Stuttering is not part of MS. However, intermittent difficulty with speech was recognized as a rare manifestation of MS 40 years ago (paroxysmal dysarthria). This difficulty with articulation is often associated with difficulty in finding the “right” word. It is rarely recognized as a manifestation of MS, and many doc-tors incorrectly regard it as an emotional problem. Misdiagnosis is unfortunate because this disorder is amenable to treatment.
There are a number of other brief (typically seconds to minutes) recurrent stereo-typed paroxysmal (short duration) manifestations that rarely accompany MS. Sometimes they are mistaken as seizures but respond to anticonvulsant (antiseizure) treatment as if they were seizures. However, they do not require life-long drug therapy but rather long-term (3 to 6 months) treatment. These manifestations of MS usually respond to lower doses of drugs, doses that would not control seizures.
Tegretol (carbamazepine) is effective in small doses. The drug is well tolerated, is relatively inexpensive, and is my drug of choice. It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss these issues further.