Hi Elkie.. 

I'm just off to bed (very very late for me)..    but, well first of all.    I'm sorry to hear this 

From what I know of MS its really different to ME.    ME is a chronic fatigue illness, MS, from what I know is a neurological disease, with varying symptoms, & varying severities.

Its quite serious (again, from my understanding of it)

If i were you, I'd have a read around the MS Society website 

http://www.mssociety.org.uk/ab...questions/index.html

^^ link is to the page titled "first questions"

Its quite complex... & as I said, its one of those diseases that seems to be different in everyone that has it.

Again, I am sorry xxxxx

Hope that helps

Thanks Ditty, I know it has something to do with the brain but my daughter is quite devastated.. he stubbed his toe on a door stop and the following morning his legs were numb, after tests they said this was the problem and toe stub had triggered it off. Oh dear, thanks I will look in to it tomorrow..x

Sorry Elkie I do not have any personal experience of MS.  However I would advise  you to take a look at the official MS website.  These website are usually very informative.  I found the Stroke website helpful when my late father had a stroke.

Multiple sclerosis (abbreviated MS, also known as disseminated sclerosis or encephalomyelitis disseminata) is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms.^[1] Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in women.^[1] It has a prevalence that ranges between 2 and 150 per 100,000.^[2] MS was first described in 1868 by Jean-Martin Charcot.^[3]

MS affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other. Nerve cells communicate by sending electrical signals called action potentials down long fibers called axons, which are wrapped in an insulating substance called myelin. In MS, the body's own immune system attacks and damages the myelin. When myelin is lost, the axons can no longer effectively conduct signals.^[4] The name multiple sclerosis refers to scars (scleroses—better known as plaques or lesions) particularly in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord, which is mainly composed of myelin.^[3] Although much is known about the mechanisms involved in the disease process, the cause remains unknown. Theories include genetics or infections. Different environmental risk factors have also been found.

Elkie  I'm sorry to hear this news. I don't know a great deal about Multiple Sclerosis but the website link provided by Ditty should give you a lot of information. All my love to your daughter and her family  and of course to you xxx  ((((hugs))))

Hi Elkie,    A friend I used to work with was diagnosed with MS.     By all means read up on it, but try not to get too freaked out..... I think Ditty's said the most important bit... it's effects every sufferer differently and it's often a relapsing/remitting sort of thing.    I don't know about the toe stub setting it off... it may have done something which brought on the numbness in this attack, but it didn't 'give him' the MS, it was probably just the thing that brought it to light.    From what I remember the disease is something to do with the sheaths that cover the nerves that run through your body being inflamed and damaged (simple version)   

FWIW, in my friend's case the effects came and went, she'd get a bit wobbly, walking could be difficult at times and it affected her sight once, which was pretty scary, but it came back in a few days.   There's a whole spectrum of severity of symptoms from barely noticeable to the unlucky ones who may end up wheelchair bound etc.   Sadly it isn't curable, but my friend managed to hold down her job with probably slightly more absences than some people.. we lost touch when she divorced her hubby and buggered off with a guy younger than her son btw, so we can say she was still living her life to the full last time I saw her       

Best wishes to you all... i hope he copes ok with it, it must be a frightening diagnosis  

awww..    twas the first thing I thought of when i woke up this morning.. 

another  to you & yours Elkie..   let us know how he is xxxx

it varies in all people, can be mild, ie just pins n needles now & then or severely disable....

Aw thanks everyone, to put you in the picture my daughter had thought it was a muscle wasting disease and had noticed he had been dragging his legs now and then and had moaned at him to lift his feet, however after his accident when he injured his toe and numb feeling in his legs etc tests have revealed MS, thanks fluffy for going in to this for me you have been so kind, thanks everyone for your kind thoughts 

my mum has it, but she has had it for over 30 years and she can still walk... only around the house as she needs a wheelchair when out n about.

It may not be as bad as what you fear as there are many many degrees of this hateful condition

My nana had it she was diagnosed in her forties past away in her 80's (not related to MS) she used to use a stick in the last 10-15 years but it never stopped her, they tried to give her a wheelchair but she'd have none of it.

A friend of mine has it as well diagnosed  when she was 23 (so about 15 years ago). she has bad patches but on the whole the she's grand.