Multiple Sclerosis: Early Signs and Symptoms

A prodrome is a premonitory or warning phase of a medical problem yet to come. It’s an early stage of signs or symptoms that happens before the onset of the typical symptoms.

“Prodrome for MS has been discussed and studied more in recent years; 10 or 15 years ago, we didn’t necessarily think of MS as having a prodrome,” says Otallah.

There is now more evidence to suggest that there may be some symptoms that occur in people well before their first demyelinating event or MS diagnosis, he says.

Increased hospitalizations and medication use could also be a symptom of prodrome.

“There does seem to be an increase in depression, anxiety, and migraine prior to MS diagnosis, but all three of those conditions are also very common in the general population, and most of those people never go on to develop MS,” says Otallah.

These conditions, along with other suspected prodrome symptoms, aren’t being used to identify people who may be at an increased risk of MS yet, he says. “We’re not at a point where we can use these to predict if someone is going to go on to develop MS, but when we look back, we are noticing correlations.”