Multiple Sclerosis Q... Help!!?

My mom (48) just had an MRI today to test for MS... Less than two months ago she was given the diagnosis Lupus and now her Dr. isn't satisfied with that anymore. After looking the symptoms of MS up, she has almost all of them, though not too severely.

What I'm wondering is: How severe can this get? What will her quality of life be... in 5 years? in 15? Any ideas? And do you have MS or know someone who does? What is your/their basic story if you don't mind sharing?

Thanks! =)

Hi Mary, I have had MS for almost 20 years now. Unfortunately MS is a very unpredictable disease so no one knows what the future holds for any of us who have it. Some people have very benign forms of the disease and experience few symptoms. Others have a very severe form of the disease (called progressive MS) and their life is nothing but a living hell. The majority of us have mild cases of relapsing remitting MS meaning that the disease comes and goes and allows us to live a relatively normal life and live a near normal life span. MS can affect a person physically, emotionally and cognitively since it affects the nervous system which is involved in every activity of the body. For some reason, it never implicates the nerves of the major organs, and as a consequence, it is not fatal. There are a total of 50 symptoms to MS but no one person every gets all the symptoms and the symptoms vary radically in intensity from person to person. I have the relapsing remitting form of the disease-it comes and it goes. When I had my worst attack I went blind in my left eye, had great difficulty walking, spoke with a slur that made my speech almost impossible to understand, and could not remember what I did the day before. Five months later I was back to my normal life with no perceptible hint of a physical or cognitive problem. Keep in mind that i have had thedisease for almost 20 years though. I am 58 now and I still maintain my home, work, enjoy a social life and visit the gyn three times a week. Were you to meet me you would not be able to tell I have MS. I hate to say how bad it could get because the worst case senario is not even possible. There is not one person in the world who would get every symptom in its worst degree. With the many drugs that treat both the symptoms and the progress of the disease, MS is no where near as destructive as it was some years ago. And there are many, many new more powerfull drugs in testing now.

I'm very sorry that your mother is ill. My aunt has MS. She has had it for over ten years and is only recently starting to be affected by it. She now finds it harder to walk, especially on stairs and her eyesight is getting worse but she has long periods where she is much better. It is impossible to tell how bad your mother could get if she does in fact have MS. It has different subtypes and can affect people very differently. With most people, the disease starts in a subtype called relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. With this type, the person with MS will have unpredictable relapses in the disease followed by periods with no signs of disease activity. Some people are badly affected by MS and get seriously disabled in a short period of time, while some may live almost completely normal lives. The life expectancy for people with MS is almost the same as for healthy people. There are many websites with lots of useful information so you should try an internet search. I hope this information helps.

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear your Mom is having health problems. MS is a progressive disease--it gets worse over time, but everyone's experience with symptoms and how severe they are is different. I think a Web guide to Multiple Sclerosis can help answer your questions. It has sections on living with MS:

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/He...

MS support:

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/He...

And caring for someone with MS:

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/He...

Here's a link to the entire guide:

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides.to...

There are links to reliable, legitmate sites that can help answer your questions. Good luck.

I don't know if this would be a fit for you or not, but if you are open to learning more I'm happy to help you out! Health challenges such as arthritis, allergies, diabetes, MS, ADHD, indigestion (acid reflux, IBS), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, chronic pain, migraines, or just simply are not sleeping well at night are all conditions that we have seen improvements in or eliminated all together when our friends and family took VeMMA or Verve! every day !

VeMMA isn't a fix all or cure all. It is the simply the most complete powerful liquid nutritional supplement on the market and when you give your body what it needs, it is amazing how it is capable of healing itself. VeMMA consists of 5 unique and physician formulated nutritional technologies that have incredibly high absorption rates! All your Vitamins, Minerals, The most powerful antioxidant in the world, MANGOSTEEN, and organic aloe and organic green tea!

If you are interested in hearing a little more about both the company and the incredible formulary...please visit this link and watch the 7 minute video at the Top of the page.

http://www.myvemma.com/moorejanelle.

There are Human clinical studies about this amazing discovery for you to look at, if you are interested in the science side of things! I can also make available to you short video clips of physicians discussing the benefits they have seen with VeMMA.

If you are interested in reading about the experiences of other people impacted by VeMMA also known as "mangosteen and minerals" please check out the links below. :)

Here are some additional websites:
www.vmatestimonials.com

www.mangosteenminerals.com - Click on testimonials

If you would like more information, please email me at moorejanelle@sbcglobal.net. I look forward to helping you!!

MS & lupus have a lot of the same symptoms. They are both auto-immune disorders which means her immune system is attacking her own body.

There are no cures for either of them, but there are treatments to alleviate the symptoms.

Each person is affected by disease differently. Some do better than others, so it's hard to say what shape your mom will be in in 5-15 years. She will likely have balance probs, difficulty walking (some days worse than others). You might have noticed there are periods of time where she appears to do better. These disorders have no reason or rhyme & will "flare" during times of stress (whether good like Christmas or bad like a death). When symptoms slack off or disappear for a time it's called "remission." The illness does not go away, but it can be dormant for a while.

With MS, some ppl live almost 'normal' lives & are able to work. Others have great difficulty, are in pain & wind up in wheelchairs.The speech can be affected over time.

I'm sure this is a very frightening time for the whole family.

In the MRI were they checking for brain lesions? Has she had a lumbar puncture (spinal tap)?

http://www.webmd.com/multiple-sclerosis/...
It sounds like her doctor may not be 100% certain of the diagnosis yet as the symptoms are often generalized and though an MRI has been done, I am reasonably sure she would not have gotten the results yet.
These web sites give information on MS, but there is still hope she does not have it. I have 2 friends that have MS and both are still doing okay after having been diagnosed 10 years ago. If you have heard of Montel Williams (talk show host) he also has MS. I hope your mom does not have it though. There are different kinds of MS some progress quickly and some progress slowly. The severe form is not good. If however, they find she has it, hope its the slowly progressing one. What happens is the nerves deteriorate and it causes difficulties with the muscles and normal movements. Please see the sites offered.