I had a car accident in July 1999, around September '99, I started developing these red lumpy blotches all over my body, turned out to be psoriasis. Had my first bout with ON March 2000. The psoriasis seems to be the clue that my autoimmune system was out of sync. It's a long, story why it took so long for me to return to any neurologist between 2000 and 2007. Lack of health insurance, and feeling that since my bouts with ON cleared up, really, what was there to do?

But, it's possible that symptoms can exist longer that are unexplained and unaddressed before going through the testing to get to the dx.

Welcome back Gladys, I thought maybe you found the cure
and didn't tell us.

What have you been up to?

I had psoriasis (or seborrhea?? can't remember what it was now) back in the very early 90's. I also had weird little symptoms as far back as childhood. I can remember being so dizzy one month that I had to lay down on the floor of the car to go anywhere. If I was sitting up, I'd get sick.

Remember parents taking me to a doctor to be checked for an ear infection, but I didn't have one. They still gave me antibiotics tho. I was probably 10 at the time.

I was wondering if you had a spinal tap also, and if it was clear. My spinal tap, visual evoke & MRI were all clear, but my GP, Neurologist & Neurosurgeon all say that I show symptoms of MS, but since my tests were negative, they are dropping the subject. Now, my hands are starting to have tremors & are going numb. I'm not sure what else to do. Find an MS specialist & keep pushing?? Oh by the way... both my sister & her daughter have ms as well. :confused

Yes and in most cases you ave had it longer than you think. I had symptoms for years before one day's fall to the ground when my head went spinning and I lost all balance, plus dribbling incontinence that I ignored to some sort of "zipped up way to fast" thing lol.

That fall prompted me to call my mom right away with the words....I gotta go to the doctor.
She said....I knew it, lol.

So...I ignored the symptoms for a long long time till I was forced to get answers.

So...I propbably experienced symps since my late twentirs before I did anything about it,

I was a very active and healthy kid for the most part, but I could not take direct sunlight without feeling weak most of the time. I missed a lot of school for vague symptoms that might have been fatigue or depression or just that my mom was depressed and I was having sympathy symptoms. Because of the complexity of life and how it all works together it's hard to know if something back then was due to life situations or early MS symptoms.

So true Wiz, my Mom reminded me of times in my youth when
I had weakness and being unsteady. She just thought it was
part of the growing process, until I was DXed with MS.

I think it may explain the nickname I have had most of my life....Dizzy Lizzy :-)

i felt unsteady on my feet for a couple years before i was diagnosed, but i had put it to being overweight and wearing sandals all the time. and for at least 10 years i would get shock-like sensations from time to time, but not long lasting or any weakness. i believe i had ms for at least a couple years. i also suspect it may have been from chemical exposure at my job. i was constantly inhaling nasty fumes only to be told it was nothing to worry about, even when the fumes would make me dizzy sometimes. i discovered when i joined the emergency response team at the motorola factory i worked at that the instructors focus was on minimizing any reporting of those types of calls. explain them away as random outside smells was the rule, not the exception. horrible emergency and medical standard imo

I was dx'd in 2001, when I lost around 50% of my vision and was falling all over myself, couldn't walk straight and was losing bladder control.

But I started having autoimmune problems during my first pregnancy in 1993 (my platelets were very low, I had to have a bone marrow biopsy and they called it ITP - idiopathic thromocytopenia, in other words, my spleen was attacking, and wiping out my platelets).

Over next couple of years I had some pretty obvious cognitive memory and spatial issues. I got so tired, often tingly, numb, slurring speech and so achy-breaky, but it wasn't until 2001 that I was formally dx'd. So, yes looking back it was around long before I had a label.

Lyn