This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

I have so many questions for you... I've tried to answer them myself the best I can by searching the Internet, but it only got me so far. I'm wondering if you lovely people can help with the rest.

To clarify, I am not diagnosed with MS, but fear I have it.... anyways...

-I have been having bouts of insomnia... not often, but Christmas eve I didn't sleep all night and last Tuesday I laid in bed until 4 AM trying to sleep. Is MS insomnia typically caused by symptoms (example: unable to sleep because of pain from spasticity) or can it be like this, where one can simply not sleep without any good reason? I've read conflicting things. I realize two random bouts of insomnia may seem trivial, but when combined with my other symptoms that have no explanation, I am having a melt down.

-So people with MS have crippling fatigue but then CAN'T FALL ASLEEP? That's the cruelest joke ever played.

-I've read various sources giving statistic about the likelihood of disability for people with MS. Is it true that it is much worse for males? I've read an estimate as high as 4/5ths of males will be severely disabled... which is troubling.

-Excuse me if this question seems insulting due to its shallowness... can people with MS drink? I'm in my mid-20's and boozing is big staple of my social life. I imagine taking MS drugs would probably mean alcohol is off limits, but I was just wondering.

-My understanding is that people with RRMS have 'attacks', then remit and recover a little bit, another attack with worse recovery, etc. Is there an AVERAGE length of time between 'attacks' for people with RRMS? Sometimes it seems like people get an 'attack' every few weeks or months, but I've also heard it put in the timeframe of years. I know MS is different for every person, but is there some sort of statistic, an AVERAGE in the length of time between attacks in people with MS?

-"They" say depression is a symptom of MS. Is this connected to the drugs solely? When I read that... it seemed a little ridiculous. 'Someone with an awful illness is depressed? Shocking.'

-There's so many aspects of this disease that make you say, "The worst part of MS is...." but fatigue seems to be the consistently at the top of the list. If science could find a way to eradicate the fatigue aspect of MS, do you think it would be a bearable load to endure? I hope that doesn't come across as insensitive, I was just wondering.

-Sometimes I read about people who are extremely frustrated blaming big pharma and the "society" (I don't really get the rationale behind that one?) as reasons for MS research moving slower than preferred. Is this a widespread view? I have several friends who works for a successful biotech firm and they think this is completely ridiculous... and seeing the amazing work they do and knowing them to be genuine in character, it makes it tough for me to swallow.

Whew... if ANYBODY took the time to read and respond, thank you so much. There are so many mysteries surrounding this disease, but these are MS questions I couldn't even gather the typical 'it's a mystery to science' outcome for. Cheers.

Hi hope you are now sleeping ok, the first thing you need to do is relax a bit and take a breath. Probably the raeson that you have had no replies so far is that you don't give enough information for anyone to give an opinion.
The two things that I picked up was depression and insomnia, which on their own are nowhere near anything that encourages an MS diagnosis.
Many neurologists are shy of giving a definite diagnosis even when multiple symptoms present and MRIs show multiple lesions / plaques...maybe they are afraid of the emotional reaction.
Even if you do have MS it is not the end of the world, many people live with few symtoms, it is not a disease with a definite progression. Clean up your diet, exercise, get out in the sun, and give thanks for the good grace in the day, living with happiness is so important.
See a doctor and commence having the tests, blood, mri etc to determine what is going on, the worry of not knowing is often worse than the diagnosis.
As to the alcohol there is very little that reports it being a strong negative, and some information, particularly of red wine, that it is beneficial. Excess of anything is not good for you, especially binge drinking which is plain bad for your health. However guaging the stress that your posting indicates its probably not a bad thing right now...alcohol does disturb your sleep.
Post again with a list of your symptoms if you want more info. When I have trouble sleeping I count backwards from 1000..it works every time!
Good luck!