Fatigue is one of the most common ‘invisible’ symptoms of MS and one which can have a major impact on all aspects of life. For some people it is the symptom that affects them the most.

It varies greatly from one person to the next. It can come and go; be triggered by a number of things; a first symptom or a symptom that starts much later on in the disease process.

Fatigue is often a symptom that people find difficult to explain. It isn’t like the general feeling of being tired; it is more of an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion for often no apparent reason. It can interfere with day to day activities and can prevent the individual from doing or completing tasks.

To download Choices Fatigue please click here.

Visual problems are a common symptom amongst people with MS.

There are generally three main types of Visual Disturbances in MS; however there are also several minor ones as well. The three main types are Optic Neuritis, Nystagmus and Diplopia (double vision).

Some people may also experience temporary blurring of vision, temporary loss of vision, pain with eye movement, blind spots and double vision.

Often a vision problem is the first symptom. Optic Neuritis is the most common of symptoms associated with MS.

To download Choices Visual Distrubances please click here.

Hyperbaric / High Dose Oxygen Therapy, sometimes known as HBO, HBOT or more recently as HDOT. This therapy basically involves breathing through a mask whilst inside a pressurised chamber, similar to that used in diving.

A higher concentration of oxygen than normal saturates your blood and tissue. The chamber is usually shared with a few other people, depending on the size of the chamber. A treatment plan usually consists of a course of around 20 or so sessions, each one lasting an hour, spread over the course of a month. These are followed by “top-up” sessions, which may vary from once a week to once a month.

By breathing pure oxygen whilst under increased air pressure, many people find relief from their symptoms and, it is thought, some help in slowing down the progression of the disease.

To download Choices High Dose Oxygen Therapy please click here.

Many people with Multiple Sclerosis have benefited hugely from using complementary and alternative therapies. There are a number of therapeutic approaches available. These can be in addition to or ‘complementary’ to conventional treatments, or as an ‘alternative’ to the traditional approach.

It is estimated that between 50 and 75 percent of people with MS have used a form of complementary or alternative therapy to help manage their symptoms in one way or another.

Complementary therapies can help MS; sometimes improvement is dramatic, sometimes less so. In the majority of cases people generally feel better.

To download Choices Alternative & Other Therapies please click here.

Prescription drugs are now used as part of managing MS. It is quite essential that Neurologist assessments are undertaken as soon as possible after diagnosis.

Disease Modifying Drugs (DMDs)
At the moment there are four DMDs – Disease Modifying Drugs, which can reduce the frequency and severity of clinical relapses. A relapse can be defined as periodic attacks of MS symptoms followed by full or partial recovery.

In some cases complete recovery may occur from all symptoms, but in most cases recovery is partial. Relapses may recur every few months or may be as much as years apart.

To download Choices Drug Therapies please click here.

Pain, in particular the kind of ever-present intractable (difficult, stubborn, hard to control) chronic (persisting for a long time, possibly severe) pain may, for some people, be of low intensity but continually be there; for others it can be intense and come and go perhaps several times a day.

Up until fairly recently, MS was considered to be a painless disease. However, now it seems that over half of people with MS will experience pain at some stage. There are two widely recognised forms of pain in MS:
• Neuropathic pain
• Musculoskeletal pain

To download Choices Pain please click here.

MSRC believes that based on experience, people cope best when they look at what is happening, rather than what might be. MS can cause a long list of symptoms; this list is not exhaustive and it is extremely unlikely that any one person would experience all or even most of these symptoms.

Most will only experience a small number of these.

To download Choices  Symptoms please click here.

There are four main types of MS. However it is often not clear what type someone has if for example, they are newly diagnosed.

The effects of MS can vary hugely from person to person.

To download Choices Types Of MS please click here.

People often wonder why it is sometimes difficult for medical advisers to decide on a diagnosis or, at any rate to tell a person the name of the disease or condition involved. This is not an uncommon experience in Multiple Sclerosis.

Also many other conditions may produce symptoms almost indistinguishable from MS symptoms.

To download Choices Diagnosis please click here.