20 year remission?

[jewski]

Hi!  I am new here and could not find another question like it so here goes...

First a little background...

I am a 45 year old female.

While in college (about 25 years ago - my how time flies!) I was diagnosed with pars planitis - an eye condition for which I was treated with steroids - oral and injections - over an 8 year period.  Also had 2 torn retinas repaired.

About 5 years after that diagnoisis I had an incident where the right side of my body from waist up went numb - couldn't even move my right arm.  Went to er - referred to neuro - had mri and spinal tap done,.  Conclusion was that I "probably had" ms - but test were inconclusive.

numbness went away and never came back so I figured I probably didn't have ms.  However over the last 20 years I have had the following mild "symptoms".  Most of which I never knew were even symptoms of MS until the last few days... and I'm sure some of them arent', but just wanted to give you the full picture.

Optic neuritis ~ 18 years ago - was contributed at the time to my other eye condition.
Hypothyroid - 10 years ago - history of this runs in my family so didn't think much of it.
Depression - on and off over the last 10 years - been on long term anti dep for last 5 years - seems to be working for the most part, but recently had to add another anti dep to the mix.
ADD symptoms - 5 years - forgetful, easily distracted, start a project but then can't seem to finish, etc.
Bladder issues - 2 years - incontenance, have to go immediately, leakage when laughing, sometimes can't make it to the bathroom.
the following have been going on for as long as I can remember.
Twitching feet at night when over tired.
Twitching eyes when over tired.
Sleeping problems - wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep - I maybe get about 5 hrs of sleep a night on average.
Tired all the time - especially in the afternoon - originally thought it was the thyroid - but even when that is stabalized I am still tired, just not as tired.
Chronic Constipation
Severe dibalitating menstural cramps.

Then the final nail in the coffin came yesterday when I went to the opthamologist because the vision in my right eye was washed out and blurry, and he thought it might be another incidence of optic neuritis (I had moved and this is not the same dr who I saw with other eye issues).  Reminded him that I had had that before in the other eye, and he got very serious, and suggested that I see a neurologist because "chances are that if you have more than 1 case of ON that you probably have an underliying demylenating disease".  He didn't say MS but I knew what he was talking about.

So finally here comes the question...

my husband doesn't believe that I could have ms, because he said it does not go into remission for that long (20 years), but I think that maybe all these other issues may actually have been incidences of relapses but didn't know it at the time.

I have the eye dr, setting me up with a referral to the ms neuro specialist here, but just want to know which of these other issues may be relevant before going to see him.  I never considered any of them to be related - mostly just figured I was getting old - yuck!  But I have been doing a lot of research in the past day or so, and think some of them may be related.

Any insight?

Thanks.

[young at heart]

WELCOME AND GLAD YA JOINED US.

I WAS DX'D IN 1998,NOT ANOTHER ATTACK UNTIL 2004.

ITS GOOD THAT YOU'RE SEEING A MS NEUROLOGIST, AS THIS SPECIALIST CAN UPDATE YOUR MRI'S AND NEUROLOGICAL TESTING.

YOUR SYMPTOMS VERY WELL COULD BE MS RELATED AS THIS DISEASE HAS A LAUNDRY LIST OF SYMPTOMS AND WE ALL HAVE A LIST,SOME SIMILIAR AND SOME ARE DIFFERENT.

THIS IS A GREAT GROUP HERE,THEY KEEP ME SANE,AND HAVE HELPED WE THROUGH SOME DIFFICULT TIMES

T

[gooddays]

HI AND WELCOME TO THE BEST FORUM

I HAVE DONE A LOT OF READING AND HAVE FOUND OUT THAT THERE ARE SOME INDIVIDUALS THAT MAY HAVE A ONE TIME INCIDENT OF A RELAPSE AND THEN NEVER HAVE ANYMORE, BUT THEY HAVE BEEN DXD WITH MS.  ALTHOUGH I HOPE YOU DO NOT HAVE MS, I AM GLAD THAT YOUR EYE DOCTOR IS GETTING YOU TO SEE A NEURO.

THERE ARE SOME OF US THAT ARE ALREADY DXD AND HAVE HAD MANY RELAPSES, BUT ON IS ONE OF THE FIRST SIGNS OF MS AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO PLAY WITH YOUR VISION.  I AM GLAD THAT YOUR EYE DOCTOR IS TAKING YOUR SYMPTOMS SERIOUSLY, NOT MANY DOCTORS DO, MOST OF THEM ALWAYS SAY IS THAT IT IS ALL IN OUR HEAD.  WHAT THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND IS THAT IT IS NOT ONLY IN OUR HEAD, IT IS ALSO IN OUR HANDS, LEGS, FACE, EYES, ARMS, ETC.

I HOPE THAT YOU GET TO SEE THE NEURO SOON AND THAT YOU KEEP US POSTED.  

TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF,

GOODDAYS

[tmjfibro]

WELCOME TO THE BEST PLACE
WITH THE MOST KIND AND CARING PEOPLE
I AM STILL IN LIMBO LAND
BUT A NEURO SEEMS A GOOD PLACE TO START
A GREAT BIG WELCOME

SHEILA

[kitten o]

WELCOME.
THIS IS THE BEST PLACE TO BE,
NEURO SOUNDS RITE TO ME ALSO.
GOOD LUCK AND AGAIN , WELCOME
KITT

[Rena705]

Hello and Welcome to the Forum (ours is the best of the bunch ya know!).  I just wanted to add my two cents here.  I was diagnosed with MS back in 1993 via a positive MRI as well as a positive Lumbar Puncture.  I did not have any relapses until (I, and many others believe) 2007.  

So far my neurologist does not think I have had a relapse as recently as this last fall but has yet to come up with another diagnosis for my symptoms so I am sticking with the MS relapse.

I agree that you need to see an MS Neurologist and have and MRI done to rule out a demyelinating process.  I am wishing you luck and please let us know how you make out ok?  We here are a very supportive group (as you will note by reading a few posts) and we are here for you as well.

Lots of Hugs,

Rena705

[essdipity]

Another welcome here!

Some of your symptoms could be MS-related. Others are probably just life. Given your history, I think the neuro visit is in order.  You need new MRIs and a thorough exam.

Let us know what happens.

ess

[pennst8r]

Welcome to our cyber family! Come on in and make yourself comfy! I do not have a diagnosis of any kind yet; however, both of my sisters have MS. Both of my sisters went for many, many years without exaccerbation. We had been wondering if they were misdiagnosed actually. But they definitely were not.

If I'm not mistaken, one the forms of MS can have only one exaccerbation. Correct me if I'm wrong, Quix, Heather, etc.

Others in the forum who know far more than I will be along soon to help you out.

Take care and welcome!

Penn