What is the typical progression of JDMS?
Most kids start by getting the skin rash, followed within weeks or months by progressively worsening muscle weakness. Since JDMS is so rare, it is frequently misdiagnosed as one kind of skin ailment or another (such as Eczema or Fifth Disease), then once muscle symptoms set in, as Muscular Dystrophy or other muscle disease. The speed of the progression is highly variable, sometimes with muscle symptoms never appearing at all or very gradually over the course of months, and sometimes going from normal to being unable to walk within days; usually, muscle symptoms appear weeks to months after the onset of the rash.
