Years of symptoms before DX!

[Kevin_McMillan]

Hello Everyone! I'm new to health unlocked but not to My MSAA Community. I had mono at about 13 and looking back in had my first MS attack my Freshman year in High School(Baseball Practice) in the fist heat of the year. My left side went numb with pins and needles. Weird symptoms through school, weird thoracic back injury at age 20 working at a big tire chain. 7 doctors later and 5 years, fixed! Lifting weights and healthy, I had a mild back flare up and leg numbness at 27 in 1998. They thought I had leukemia, but it was marrow replacement from a chronic disease in my vertebra. They didn't tell me. In 2001 I had another work injury, ruptured L5-S1. Fusion and 2 strains of Staph infections that made me sick. I saw so many Dr's and insurance sent me to their work hardening program in 2006 with 10 Doctors. I was miserable so I went hot tubbing with a couple guys after dinner one night, after 20 minutes in felt really weird. I decided to get out and I was paralyzed, the guys had to carry me out. I was DX'D in 2012.

[Jesmcd2 CommunityAmbassador]

Welcome Kevin_McMillan sounds like you have been through a lot and still fighting. How are you doing now? I understand about the back surgerys l have 2 titanium cages in my back. And the mono was older tho, was 16 l think? Keep your head up and we talk about pretty much everything here and we get a ton of support

[itasara]

just read your post. I had mono in college; I was maybe about 20. There could be a connection I think I read between the virus that causes Mono and MS. But it's random and I never ever would have guessed I would have MS 34 odd years later. I only had one symptom maybe a couple years before I was diagnosed, but I didn't know what they were.. I had mild MS hugs that I thought were muscle contractions and my doctor said he too thought it was muscle related. I found out on the internet what they were after I was diagnosed. I didn't have tingling or numbness or any of the other symptoms that most get. There were no family members I know of that had MS until three years before my dx when my daughter was diagnosed. I never suspected I would have it too until I woke up with Transverse myelitis which she also had, so I knew what it was. She also has optic neuritis which I did not have. So an MRI of the spine and then the brain is all it took for the diagnosis. That was 11 yrs ago for me. I am 68.5 now.