Lifestyle changes like eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and not smoking and limiting your alcohol intake can also help. Options include disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), relapse management medications, physical rehabilitation and mental health counseling. Treatment focuses on managing your symptoms, reducing any relapses and slowing MS’s progression. And because MS can be a tricky diagnosis to make, especially early, it’s important to rely on a neurologist who specializes in MS. When it comes to MS, the earlier you can get a diagnosis the better. Researchers need to learn more before they can conclusively link these nonspecific symptoms to MS, though. The visits are typically for nonspecific symptoms like: So, they need to weigh the need for MS screening against concerns of unnecessarily alarming their patients.īut research shows that people use more medical care in the months leading up to an MS diagnosis. Only a small percentage of the many people who see doctors for numbness, tingling and musculoskeletal issues will actually have MS, notes Dr.
“These are the years where the immune system is quite active, and factors like prior exposure to Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), the virus that causes mononucleosis, are increasingly thought to play a role,” says Dr. The autoimmune disease affects women more than men.Īnd for most people, they’ll receive their MS diagnosis somewhere between the ages of 20 and 40. There are around nearly 1 million adults in the U.S. “MS is somewhere in the middle - the symptoms can worsen over hours or days,” he says. In addition, the timing of symptoms - how quickly they appear - can help your doctor determine whether MS or something else is the cause.įor example, the early symptoms of MS are subacute, meaning they don’t come on as suddenly as stroke symptoms, and they don’t slowly worsen over time. “One of the things doctors look for with MS is that all these symptoms last more than a couple of days,” Dr. Are symptoms caused by MS or something else? “With MS, dizzy spells can cause you to have trouble walking down a hallway, for example, because your sense of equilibrium is so off,” explains Dr.
Severe, ongoing dizzinessĭizziness has many causes, but MS-induced dizziness is typically more severe and lasts for at least two days. But if it persists for more than a day or two, don’t ignore it. If the sensation eases over an hour or so, it’s probably nothing to worry about.
We’ve all experienced numbness or tingling in an arm or leg after sleeping in an awkward position or sitting the wrong way too long. And it needs attention.Īdvertising Policy Persistent limb weakness or numbness When one side of your face becomes temporarily paralyzed or appears to droop, it’s called facial paralysis or facial palsy. “Patients describe it as ‘looking through smudged sunglasses’ on one side,” notes Dr. But if you have painful vision loss or blurring in one eye that lasts for more than a couple of days, get it checked out. There are four potential early signs of MS that shouldn’t be ignored. Bermel explains what early symptoms to watch out for. Because if you do have MS, getting treatment sooner rather than later can help you manage your symptoms better and may even slow the progression of the disease.ĭr. It’s important not to let too much time slip by before seeing a doctor. If you’re experiencing blurred vision, numbness, weakness or dizziness at the same time and for more than a day, those symptoms could be potential early signs of MS. That said, certain symptoms should prompt you to seek help. “And there is no standard test to confirm an MS diagnosis.” “Not everyone with MS exhibits the same symptoms,” explains neurologist Robert Bermel, MD. However, MS affects each person differently and can range from mild to severe, often making a diagnosis difficult to pin down. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center.