Longest relapse?

[shortcake23]

For those with RRMS, how long was the longest relapse you've had w/o getting a treatment for it?

[SNOOPY]

Hi shortcake23,

I have never used IVSM and have only used oral prednisone for 2 of my 5 relapses.

Duration of severe relapses (exacerbation, attack, flareup) are 6 weeks with or without steroids. The recovery process (getting back to baseline) can take several months as my relapses affect mobility.

Everyone will experience this disease and exacerbations differently.

[Spydre]

I've never used IVSM either. My longest relapse was about six or seven weeks, that I recall, and that was without oral steroids as well. We treated the symptoms as best we could, but it was still torture.

[22cyclist]

My longest without IVSM was 3 months and it was dizziness and numbness with some left sided weakness. It was before I was diagnosed so many years ago. After getting diagnosed, I was immediately given 5 days IVSM and it still took weeks to feel better.

That was my longest w/o steroids.

[tigergrl74]

March 18th 2011 I went to bed without ever having had any symptoms of MS. March 19th 2011 I woke up numb from the waist down. I am still numb. I have never come our of my first relapse.

[BigA]

Tigergirl - I'd say you had a relapse and the numbness didn't resolve. That doesn't mean you're still in a relapse. It just means that damage may be here to stay.

My hands never got back to normal after my last relapse. They improved, but they're just my new hands now.

[shortcake23]

Tigergirl - I'd say you had a relapse and the numbness didn't resolve. That doesn't mean you're still in a relapse. It just means that damage may be here to stay.

My hands never got back to normal after my last relapse. They improved, but they're just my new hands now.

I agree w/ BigA. Same here. For my relapses, like right now, the tingling and numbness is MUCH stronger than my "normal" since this all started, and it's accompanied by other symptoms too.

[Spydre]

I've never used IVSM either. My longest relapse was about six or seven weeks, that I recall, and that was without oral steroids as well. We treated the symptoms as best we could, but it was still torture.

This is to say, even after the relapse was over, it took even more time for my hands to get back to "normal", which after every relapse has been a little bit worse.

But like others, I am nowhere near the functionality that I was pre-MS. There may not be black holes, but there is definite permanent damage, mostly with my hands and my strength.

[Mamabug]

Months before I got treatment. I don't think I've ever had a relapse without treatment. There were times, early in my MS, that i didn't know it was MS at first, and took quite awhile before steroids were prescribed. But, it didn't get better until they were.

And, then, while on Betaseron, relapses developed and worsened fast!, even with treatment, but didn't go away without it.

And, now, on Copaxone, Copaxone seems to allow me more time to figure out if it is a relapse or not. But, again, if I leave it untreated for too long, it does not go away on its own. It continues to worsen (even after many months) until I treat it with steroids.

Over the years, I have just learned that, with my MS, I need to treat my flares early, with steroids. It's the only way that works for me.

~ Faith

[BigA]

Just to be clear if I wasn't: It's normal to have symptoms (damage) that never gets better. It can but doesn't have to. We accumulate damage throughout our MS careers. That's why it's called a progressive disease.

This doesn't mean we can't experience recovery even years later from a symptom - but we shouldn't think that just because we still have or still feel something from an exacerbation, that the exacerbation is continuous or that it means we're progressive. To me, it's like small fires that we keep putting out. Eventually, more and more is burnt.

The question for each of us is how long the process will take. Some faster, some slower. We hope for slow.