Multiple Sclerosis.?

One of my best friends has just been diagnosed with MS after having about half a year of numbness down her left side and problems with her vision. I've been reading all about MS on the internet, but had to stop cos it was scaring me. Can anyone honestly tell me what she will be going through? Will MS be with her for life?

I have multiple sclerosis. There are many forms of the disease. The least debilitating is relapsing remitting. The most serious is progressive. While the disease can have very serious consequences that is not always so. In relapsing remitting the symptoms come and go. In progressive form of disease the symptoms continually get worse. There is no cure and the therapies for it on the whole have a 50/50 chance of working. Many, many people with multiple sclerosis lead normal lives so don't go pushing the panic button. If you were to meet me, you would not even know that I have a thing wrong with me. Yet at the onset of the disease I went blind in one eye and my speach was so slurred no one could understand a thing I said. I could not walk or think straight. Then three months later, the symptoms disappeard. I have been absolutely fine now for four years. I can honestly say that I have no idea what the future holds for me. Because the symptoms of the disease vary a great degree from person to person, there is absolutely no way for anyone to tell you what your friend will go through. MS is not just a disease that affects the body. It also affects cognitition and emotions. I can tell you that your friend will go through a period of great anger followed by depression which is only a normal response to her new condition. She will also experience great fear about her future. On the upside, there is now a tremendous amount of research going on now to establish the cause of
MS as well as research into reversing the damage the disease can cause. Within the next decade science will make tremendous improvement in the therapies for treatment and cure due to DNA research. There is every reason to be hopeful. Your friend did not recieve a death sentence by any means. Feel free to email me. I would happy to help you in any way I can.

yes, she may have remissions, however it is a degenerative disease.

I know someone who was diagnosed with ms,and others too-
later they were diagnosed with lyme disease.I am not saying your friend has lyme for sure,but there are alternative avenues of investigation,-would be foolish not to consider them.

She will have MS for life. Depending on the type she has she may be symptom free for a long time with periods of flares (called relapsing remitting). My husband and his brother both have MS. They both lead fairly normal lives. MS is NOT a death sentence. She should start on a medical regime as soon as possible since most medications for MS only prevent new symptoms and don't remove problems you already have.

Many people live with MS for a long time. They lead normal or close to normal lives. She may have to make some accommodations for herself (more sleep, less stress) to help her be as normal as possible.

Everyone who has MS has different symptoms so it's impossible to know exactly what her MS will entail. Be a good friend and be there for her if she needs someone to lean on, otherwise treat her normally.

Yes, it will stick with her.She will be going thourgh some numbness in legs and arms.It will eventulley be hard to stand up becuase of all the tissue being damaged so she will be put in a wheelchair and in maybe 10 to 12 years it will be hard to breath because of no tissue near of around the lungs and it will be hard to disgest her food because very rare but it can damage her intestines.