Hello from sunny south Florida!

[Confiance]

Hello everyone, I'm Matt from S Florida. Starting about summer of last year (2013), my girlfriend (who is 20, I am 23) started experiencing some chronic headaches, alongside some pretty irate mood swings. These did not appear to ever go down, and often she was stuck to her bed and could not stomach leaving her room. So throughout the past couple months Her family and I have been trying to find the cause of the problem.

Unfortunately her family could not find the 'right' doctor for some time, and finally after a bit of waiting we got a good doctor and a neurologist who, as of yesterday, finally diagnosed her with MS. I'm not fully knowledgeable of all of what was said, and later today I will be getting all the answers and information I need, but I know enough that she has MS Primary. I do not know if it is Primary progressive or relapse or any other form.

The doctor said that it was lucky they diagnosed it when they did, and says it's a 'very small case'. These are not my words, but the words of my girlfriend.

She seemed to take it well, and she did not cry in front of me or Her family, but talked about things she wants to do and stuff she wants to do with me, things we planned, trips to gardens or if I wanted to see a movie the next day. And I know the news is really settling into her, and I cannot state how brave she is and how much I love her. I want to do my best to work with her and give her an amazingly happy life.

I'm just starting to learn about MS, and I'm hoping to learn as much as I can and hopefully also find a support group for both of us. I hope to be a regular here and I know there are so many amazing people here who I can speak to. Thank you so much.

** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **

[Kimba22]

Hi Matt,

Welcome to MS World and sharing your story about your girlfriend. I'm sorry for the reason you are here, but sounds like you are a wonderful man. I hope both you and your girlfriend find a wealth of knowledge, and many supportive cyber friends, here.

There's a lot of information about MS and it takes quite awhile to understand it. The majority of people are diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting MS, which from what you've said, sounds like your girlfriend's diagnosis. I thought for starters, it might be helpful to read this information from the National MS Society: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/pre...ase/index.aspx

Don't be surprised if your girlfriend has a delayed reaction about her diagnosis. Sometimes it takes a long time for us to "accept" we really have it, which is actually very normal.

Hope to see you (and your girlfriend) around!

Best wishes ,

[Seasha]

Welcome Matt~ You sound like a keeper! It's so great that you reached out to us for the sake of you girl friend. She is welcome to join us too.

Along with learning all you can from our personal experiences here, and if you are interested in reading up about MS, we have an extensive list of books about MS in our Resource Center. http://resourcecenter.msworld.org/ed...s-about-ms/#ms One that is recommended by many people here is "MS for Dummies" It's a good starter book.

I hope you both have wonderful years together and yes, go out and do those fun things. She is lucky to have you!

[Confiance]

Thank you both so much for the replies! We spent the day after together in Miami, walking along the art district and shopping and eating at a nice restaurant (we don't get to go to Miami often). We didn't discuss it or bring it up, but we just let ourselves enjoy the sun and the air.

I've since learned that her neurologist diagnosed her but conceded that he was not 100% sure it was MS, but there was enough for him to make the diagnosis on the basis that she could legally begin the process for treatment. We are going to go look for a second opinion and I'm researching articles and information on mimic diseases as well, but until such a time I can know for certain what this is, I'm continuing to assume it is MS.

Thank you both for the resources as well. It's been so much easier for me to look through and get all the information I need. I've felt clumsy dealing with it all so far, but I'm getting better at it.