Oh that is like the neuro on call at my neuro's office who told me when i called that i was not having an exacerbation because these were all symptoms I have had before. This was also the same one who two weeks prior told me without seeing me that I was not having a flare, that people with previous back injuries usually have pain in their back. Even though I had no recorded back injuries other than the giant holes in my spinal cord caused by MS!

I've gotten the "it's not an exacerbation because you've had this symptom before..." line from my neuro...while he's ignoring the 3 new symptoms that arrived with the old one.

Makes you want to smack the neuro with his medical diploma.

From someone who had Googled MS:
"Well if you do have MS, it's not like it really shortens your life span or anything"....

Of course, my DD, the baby of the family, immediately asked me, "It's not hereditary, is it?"
Thanks for your compassion...
She is compassionate, just looks out for herself, as all last-borns do (me included!).

That was the first question out of my mouth after I got the dx. I didn't want my children to have to worry about developing this disease. I've gotten completely different answers from different sources.

Thanks for the welcome! Oh my gosh guys, that is exactly what my first neurologist did to me too! In fact he didn't even diagnose it - he said "if it really is MS, then it's probably benign MS." I wish I had know two years ago how full of it he was, because I have really aggressive case on my hands now, having finally been diagnosed in February of this year and now after a major exacerbation in November I'm using a walker and an electric wheelchair to get around..

My father did the first disability study on MS, and I find that the stupidest claims are made by the drug companies touting the effectiveness of their MS medications, specifically that their Drug has effectively changed the disabilty rate from ten years (my father's study) to nineteen years, forgetting that when my father published it took an average of six or seven years to get diagnosed, while today a Dx can be made in a week or so. Add seven years to the ten years (equals 17) and compare it to the 19, and the new drugs have not been very effective in helping those with MS.