Secondary-progressive, or SP Multiple Sclerosis, tends to follow after relapsing-remitting MS. SPMS could occur 10 to 15 years after a diagnosis for RRMS has been given. The symptoms are the same for both forms of MS, but SPMS progresses more steadily than RRMS. Some MS patients with the secondary-progressive form experience relapses, while others don’t. The initial diagnosis of SPMS might take time, because it is difficult to know exactly when RRMS has changed to SPMS. Neurologists tend to think the change from one form of MS to the other takes place when the degree of disability increases over a period of at least 6 months, regardless of any relapses.

Keeping track of the symptoms you have, when they manifest, the date they subside, and making a note of when they increase in severity will help your doctor diagnose your form of MS better. If you were already diagnosed …