At age 47, I started having weird dizzy spells that would only last 10 seconds or so...it felt like someone was sticking their finger in my right ear and giving me a little shove to the left. This lasted for about 2 weeks, until finally one day I had a horrendous dizzy spell in which the room was spinning like a carousel AND a Ferris wheel. Any movement made me vomit. I lost most of my hearing in my right ear that day. Went to ER and was diagnosed with benign positional vertigo. The CT scan was negative. By the time I saw an ENT doctor 2 weeks later, I still had no hearing and the dizzy spells, though milder, were still occurring daily...I always felt as though I was being shoved to the left, and had difficulty balancing during those brief, frequent episodes. I was finally sent to an ear specialist who offered to cut the nerves in my ear (which would remove ALL hearing, instead of just 70%) but agreed I should see a neurologist before doing something that drastic. Also for 6 months prior to the first dizzy attack, I had undergone a shoulder surgery, on the left side, which just didn't seem to want to heal right. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get my strength back on that side. My pinky and ring finger were numb, but I assumed that was from the surgery. I had fallen on the ice and undergone a knee (ACL) repair as well, and had very decreased sensation from the knee down to the ankle. I assumed this was related to the surgery. Later that summer, the tip of my tongue went numb (couldn't explain that) and then one day putting on eye liner, I realized parts of my face were numb as well. When I finally got in to see the neurologist, he looked at the MRI report... (which 3 other docs had access to...and I had pointed out that it SAID "numerous hyper-intense areas which could represent a demyelinating disease" to ALL of them and was pooh-poohed) the neurologist gave me a quick physical exam and diagnosed me right away. Here I had been attributing the numbness to the surgeries, when it was probably the MS all along. My whole left side is weaker than my right. I have always been clumsy to a degree. Still don't have my hearing back on the right. Probably never will. The other doctors were waiting for the optic symptoms to appear...they never did. Hope this helps!!!

I had coordination problems and had difficulty walking. I would get "real tired and my speech was like I had had a stroke" then it would get better. I will be pretty good and then have a part of me that gets very touchy. I sometimes could burn myself and not even feel it. I had a nerve test for a possible pinched nerve and they did the test 4 times. They said I had only 60% of my nerves functioning and called me superwoman, because I walked into their office, upright and reasonably normal. The test put me in a weakened condition but I did walk out the office without much help. I can't be around many insecticides because they bring on the symptoms and can put me down. I was down once for 8 months. We figured I probably had this since age 13 or so, but now I am 65 and still going. Good vitamins help a lot. And Limu gives me energy, so I can go even when the symptoms are there. Doctors were killing me, so I sought alternative medicine.

My symptoms started off with extreme muscle spasms and cramps. It would get worse when I was on my monthly. I was walking and running at the time to lose some weight that I thought was causing the muscle aches, headaches, and the pain that I was feeling in my whole body. One day it got overwhelming. It was August 17th, 2007. I felt like I was getting the life squeezed out of me and my mind was racing the whole time while experiencing difficulty speaking, walking, and trying to control the jerky movements. I was admitted as a psychiatric patient at that time, now it's been two years later and I feel like I am disseminating. I had another attack recently and that is what scared me enough to go to the neurologist. I am still afraid. I want to see it, and I'm interested in the damage that my body has endured. Can't wait to start treatment.

I was 7 years old when the right side of my face went numb, and I started slurring my speech. I felt really sick with "the flu" and was so tired, I kept falling asleep in class. In gym class, I was running, and my legs suddenly jerked up, and I fell down. I couldn't move my legs or stand up. I got some feeling back and was able to walk in a robotic manner. I spent two weeks in the hospital complaining about the "fishes eating my legs," and the wax paper over my right eye (this was 1977). Children didn't get MS back then. I spent years with neurologists saying, "We don't know what this is,” and “Come back when you get worse.” I was diagnosed in 2003 when I finally saw an MS specialist. I've been living with MS my entire life.

My son's symptoms were over a three-month period. It started in his back. On and off for two months, my son had pains and aches across the middle of his back. We saw my aunt who is a chiropractor and then my son's doctor. Both said he was very tight across his back and suggested physical therapy. It didn't help. That subsided and then his pinky finger went numb for a few days...again, that subsided. A month later, I noticed he was walking funny...that also subsided. The back pain came again, but this time my son called it a “buzzy” feeling...but it subsided. Somewhere in the middle of all this, he experienced balance issues, only once though. We knew something wasn't right. Right before our doctor's appointment we noticed his left side was a little weak. His doctor confirmed that he was definitely having issues with balance and reflexes. He referred us to a neurologist. That same night, we had his first spinal MRI and then a day later the brain MRI. Both tests confirmed MS. Turns out he has many lesions in his spine that were causing the back issues. I hope this helps someone. We haven't met any MS patients that actually started with the back pain.