So in my last post in this series, I went over what exactly MS is. In this installment, I’ll be going over some of the different types of MS.
MS has four generally recognized courses. There are a few rarer types I’m not covering here in depth. I may be able to cover those later on in the series if time permits. I’m getting as much writing done before school starts, so we’ll see!
For now, let’s cover the most common.
My RRMS began with what is known as
CIS – Clinically Isolated Syndrome
It’s name is pretty self-explanatory. CIS is the first neurological episode caused by demyelination. When CIS is accompanied by signs on an MRI of previous attacks, a diagnosis of MS can actually be made. And, unlike when I had my first physical flare, there are now some DMD’s approved for use in CIS. Now, from CIS, I progressed to
Relapse Remitting Multiple Sclerosis
85% of people are first diagnosed with RRMS. This course of the disease can be tricky to describe. I found an awesome graphic on the National MS Society website that does a much better job than I can at describing how the disease progresses at this point.
As the graph above shows, RRMS goes through a lot of different stages throughout its progression. Long story short, people with RRMS experience periods without symptoms or progression, followed by a flare. Flares, or exacerbations, can be accompanied by MRI progression, or not. No rules in this MS game.
Personally, I’ve suffered from two big physical flares, but I don’t have any serious lasting physical disability from either. I’m lucky that I had estrogen and steroids on my side, and they worked wonders for me.
My flares typically occur every three years, but there’s no set pattern that we all go through. This past Spring, I experienced a slight flare – I call it slight because while I did experience some symptomology, it wasn’t nearly as pronounced as before. I did end up with some demyelination, and it was completely out of pattern.
RRMS is not the last phase of the disease for a lot of us. That’s called
Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
RRMS progresses to SPMS as disability increases gradually over time. There can be occasional relapses with SPMS, and there may or may not be changes to an MRI or evidence of disease activity. Again, no rules here. And again, the National MS Society provided an awesome graphic to help describe SPMS better than I can.
The biggest difference between RRMS and SPMS is the progressive part. In the last course I’m describing today, primary is the big difference.
Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
Now, this one I really had to research. I’m now very familiar with CIS, RRMS, and SPMS, because it affects my disease progression.
Now, Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis‘s name is also a little self explanatory. Unlike CIS and RRMS, there aren’t relapses, but there are periods of inactivity and/or no progression. According to the National MS Society, 15% of people are diagnosed with this type of MS to begin with. And again, they have a great graphic to describe this course of the disease.
People with PPMS tend to have less inflammation and lesions in the brain than those with RRMS. This makes it both more difficult to diagnose and treat than other forms of MS, but research is making great strides. One medicine, Ocrevus, was recently approved in the US for treating PPMS, which is very exciting news.
All four types of MS are very similar in one way; how very different they are. Not the courses of disease progression themselves, but how we all experience them.
Every person living with MS will experience their own disease progression uniquely. They call MS the snowflake disease with good reason – there are 80 different symptoms, of which we’ll all experience with different severity and at different times in our disease progression. That’s what I’ll be covering in the next installment in this series!
Make sure you’re subscribed to Stumble Pup so you don’t miss the next installment! Until then,
