Day to day symptoms while not in a "flare?"

[happyvalley]

Do any of you have day to day symptoms even when you aren't having a "flare?" I am a limbolander--I'm seeing a neuro that thinks that this might be early MS based on symptoms, but test results say no. Anyway, I had a period of about 8 weeks where my symptoms were pretty intense and varied--dizziness, vision problems, left sided numbness and twitching, fatigue. . .now I feel ALMOST normal. The dizziness is still present every time I turn my head ( I had a VNG and it isn't my inner ears) and I have ringing in my ears. The ringing gets really loud when I take a hot shower or bath and then lingers for awhile afterwards. . .but this is it--just dizziness and the ringing--and a very occasional twitch or numb hand--so I guess the question is--does this look or not look like MS? I have read about the "flare" which it seems like I had--but do they completely go away? Or do some of you have symptoms that hang around all the time? I guess I'm hoping that MS should be "on (flare)" or "off." I feel like I'm in between and so that means that maybe it's something else?

thanks for any insight--

Happy Valley

[happyvalley]

thanks for your post. . .about flares though--the serious ones, the ones that can effect function--they can come out nowhere--you don't neccessarily "build up" to that, right? I agree with what you said--my dizziness is a nuisance--keeping me from running, but not anything like some people expereince. I just worry about what's next. . .

[jensequitur]

The meds help to prevent further damage, but they're not a fail-safe by any means.  

Relapsing-remitting MS means just what it says - that the symptoms remit.  A relapse, such as the one you described, can last anywhere from two days to several weeks.  During the relapse, you'll get damage to neurons in your brain or spinal cord.  During remission, some of those neurons will heal, leaving scars.  You can regain some or all of your lost function.  I think most people have some lingering symptoms, that never completely go away.

I was dizzy (cerebellar lesion) for five months, and it slowly resolved over time.  From being continuously dizzy, which was a real drag, to being dizzy only at certain times of the day or when I was real fatigued.  It's a lot better - sometimes I feel a little dizzy, but nothing like it was.

The real reason to take the DMDs is to prevent damage that will cause physical or mental disability.  Things like dizziness, numbness and tingling are annoying, but don't prevent us from walking or thinking clearly.  However, when a lesion appears that reduces function, such as a leg or an arm, then this is a problem, and often the symptoms don't remit entirely.

[happyvalley]

So this is why you start meds as soon as you have a dx--to prevent the next flare that would cause permanent damage? But some flare sx completely go away, right? Can dizziness be a permanent thing? I have been dizzy since December--can't seem to alleviate it with meds . . .

[squeezybear]

I have syptoms every day.  What I have been told (somebody tell me if I am wrong).... some areas are damaged permately and cant be repaired by meds (blackholes).  Those areas will affect you always.