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Multiple sclerosis can cause many different symptoms depending on which areas of the central nervous system have been damaged. Symptoms may include weakness of an arm or leg; pins and needles affecting any part of the body; unusual feeling or numbness affecting a part of the body; difficulty with balance or co-ordination of the arms or legs; stiffness in the muscles; slurring of the words when speaking; aching discomfort in an eye, perhaps with a disturbance of eyesight; difficulty controlling the bladder or bowels; sexual difficulties and fatigue.

No two people with multiple sclerosis have exactly the same symptoms and it is very unlikely that one person would have all these symptoms. In some people with severe forms of multiple sclerosis sometimes the use of an arm or leg can be totally lost. If the use of both legs is lost doctors describe this as paraplegia.

Multiple sclerosis is an unusual disease in that often symptoms seem to flare up from time to time and then settle down spontaneously without any treatment. Doctors describe these flare-ups of symptoms as relapses. The recovery after a flare-up is sometimes called a remission. Many people with multiple sclerosis find their symptoms unexpectedly appear and then disappear again repeatedly at intervals over a number of years. Doctors do not understand what triggers a flare-up of symptoms.