65 - dx'd at 30

I'm 54 -- was dxd with MS 2 years + 2 days ago.

Thank you all for the info! I appreciate it! I guess I am a young'un.. lol but I guess its a great thing for me because I know I have some experienced MS'ers to fall back on if I'm lost!!! :)

It's hard being 26 and having to wear diapers and struggle to walk and stuff... I am really having a hard time with it lately... Thank god for the pull up underwear though!

My big embarrassment when I was working was having to call into work late because I pooped myself while driving there (6 times...). That was horrible and degrading!! I keep going back and forth and the more I think about it, and as bad as I have felt the last couple days... I think I am going to have to look seriously into disability...

Hard to hold a job if you cant hold your bodily functions! lol :)

I thought I was going to be the oldest but KarenMarie beat me to it. I am 59, diagnosed at 49.

I forgot to say, I was diagnosed at age 44 but I recall having symptoms way back into my childhood.

I hope your symptoms will let up. I hate it when young people get diagnosed. :( We are here for you though and don't hesitate to ask for help or just vent if you need to. :hug:

I do have a few memories of muscle twitches in my legs and arm when I was younger. I'd be sitting there, and a muscle would start to twitch for a few seconds and then it'd quit. I remember that happening a few times in grade school (5th grade or older probably)

and I remember weird aches and pains, and not being able to keep up with anyone in gym class, but I have no way of knowing if that was an early MS thing or just the fact that I was never athletic and was kind of lazy at gym anyways.

There was also a time when I was probably in 3rd or 4th grade where anytime I rode in a car, I would get dizzy...that went on for at least a few weeks. We didnt have a seatbelt law then, and I was laying on the floor of my parents lime-green Volkswagon Bus (where the first line of defense in a front end collision would be your kneecaps) If I sat up in that car, I would get so dizzy I wanted to throw up. We had that car for at least 3 years and the dizziness only happened for a few weeks one time.

It's memories like those that make me wonder if I've had MS longer than I think I have. I have no way of knowing for sure, so I dont even tell the doctors about those events. Plus, I've noticed when you try to give them too much information, their eyes seem to glaze over and they get a bit catatonic while you're talking to them. :winky:

Hey Erin524 - I LOVE your last line. What a PERFECT description. I haven't been dx'd yet formally, but they've been trying for MS on me for 14 years off and on - 3 major flares of whatever this is - maybe third time will be a charm and I'll find out the answer this time for sure. I have had sx's since way before the first bout in '96, but as so many have said here, just ignored them. When I take my med history in, I've gotten that glazed look, but the neuro that dx'd my Myasthenia Gravis told me to never leave anything out because it might be an important link, so I just keep getting the look. HA.

I'm 52 now, by the way Chazen. I too am very sorry that you are having such a hard time at such a young age. I was blessed that my big problems didn't occur until my kids were in the late teens.

RE: Disability.
 

This has more to do with your other post about insurance frustrations, but you mentioned disability here as well, so I thought I'd let you know here.

You don't need to go to your doctor to apply for disability. You can call social security or start the application on line. You give them the information and they will track it down. Applying as soon as you are disabled is important because it takes them a while to process everything (4-6 mos) and then you have a waiting period of 5 months from the date of disability as they determine it before any payments come in.

You can call 800-772-1213 to get the ap started and they can set up an interview at a local office for you, either in person or by phone.

Best of luck!

OK..Just so I'm clear here, we are talkin' "physical" age, as opposed to, say, mental/emotional?:p
I just turned 49 in March, I was 45 when dx'd with symptoms trailing back to shortly after my son was born (I was 30), possibly earlier..
For the other, it varies from day to day..Today I feel like a cranky, hormonal teenager.