i wish i knew too. i really cannot tell anymore. i will say this, that some times i haves days that feel like i died and went to Heaven. that is to say, i felt like a young man with energy, clear mind, no pain, no body tightness, etc.
those are days i make my mental comparisons to. yet, i have no idea what brings those days on and if in fact they are related to my condition(s).
that is about all i can add to your question
Welcome to our MS forum, Zoey.
You'll have a lot of things to get used to, including symptoms, and this is a great place to learn and to make friends. We here do understand.
An exacerbation, also called a flare-up or an MS attack, will involve either new symptoms or symptoms you haven't had in a good while. The disease- modifying MS drugs are designed to make these occasions as far apart as possible, though they are far from perfect. I hope you will be starting one of them soon.
Most of us also have ongoing symptoms on a daily basis, some of which are treated with various types of drugs (not the DMDs). This is because the remissions between relapses are not complete, and a new baseline seems to form. We learn to live with this, and get lots of help with one another to minimize the disruption in our lives.
Please take a look at our Health Pages (see upper right of screen) for lots more information.
Hope to see you here often.
ess
The months after diagnosis are rocky, because you're usually diagnosed right in the middle of a flare, or right after one. The recovery from a flare takes a few months, so it'll take a while before you can start seeing what it feels like to be in a flare, versus being in remission.