mri ?

[barryrado]

hi everyone, what is the average length of time between mri. ive had ms for 20+ years and i havent had a mri for 13 years. it didnt concern me until i fell recently on my hip and sitz bone. xrays were negative so i asked for a mri to check for bursitis which doesnt show on xrays. dr said it wasnt needed yet. i am getting nervous because of severe pain. i dont understand why i would be denied. any help would be appreciated barry

[mjan]

First of all, I am so sorry for your pain and suffering.

Did you just happen to fall down or was it cause and effect that caused you to fall?

Its amazing..not everything is MS related. How about seeing a good Orthopedic doc. They are amazing and have good treatments. Also they may want an MRI of your back/hip area. They also can rule things out, like pinched nerves and refer you back to neurology.

I popped a tendon off my hip just turning over in bed. It was horrible. Finally went to see an ortho doc who wanted an MRI. I refused wanting to wait (cost). PT revealed I was getting worse not better. So get the MRI and learn how messed up my spine really was. I had no low back pain but pain in my legs along with spasticity..so.. thought it was MS. It was not. I have spinal stenosis which is sciatica in both legs.. PLUS MS spasticity.

GET it checked out by an ortho doc ok?

Better days ahead..Jan

[Camsue]

mri's

I had one mri (and spinal tap)almost 25+ years ago, when MS was suspected but did not confirm. I changed Dr's and eventually MS was confirmed without another mri. My Neurologist recently retired and my new Dr sent me for a mri with contrasting in May.

I don't really understand what that information helps. It only made me depressed to hear I have over 20 lesions, but they're not new.

That information did not change anything..I still have MS, I'm still on Betaseron (17 years), and I'm still doing fairly well (knock on wood)

Hope your pain is eased soon!

[barryrado]

hi mjan, i have kaiser ins and medicare. been suffering from what i thought was low back pain on and off for 2 months. turned out that my glutes and hamstrings were so tight when i went bowling my legs stiffened straight out trying to sit.i ended up falling on my sitz bone(ischial tuberosity). there is a bursa sac on that bone. was referred to ortho surgeon who started me on cortisone injections in my glute. didnt work, and i asked for a mri. dr said no. he is treating me without a confirmed diagnoses. i say bursitis and he says osteoarthritis. bursitis were you sit is the worst pain for me to date. also diminishes range of motion in gait. so i fell down again and landed on the outside of same hip. dr is sure he can fix it without imaging. i am now so scared of this pain and permanent loss of range in gait. all i think about all day is this is going to rob me of what little indepence i have left. going nuts barry

[mjan]

Are you sure its not spasticity in your gluts/hamstrings? I never knew how spasticity would just keep going up my legs to my back up to my neck. I am on Baclofen AND RX Diclofenac for spinal stenosis.

And I would get a 2nd opinion from another ortho doc. Cortisone injections help pain but never get to the problems. Also I had a life saving Chiro who was soo good he would let you know if this was beyond the help he could provide. His technique (B.E.S.T) was gentle and unpinched the nerves.

Who knows..when your hip is bad..it affects your BACK!!

See another ortho.. can you?

Jan

[Redwings]

Hi barryrado:
You asked about MRIs as if your situation involves MRIs and MS. But your situation isn't about MS, even if MS is what made you fall. It's about an orthopedic problem (regardless of what made you fall) and Kaiser.

Usually Kaiser SoCal is relatively good about providing proper care. I'm with Kaiser SoCal and haven't been denied anything I really needed. To be sure, I've incurred some physical damage I wouldn't have if some of my doctors had been more competent and proactive, I've had to raise a ruckus about some things and change doctors a few times and work around obstacles in ways I would rather not have, but so far I've gotten what I needed.

It sounds like you haven't learned how to work the Kaiser system. If you don't like the way your doctor is handling your case, you can call the appointment center and have them book you with a different orthopedist. If the appointment center won't do it, then contact Member Services and have them do it. Ask your primary to send you to a different orthopedist, if need be. File a grievance with Kaiser and Medicare if you have to. You don't have to succumb to just complaining on a message board. To change doctors, YOU need to speak up for yourself.

Although your post doesn't even mention MS -- only alludes to it by nature of being on an MS forum and asks the kind of MRI question that people with MS ask -- and MS is a separate issue, the same answer applies. If you haven't had an MRI for 13 years for MS, YOU need to speak up and work more closely with your neurologist to find out why not. And if your legs were so stiff from MS that that's what made you fall, then your MS neurologist should be addressing that. (Kaiser PT doesn't really address spasticity or muscular pain. My own PCP warned me not to expect much, and she was right. I quit after the 3rd visit.)

It sounds like you're not being assertive enough to navigate in a big HMO system like Kaiser. So on Monday, start making some phone calls. It might take awhile, but the machinery will move if you push in the right places.

[barryrado]

mri

hi again all, redwings, you are right about not pushing hard enough. i am ok with my neuro. 2 times in the last 3 years ive encountered serious problems resulting in severe pain from falls. the 1st time it took 2 years to properly dx and treat a bulging disc. saw 4 different docs and was told it is arthritis. finally my neuro who referred me to ortho originally handled my problem himself. he did the exam and ordered a mri and in less than 2 hours had a dx and a treatment plan. end of problem. now i have severe pain in the groin and hamstring. i fell backwards on my sitz bone. i am back to ortho again and the same issues. i am being treated without dx. time for me to start making noise. i am scared of alienating the drs. i like, but at the same time this needs to be treated before it becomes chronic. barry