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I was wondering what exactly is meant by remissions.
Does it mean complete absence of symptoms or it means no active lesion?

I have had MS for 17 years now and some of the symptoms have been a constant companion ... makes me think ...

Remission is a partial or complete reduction in symptoms.

For example, my second attack was optic neuritis. I lost the ability to see color and my vision was blurred substantially in my left eye. 3-4 months later, after IV steroid treatments, I regained my sight in the left eye. I now have headaches and migraines on the left side but I can see normally.

That is a remission. A relapse would be a repeat of optic neuritis in the left eye.

For my transverse myelitis, my remission means a reduction in symptoms because I still have that 'plugged in' feeling in my lower body, difficulty walking, and left sided weakness. A relapse for this would mean a worsening of my symptoms.

A new attack is when you have totally new symptoms completely different than what you have already experienced. So if my right eye goes out or my right side experiences issues, I am having a new attack. (fingers crossed, candles lit that does not happen).

Lesions can heal and they can become inactive (or no longer enhance in an MRI). They can also reappear and enlarge with more damage. When an old lesion reactivates it can show up with a ring around the old damage. Lesions are a mystery since they do not totally correlate with the disability you experience. "Normal/healthy" individuals can have lesions too.

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot. As I said I have never had big respite from symptoms like fatigue, body pain. Does that mean I never had remission?

sbr487 wrote:Thanks a lot. As I said I have never had big respite from symptoms like fatigue, body pain. Does that mean I never had remission?

Not necessarily. If your current symptoms are less powerful than they were with the initial presentation then you are in a remission.

But it is possible to be continually under attack. You would then have a more aggressive MS...Primary progressive: http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/primarypr ... rosis.html

I always just consider it remission if I have no onset of new symptoms.