I have pondered this a lot and thought I was sure and always said it was the house fire I went into in 1999, 6 months later I have suffered from MS SX ever since, and then I read about back injuries and Nero the Neuro said that possibly the house fire triggered it, and it may of been with me since 82 when I broke my back, then I think of times as a kid when I had this heavy tight chest feeling, that the docs seem to attribute to my MS cause they cant find any answer for it, so as time goes on I wonder less, cause there are too many factors of could be's

I had mono twice in a row when I was in my mid teens (which is rare so I was told). A few short years later my MS reared its ugly head. I also had Rosiola as a young child as well as many years of strep throat and chicken pox when I was a child. I don't know if any of those are related but I tend to think they are.

I also lived on a street in the city nearby that used to be a dump site. I know a lot of other people with MS who lived in that immediate area.

Actually, my mom called me a 'sickly child'. I had chicken pox twice, several years bronchitis every spring and fall, strep throat more times than I can count...it seemed like I was sick more than I was well.

I dunno why.

I haven't ever been ill except for tonsils and the usual childhood illnesses that kids had back in the 60s.
I had TWO series of Hep B vaccines. I took the series of 3 HeptaVax injections back in the early 80s and then I had to have a second series in the 90s because the records were lost. For the second one I had the series of 3 injections of RecombiVax, so who knows.

Even then, I had no symptoms of ANYTHING until the day I woke up and my eye seemed like the pupil wasn't reacting to light. By that afternoon the vision in my right eye was just gray and that was it.

I also have two first cousins who are sisters and both have MS. Both are female and I am the third and the other two female first cousins are NERVOUS!

I often wonder about this myself. Childhood illnesses? Exposure to chemicals? I do not know for sure and apparently neither do the docs and researchers.

I think it's genetic. I recall an article in the local paper that said a link had been discovered. But what will this do for us? Who knows?

I will now blame an unknown and unnamed ancestor in my family tree for mucking up the gene pool.

I remember having what my mother called "Scarlet Fever" as a child. Not sure if that is related to the EBV or not but I had it quite severely. I know of one cousin who has MS but no other confirmed family members. I suspect my Dad had it but it was never dx. Looking back he had lots of sx but also had so many other things wrong with him that it was attributed to other things.

Well, I fell down the stairs in '79...after that I got sxs of fibromyalgia...dxd with it in '85.
In '84, I got the chicken pox (while 4 wks pregnant with my DD). I got it BAD...
MS sxs really started to show in '05, but I'm sure the sxs were there and I just didn't pay attn, or attributed them to the fibro.

All I can think - healthy child, minimum of regular "kid stuff", no family history - maybe due to eye virus in early 82. putting MS awake in my body. Got dizzy all the time (I'm PP), thought Benign Positional Vertig (BPV). Later couldn't hold urine like I used to (but this attributed to age and twin birth, couldn't walk as fast and as far as I could before effortlessly, but still covered distances still. DXed in 92 after I insisted urine incontinence was neurological, not from having babies. by Jan. 2008 I was in a chair.

I chalk it up to my gene pool. Got a lot of autoimmune diseases in my family.

As to what triggered this particular one, have no idea. My brother got the psoriasis and RA, while I got this. Never had mono or anything like that. Have always had severe allergies and had tons of ear infections. Chicken pox was about the only thing I had as a kid.

only a theory mind you, but...
i live in CO. it's a high incidence state. been here for 35 yrs.

otherwise no family hx etc. God only knows.