ash wrote:Hi, My wife has just been diagnosed with ms, she was told on Monday just gone and now has to wait for more tests to be carried out to determine which strain she has, Has anybody got any idea how long this will take...
Hi ash,
I'm sorry to hear your wife was diagnosed with MS. But I thought I'd stop in to possibly make it easier for you to get questions answered. There are many, many experienced, knowledgeable people on the forum, so feel free to ask anything you want - but I'll give you a couple of hints.
First, don't panic.
Many of us have had MS for a very long time (35 + years for me) and are doing okay. And, like jimmylegs, I believe in nutrition and exercise, which may do as much to benefit MS as any of the (immune modulating) meds your wife will probably be offered, and should make her feel better.
I've never taken any of those meds and I don't plan to. And I still work full-time. There are separate forums here for all of them, though.
2nd, if you have a specific question, try to mention it in your subject heading and people are more likely to come up with answers. For example, I'm having trouble finding some of posts I wanted to answer this weekend, because the thread titles aren't descriptive enough. Often I can only
scan the forum during the week.
Try mentioning "fatigue" or something, or better yet, do a "search" for the term, and you'll undoubtedly find dozens of threads about it already. Also, which "tests" are you talking about? We all have tons of experience with tests, so we could give more advice if we knew which ones. Or scan the first few pages of the forums.
And I want to make sure you know there is no such thing as a "strain" of MS - it's not quite a curable "disease," but more like a catchall term for a collection of symptoms, so there's no specific med to make it all better. In fact, they don't know exactly WHAT it is. I'll add a link to a recent thread that discusses the different categories they've come up with to kinda describe the stages one might be in, and the medication options. But, like most everything to do with MS, it's all an educated guess:
http://www.thisisms.com/ftopicp-75956-.html#75956
As for the CCSVI surgery you've heard about, it's new, it's experimental, and at this time no one is currently doing the procedures regularly except a doctor in Poland. I'm optimistically intrigued by the idea, but waiting a bit longer for the research that's just beginning, hoping it will confirm the theory and thus encourage doctors to actually try to treat us for it - or even identify it.
Right now, most docs are in a holding pattern pending more research - and waiting for training on how to recognize it. You'll find all that info in the CCSVI section here at TIMS.
And I'll also add a description from the NMSS, but keep in mind there's no test for these categories either:
The Four Courses of MS
People with MS can typically experience one of four disease courses, each of which might be mild, moderate, or severe.
Relapsing-Remitting MS
People with this type of MS experience clearly defined attacks of worsening neurologic function. These attacks—which are called relapses, flare-ups, or exacerbations —are followed by partial or complete recovery periods (remissions), during which no disease progression occurs. Approximately 85% of people are initially diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS.
Primary-Progressive MS
This disease course is characterized by slowly worsening neurologic function from the beginning—with no distinct relapses or remissions. The rate of progression may vary over time, with occasional plateaus and temporary minor improvements. Approximately 10% of people are diagnosed with primary-progressive MS.
Secondary-Progressive MS
Following an initial period of relapsing-remitting MS, many people develop a secondary-progressive disease course in which the disease worsens more steadily, with or without occasional flare-ups, minor recoveries (remissions), or plateaus. Before the disease-modifying medications became available, approximately 50% of people with relapsing-remitting MS developed this form of the disease within 10 years. Long-term data are not yet available to determine if treatment significantly delays this transition.
Progressive-Relapsing MS
In this relatively rare course of MS (5%), people experience steadily worsening disease from the beginning, but with clear attacks of worsening neurologic function along the way. They may or may not experience some recovery following these relapses, but the disease continues to progress without remissions.
Since no two people have exactly the same experience of MS, the disease course may look very different from one person to another. And, it may not always be clear to the physician—at least right away—which course a person is experiencing.
Best of luck to you, and make yourself at home!