please verify what "attack" means

[lydia231]

I have seen many posts were the word "attack" is used.  Does this refer to a relapse of MS symtoms?
Thanks

[macaroni68]

Well, I'm sure that you are going to get a wide range of answers since everyone is different and this disease presents itself differently from person to person.

I was diagnosed over 9 years ago. At first the attacks would last anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 weeks and I would get a new one once a month. Thankfully, after a year of what felt like constant attacks they began to subside/quiet down. My current excerbation has lasted since the beginning of August. It has become better after a 3 day of Solu Medrol but the numbness in two of my fingers remains.

My last remission before this recent excerbation lasted nearly 6 years, with the exception of a very minor attack 3 years ago while I had the flu which only lasted for the duration of the flu and then subsided as the flu did.

During remissions I don't have any symptoms. I guess I am one of the 20% that does not experience fatigue, knock on wood. In the middle of a remission life is fairly standard except for the 3 day a week shot. I just hope that that continues, because unfortunately the disease course can change.

[Audrey_M]

Thanks for posting this question, as I have wondered what really constitutes an attack.

For those of you with a dx, how long can your attack/relapse last? Are there some sx that are with you more or less constantly, with only brief periods of remission?

I am in Limb Land, that wonderful place. Since the beginning of sx, I notice that when certain sx arise, they tend to last longer, often times daily for up to 6 months and then will quietly disappear. When sx do disappear, it is slowly one by one that I can cross off the list for a while only to pop up later again. Some sx do not ever go away, most notably fatigue and paresthias.

I would absolutely love to hear from those with confirmed dx in terms of relapse, what it is like and the overall quality of life when you are not in relapse. It would give me, and doubtless others, a better understanding of things.

Looking forward to learning more,

Audrey

[COBOB]

Yes for the folks diagnosed with MS.  Since I'n not diagnosed, I guess an attach is a new neurologic symptom or cluster of symptoms.  I guess that includes old symptoms in new places (dissemination in space.)  In April I had optic neuritis.  In Sept, my most recent "attack," Trigeminal Neuralgia.  Deffinitly dissemination in time.  Maybe not diseemination in space, since both are cranial nerves, one is cerebral and the other in brainstem. For the undiagnosed folks that attacks are important in establishing the timeline.

Bob