my girlfriend has ms

[aahmad69]

Hi my girlfriend had a severe pain in her right eye and she lost her vision after seeing a doctor he said it is optic Neuritis, after 3 days staying in hospital and receiving drugs she went for MRI of brain. And the dr said it is MS. the other doctor said she has 14 small plaques in her brain and he said it is hard to say which drug is right for her.
She had similar attack 10 month ago but the same eye got well in 10 days without treatment.
Now there are my questions:
1. is the number of plaques very high?
2. What will happen with these plaques?
3. As her disease started with just eye problem, Does it mean anything special? Is her MS good or very bad?

thanks a lot

[Lulu54]

There are some very good MS centers in Iran - it is a region that has seen a sharp increase in MS in the past 20 years.  seek out the doctors who are doing the research for treatment for your girlfriend and make sureshe is offered drug therapy.  Good luck - she is lucky to have you looking for information and support.

[aj1964]

Remember MS is for life but it does not have to take away her life, i have had MS for 14 years, i am a bit slower at times and need to rest more, but those who do not know would never know i have anything,myself i try to eat a very natural diet with as little processed food as possible, over the years through trial and error i now make most things myself, i grind my own flour for baking make all the sauces i use and stay away from any artificial sweetners, this last year i have had cognitive problems,but just laugh them off as best i can,take care remain positive and just be there for her,also the only vitamin any dr has every recommended to me is vit d3

[aahmad69]

Thanks dear friend, wow you are so nice, thanks.
I hope the cure for MS will be found soon and many other diseases.
Again thanks.

[Lulu54]

Welcome, Aahmad.  I see you are in Iran, which has some very good MS research taking place.  I hope she has good doctors and you and she will find out the answers to your questions and so much more.  

من به شما و دوست دختر خود را میخواهید چند روز از شادی.

best,
Laura

[aahmad69]

Thanks a lot, you are very kind. Please help me during this condition of my girlfriend, Now I am just trying to hold her happy.
Again thanks

[aahmad69]

Wow thanks dear friend you gave me lots of information, I will let you know what doctors will tell her.

[supermum_ms]

Hi and welcome to our little MS community

I honestly do not know what the medical situation is in Iran, but it is always a good idea to get a second opinion with a neurologist who specialises MS, and if you contact the Iranian MS society [ http://www.iranms.ir/ ] they maybe able to help you locate a neurologist they would recommend. I noticed whilst I was trying to locate some information for you, that there is a lot of stories regarding a nut cure for MS, please try to avoid 'cures' because unfortunately there just isn't a cure for MS at this time.

To answer your questions.....

1. is the number of plaques very high?

A. The number of lesions are not really as important as there location, because not all lesions will cause symptoms. eg your girlfriends first presented with only 1 symptom, visual O.N. which means she has a lesion located in the optic nerve.  Optic Neuritis is actually a stand alone condition but if a person is diagnosed with O.N and they also have brain lesions when it first presents, there is a high probability of the person developing and being diagnosed with MS in the next few years.  

http://www.ccjm.org/content/76/3/181.full

2. What will happen with these plaques?

A. Multiple Sclerosis basically means many scars, the demyalination causes the lesions and some will heal, some will still be active but most will simple be permanent scars of prior demyalinating events.  

3. As her disease started with just eye problem, Does it mean anything special? Is her MS good or very bad?

A. No nothing special, visual signs are actually the most common 'first' sign of MS. It doesn't reflect anything in regards to if her MS will be good or very bad but it is 'always' better to be diagnosed early in the disease. The research supports a persons out come is better, if the disease modifying drugs are started as early as possible,  because they help to slow down the disease course and reduce the number of relapses, which ultimately limits disability.

Cheers............JJ

[kwarendorf]

Hi aahmad - I'm sorry to hear about your girlfriends news.

They will present you with a lot of info.  We can help you sort through it.

First, the number of plaques, or lesions, doesn't really matter. I still don't know exactly how many I have, just that I have them in my brain, my c-spine and t-spine. What really matters is that they are there, whatever their number.

There are a couple of things that can happen to these lesions. The first is nothing. If the inflammation is controlled and the permanent scaring has been avoided they won't likely cause any further problems.

They could result in permanent scaring. If this happens the symptoms that they cause may stick around for a while.

They could also be the site of further attack by her immune system. If this happens then were back to the first two possibilities. The cycle would repeat.

That her optic nerve was the primary site says nothing good or bad about her MS. If you ask 100 of us with MS to tell you about our MS you will hear 100 different stories. There is overlap about symptoms, but MS is different for all of us. Optic neuritis is a common MS symptom. The optic nerve is part of the central nervous system and anywhere in the central nervous system is fair game for MS.

You should be commended for coming here to learn what lies ahead the most important thing you should take away is that MS is not fatal. MS doesn't mean you will be crippled for life. Many of us lead perfectly normal lives. I've had MS for over 22 years and if you saw me on the street you'd never know :-)

You've done a really good thing by coming here. Keep coming back and asking us questions!

Kyle