No new relapses but I've developed vertigo due to a lesion on the cranial nerve. I suspect it will be these "little things" that add up to disability.

I don't think I have relapses...my symptoms just seem to be chronic. And little by little I lose the ability to do things. A year ago I could still ride my bike around the neighborhood. This past spring I tried to get on it and fell in the driveway. No more bike riding.

No more relapses. My Neurologist said I probably wouldn't have anymore. But, how does that explain you have a really bad day or two without explanation and then begin to feel better? Who knows ? Obviously not them!

I don't seem to get any relapses anymore either. I've been this way for quite some time now. The last bad relapse I had was a brain stem attack and my speech was all slurred and I was all dizzy and stuff. That went away and left me how I now am which is chronic pain and fatigue all of the time with no end in sight. Lots of numbness in the below the waist and down. I was dx'd in 1995 and this began in 1983.
I wouldn't dare try riding a bicycle, I know I'd fall!

Thanks to OleBlue for inviting me to this group. I was dx recently as Relapsing/ Remitting with mild secondary progression, but I feel like I just keep getting worse and worse ---even since the dx a little over a month ago. I haven't had a new MRI, but my symptoms don't seem to follow R/R form anymore, as I never feel "normal" any day anymore, and when symptoms first started (only in Jan of this year), I had "attacks" and then felt normal for a month or so, and then they came back with some residual damage left but still felt relatively normal, and now I never feel normal ANY day. Some days are still better than others, but no day is the old R/R normal. I'm worried because I only started displaying symptoms approx. 7 months ago, and already this is my new normal. Anyone else fall into this category? Don't know if my "mild secondary" as of 9/15 dx has progressed even in the last month or what, but I haven't seen any definite relapsing and then remitting anymore. It's just continual decline it seems. Stress has been awful, so I'm sure that doesn't help. Anyone else feel like this though?

Hi KatDT:
I know once I quit working and got my SSDI, everything seemed to calm down a lot because I had money coming in and I was able to get the rest I needed. I've noted I decline quickly when I am tired. Sleep seems to be a key ingredient to fighting this crap.
I was like you too when first DX'd ... going from one attack to the next, the last being quite severe resulting in blindness in one eye and disturbed vision in the other eye. I never fully recovered from any of this.
I too feel sick all of the time and I've forgotten what it is like to feel "normal" whatever that is.

Welcome to this group and I hope you can get some good rest and feel better soon!

I agree with you hope4cure...SLEEP is a major component for managing my MS...I never get a full night's sleep so I find myself up and then going back to bed. Many days I take a morning nap...and then by late afternoon I am so tired I take another nao. These naps are an hour to 2 hours long! But I feel better when I wake up.
I also think pain management is key. I am on Gabapentin, Baclofen, and Repinirol to manage the nerve pain, muscle spasms, etc. I also use a little gizmo called the peddler for leg and joint exercise.
Thanks again Oakenwood for starting this group!

knelson and others interested:
I find controlling the pain is the key to getting the sleep I need.
About 3 weeks ago I quit taking morphine sulfate at night when I go to bed. I haven't slept well since but had no withdrawals as I was taking only one 30 mg. pill at night only.
That said, no good sleep and waking up at 3:00 a.m. and getting up and going back to bed hoping to fall asleep which most of the time doesn't happen.
Anyway, last night I broke down and took 30 mg. of morphine sulfate and I got a lot of very needed rest and do feel better today.
It is such a hassle getting narcotics for pain -- that is the reason I quit taking the morphine sulfate for 3 weeks.
However, given my "experiment" on myself, I think it is a good idea to take it, especially when exhausted with no where else to turn.
You are fortunate that gabapentin works for you -- I am allergic to it! :(
I take Valium for spasms rather than Baclofen.
I am unfamiliar with the leg peddler. You'll have to tell us more about it.
Take care of yourselves everyone!!! :)