5 ms·

I hesitate to ask but have you been checked for Multiple Sclerosis.

• soulofmischief 2y ago
  I haven't specifically been checked for MS, though I have had a decently comprehensive array of tests done over the last decade before discovering I've had early-onset gout since my teens and it's likely that MS is something my doctors considered. Why do you ask?
  • emmelaich 2y ago
    Mono is caused by Epstein-Barr virus, which is also strongly implicated in MS. Perhaps you can get a single attack of MS but not get (many) more. Certainly fatigue is one symptom of MS. Blurred / double vision is another.
    • soulofmischief 2y ago
      Interesting. I believe over 90% of Americans contract mononucleosis by adulthood, so is there something about contracting it later in life which could potentially increase the likelihood of developing MS? Almost all of my friends had contracted it as young children, when the virus apparently is less destructive. Thus, my experience of mono at 18, and with a compromised immune system, was considerably more severe than anything experienced by those I spoke to. I was unable to do anything but lay on someone's couch for 6 months. I was homeless and couldn't work due to the severity of the disease and risk of spreading it, and so I had to steal food in order to live. It's unsurprising that the aftermath was equally unpleasant.