Has anyone not been diagnosed until they are over 60?

[etcaf]

I have been having alot of problems and going steadily downhill  for the last 6 years. I am now 64. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia quite awhile ago so every complaint I had was automatically placed on that. 6 years ago I was walking a mile 3 times a week and trying to lose weight as I'm way overweight. Then I started having problems. Weakness, balance problems and finally I quit walking altogether. I have a variety of symptoms that come and go so I didn't think much of it and my doctor who I see every 6 months didnt seem to think anything of either. I just felt like a complainer. Then I started with vision problems and dizziness. My leg and arm muscles are extemely weak. My balance is off. Extreme fatigue, and etc. Out of the blue at my physical my Doctor after being told fo the umpteenth time about my double vision problem has referred me to a neurologist. I thought MS came at a younger age. My father had it so I am familiar with it. I just never heard of it starting at a later age.
Thank you

[Red_Star]

"Late onset multiple sclerosis (LOMS), defined as the first presentation of clinical symptoms in patients over 50, is not a rare phenomenon as previously thought, since the prevalence ranges between 4% and 9.6% in different studies.  The course of the disease is often primary progressive and pyramidal or cerebellar involvement is observed in 60%-70% of the patients at presentation.

LOMS is usually associated with a faster progression to disability compared to young adult multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Moreover in patients over 50, MS variants and atypical forms which present a difficult diagnostic problem, may be frequently encountered. The differential diagnosis may be sometimes difficult and includes cerebro-spinal vascular syndromes, hypertension-related disorders, compressive myelopathies, primary or secondary vasculitis, metabolic diseases, degenerative and nutritional syndromes.

Clinical characteristics, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pattern of abnormalities, evoked potential studies and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) oligoclonal band analysis are of high diagnostic yield in LOMS patients, but expertise in interpreting their results is strongly required."*

*Late onset multiple sclerosis: clinical characteristics, prognostic factors and differential diagnosis. Neurol Sci. 2004 Nov;25 Suppl 4:S350-5.

[aspen2]

I am familiar with those who have been diagnosed into their sixties.  In most cases, they already had ms, but with non-specific symptoms it doesn't make itself known.

It might be helpful to have your gp refer you to a neuro opthalmologist for the vision issues.  They can assess your eyes and vision to see what condition could be causing this.

It's especially important for us older types, because "non-specific" lesions tend to collect as we age, even with NO ms.