[results are in!] How many years of MS experience on this forum?

[anaishunter]

Can you all reply with the # of years, you've had MS for?

I'd like to count the total number of years of experience with MS this forum brings if not yet available by the administrators.

When I first got diagnosed with what's correctly described as an uncurable disease, it gave me a tremendous boost to hear from folks on this forum with 30, 40+ years with ms. It was like, "if they can do it", "i'll be able to do it".

I'd be curious to count how many years of ms experience we have with everybody combined!

[NorasMom]

44

[Texandyroe in reply to NorasMom]

13

[falalalala]

14

[mrsmike]

10

[Humbrd]

5 years since diagnosed

[kdali]

Officially diagnosed for 7

[Helpmeup]

25+ for me...

[leking1]

44 diagnosed!

[Frances_B]

Good luck with your calculations - with over 8,500 members registered on this MS board, most of whom don't ever post anything and probably never even visit the site, I think you will just have to decide on an arbitrary average per member and take a guess......

.

[carolek572 CommunityAmbassador]

17+ years, anaishunter

[bxrmom]

17

[ArtsyGal]

I was diagnosed with MS 22 years ago.

[cheilke]

38

[Jer29-11]

5 years for me 😬

[Cwright170994]

I'm a young one 😕 got a CIS diagnosis in 2014, and then my clinically definite diagnosis in 2015 when I was 21.

So, total of 8, maybe 9 years if you count the CIS year 🤔

[erash]

I was diagnosed 2008 but first symptoms 1987

[JSSimp]

4yrs of MS. May the peace of God be with us all as we go through our daily walk🙏🏾

[Mark1499]

As for as actually having the disease roughly 14 years. Diagnosed 5 years ago.

[Loralei05]

20 years

[mhepler531]

12

[BearyNice]

20 yrs since diagnosed

[cindyrn68]

20+ yrs of symptoms. Dx 8 years.

[goatgal]

13 since diagnosis at age 70; first months long relapse 33 years ago (but no diagnosis of MS), (and mysterious evanescent symptoms for close to 70 years.)

[mikey1994]

11 yrs

[twooldcrows]

19

[ahrogers]

9 years

[Cm0126]

I was diagnosed in 1995 so it’s 27 years. It has been a long journey. I’m still here and able to do everything for myself.

[Elizt3]

27 years for me.

[jorrell]

15

[nes78]

23

[Nana5B]

32

[whwiechm]

49.

[1575]

37 years

[Jesmcd2 CommunityAmbassador]

7 1/2

[Cutefreckles72]

4 years.

[greaterexp]

I'd say about 27 years or so.

[Bwine]

28 years! I was a young 22 years old at that time.

[mrsmike9]

It's been 9 years.

[DIsneyQueen]

12 years, diagnosed at 58

[Goldilockssearching]

Oficially 6. Unofficially 33 ish

[Elle61]

45 yrs

[agate]

43 years since MS diagnosis, 46 years since onset of symptoms,

[jmcgroary]

13 years

[Tazmanian]

15 yrs officially first symptom around 1990 ?

[auntnewt]

16

[Wolfdoggy]

45 years

[Brindisi1]

23 yrs diagnosed +

[Cag51]

Diagnosed 25 years ago.

[anaishunter]

Results are in:

- with 40 replies (39 + min at 5 years), the average number of years with MS is 20.

- the minimum is 4 years (but we know there have been quite a few newcomers

- the total combined # of years with MS is 816

If I extrapolate beyond the 40 responses to the 8,539 members of this forum (I'll make the rough assumption that only 75% of the members have ms) then we have a combined 128,000 years of ms experience. Shocking!

(Maybe the administrators of this forum can help with getting a more accurate estimate)

[Fancy59 CommunityAmbassador]

25 years here. The first 15 were a walk in the park. The next 5 were a walk through a over grown forrest. The last 5 are progressively like a walk through a nightmare. I can't wait to see what the next 5 are. Fancy59.

[Greentime]

38

[Angler_Eric]

39 years and counting!!! That's almost 2/3 rds oh my life.

[Kit10]

Sorry to ruin you calculations - new minimum- 2 years 10 months

[anaishunter in reply to Kit10]

this is great. There are a lot of newcomers to this forum and it's good to have your data.

I did this because it was very reinsuring for me to hear from people who had MS for 25+ years and handled it.

There is so much knowledge on this forum for everybody to use. Everybody experiences ms differently but I bet there is someone on this forum who has almost the same path as you.

Hope you're doing great!

[Mollyabigail]

Almost 3 years. Kit10 and I must have been diagnosed the same month.

[Kit10 in reply to Mollyabigail]

Dec 2020- just in time for Christmas!

[Mollyabigail in reply to Kit10]

Not exactly a holly, jolly Christmas, was it? Me too! I thought I would be dead by the following Easter. (seriously, I did). But, hubs wanted a big, big Christmas anyway, with a big, big dinner, turkey, dressing, pies, blah blah; and all I wanted to do was cry my eyes out. And yet, here we are!! Keep going, Kit10! You are doing good! My hat is off to the warriors here who have battled for decades. God sees all our efforts! 🧡

[Kit10 in reply to Mollyabigail]

It was a miserable Christmas and then on 27th Jan 2021 I woke up in Intensive care having been found unconscious on the bedroom floor and very nearly dead from hypothermia. I have no memory of what happened. Maybe I fell and couldn't get up. I haven't walked since. Does that really count as doing good? I was in hospitals and care homes until May 2022. Christmas in a care home is bleak. Of those 3 years since diagnosis, most of it has been experience of PICS (Post Intensive Care Syndrome) not MS - or maybe it was MS, it's hard to tell, the symptoms are very similar. If God sees our efforts I hope there is a some sort of compensation to come.

[anaishunter]

I'll do a recount at the end of the week as new members enter their data.