Can you have mild MS?

Benign MS is a mild course where an individual will have mild disease after having MS for about 15 years. This occurs in about 5-10% of patients.
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Can MS stay mild?

After the first round of symptoms, multiple sclerosis can stay mild without causing major problems for decades, a 30-year British study indicates.
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Can MS symptoms be subtle?

The initial symptoms of MS may be quite subtle. They include weakness or unusual sensations in one or more extremities; blurring or loss of vision, most often in one eye and associated with pain around the eye; double vision; and dizziness.
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Can MS come on slowly?

Most commonly, MS starts with a vague symptom that disappears completely within a few days or weeks. Symptoms can appear suddenly and then vanish for years after the first episode, or in some cases never reappear. The symptoms of MS vary greatly and can range from mild to severe. Most people suffer minor effects.
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What does MS feel like in the beginning?

Numbness or Tingling

A lack of feeling or a pins-and-needles sensation can be the first sign of the nerve damage from MS. It usually happens in the face, arms, or legs, and on one side of the body. It also tends to go away on its own.
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Less Common Symptoms -- National MS Society



What were your first signs of MS?

Common early signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) include:
  • vision problems.
  • tingling and numbness.
  • pains and spasms.
  • weakness or fatigue.
  • balance problems or dizziness.
  • bladder issues.
  • sexual dysfunction.
  • cognitive problems.
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What other symptoms have MS but no lesions?

About 5 percent of people who are confirmed to have MS do not initially have brain lesions evidenced by MRI. However, the longer a person goes without brain or spinal cord lesions on MRI, the more important it becomes to look for other possible diagnoses.
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Can you have MS and it not show up on an MRI?

MRI is considered the best test to help diagnose MS. However, 5% of people with MS do not have abnormalities detected on MRI; thus, a "negative" scan does not completely rule out MS. In addition, some common changes of aging may look like MS on a MRI. To track the progress of disease.
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Can you live with MS and not know it?

Benign MS can't be identified at the time of initial diagnosis; it can take as long as 15 years to diagnose. The course of MS is unpredictable, and having benign MS doesn't mean that it can't progress into a more severe form of MS.
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What is the most mild form of MS?

There's no cure for multiple sclerosis, but benign MS is the mildest form of the condition.
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Do MS symptoms come and go?

MS symptoms can come and go and change over time. They can be mild, or more severe. The symptoms of MS are caused by your immune system attacking the nerves in your brain or spinal cord by mistake. These nerves control lots of different parts of your body.
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Are there different levels of MS?

There are three main types of MS - relapsing, primary progressive and secondary progressive. MS affects everyone differently. Even if you have the same type of MS as someone else, you probably won't experience the same symptoms in the same way.
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Is MS curable if caught early?

There's no drug or treatment yet that can cure MS. The drugs prescribed for people with MS usually target their overactive immune system; many different medications work this way. Is one of these drugs better than others? Not across the board, Keegan says.
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Can anxiety cause MS symptoms?

Never Self-Diagnose MS From Anxiety

Unfortunately, anxiety causes many of the same symptoms as the early stages of MS. MS is one of the health issues that comes up most when those with anxiety search for their symptoms online, and millions of those with anxiety convince themselves that they might have MS.
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What does MS pain feel like?

Neuropathic pain happens from “short circuiting” of the nerves that carry signals from the brain to the body because of damage from MS. These pain sensations feel like burning, stabbing, sharp and squeezing sensations. In MS you can experience acute neuropathic pain and chronic neuropathic pain.
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What conditions can mimic MS?

Conditions That Can Seem Like MS
  • Epstein-Barr Virus.
  • Vitamin B12 Deficiency.
  • Diabetes.
  • Nerve Damage.
  • Eye Problems.
  • Stroke.
  • Lupus and Other Autoimmune Diseases.
  • Parkinson's Disease.
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How do you rule out MS?

MRI multiple sclerosis lesions
  1. Blood tests, to help rule out other diseases with symptoms similar to MS . ...
  2. Spinal tap (lumbar puncture), in which a small sample of cerebrospinal fluid is removed from your spinal canal for laboratory analysis. ...
  3. MRI, which can reveal areas of MS (lesions) on your brain and spinal cord.
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How quickly do MS lesions develop?

Most symptoms develop abruptly, within hours or days. These attacks or relapses of MS typically reach their peak within a few days at most and then resolve slowly over the next several days or weeks so that a typical relapse will be symptomatic for about eight weeks from onset to recovery.
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Can you have benign MS?

The term benign MS is sometimes used to describe a version of relapsing remitting MS with very mild or no attacks separated by long periods with no symptoms. 'Benign' means 'something doesn't cause any harm'.
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Can MS diagnosis be wrong?

The misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is a problem with significant consequences for patients as well as the healthcare system. There are nearly 1 million people in the United States living with the disease. And researchers now say nearly 20 percent of them are misdiagnosed.
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What does MS feel like in legs?

Some people with MS describe it as like having bags of sand attached to their legs. This muscle weakness combined with MS fatigue can be upsetting. Weakness in your legs can cause balance and walking difficulties and you may be more likely to fall.
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What can trigger MS?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) triggers include anything that worsens your symptoms or causes a relapse.
...
Here are some of the most common triggers you may experience with MS and tips to avoid them.
  1. Stress. ...
  2. Heat. ...
  3. Childbirth. ...
  4. Getting sick. ...
  5. Certain vaccines. ...
  6. Vitamin D deficiency. ...
  7. Lack of sleep. ...
  8. Poor diet.
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Does MS show up in blood work?

While there is no definitive blood test for MS, blood tests can rule out other conditions that cause symptoms similar to those of MS, including lupus erythematosis, Sjogren's, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, some infections, and rare hereditary diseases.
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What are the early symptoms of MS in a woman?

MS symptoms in females include the following:
  • Vision problems. For many people, a vision problem is the first noticeable symptom of MS. ...
  • Numbness. Numbness in the face, body, arms, or legs is another common symptom of MS. ...
  • Fatigue. ...
  • Bladder problems. ...
  • Bowel problems. ...
  • Pain. ...
  • Cognitive changes. ...
  • Depression.
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How important is it to diagnose MS early?

Early diagnosis is important because there is growing evidence that early intervention is useful. It is known through the work of Trapp et al that axonal loss can be present, even in asymptomatic patients, early in the disease process.
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