 2006.