FIRST VISIT TO NEURO

[Light68]

I finally go to my appointment and of course my symptoms had settled, on my 4th good day, a bit of a limp, due to my hips being one of the main areas affected and my right arm goes heavy/stiff when I am anxious.
Must add, i have bipolar & BPD...
First off he starts to ask me what I am their for, so i start to tell him, (it takes me time, I just go blank) so I take out my diary and try again, HE TAKES IT OUT OF MY HANDS
and said lets go for a walk, (my leg is good, a light limp most people would get after they have had some damage to that part of the body, but no MS symptoms.
So back in the room, on the bed, a quick eye up 7 down, side to side, reflex, knee & elbow, prick the bottom of the foot, that's the examination over....
Quick look at notes, asks about medication, I take sodium valporate "Why" I have Bipolar....
The next line that came out of him mouth was "well our brain can do some funny things, I don't think you have a tumor or MS".....
So I tried to speak up and he had started to fill out forms, he then said " I can't do two things at once" and continued to write..
I did manage to get him to do an MRI, but he is only doing the Brain...
Another doctor who just thinks I am CRAZY

[gomer]

Light68...

Ya got LOT further than I did back in 1987 with the VA. Instead of getting to see a neuro, I was shipped upstairs to the shrinks! I felt like crap, more like a dead man walking The shrinks decided I was not nuts or even depressed. They noted in my records I was adamant "something else" (re cancer & diabetes) and it was not showing up on their tests. Do you think even one single doc w/o ADD (Arrogant Dismissive Disorder) bother to follow-up, no way.

It was a new alert eye doc in 2009 that opened the MS can-o-worms, and that after a twisted route led me back at the VA, a doc w/o ADD and full MS workup and formal Dx of long standing MS. MY diplopia turned out to be MS related and dates back to 1964! (when I was 18) and other Sx's go back even further.

At least you are going to get a MRI. With a little luck maybe it will shed some light on your situation. At least your neuro has not closed the door or written you off yet.

Gomer Sir Falls-a-lot

[LisaJ66]

I can relate!

Wow... I understand how you are feeling right now after that appointment. A very similar thing happened to me with one of the first neuros I saw. This guy had a bad case of what gomer called ADD. He was a first year intern at an academic hospital and thought he knew it all.

He read over my chart and history before coming in to the room to see me. He walked in the room and right off told me he had no idea why I was there... he said he would not have given me a referral if he were my PCP. He went on to tell me that what I needed was a good therapist.

I had to insist on seeing the attending but it was obvious he had filled her in on his 'opinions' and neither of them did anything but give me a very basic neuro exam... said 'let's schedule an LP and put this nonsense to rest' and sent me on my way.

Good luck with your MRI. That is a good place to start, but I would still be looking for another neuro if I were you. It took me a while, but I think I've finally found a good one.

[Light68]

But I am not crazy

The thing is I do have Bipolar & Borderline Personality Disorder, but that doesn't mean that I imagin all these symptoms or create then in my head and they become real. WT

[gomer]

One possibility to at least consider;
Depending on when your MS started, and the specific Sx and its patterns BPD might be a side effect of undiagnosed MS especially RRMS. It can be a chicken or egg, which came first?

Gomer Sir Falls-a-lot

[MinnieGirl]

I Understand Too

Unbelievable as it may be, you got more of a neurological exam than I did. Not at all saying you should stick with this jerk, just saying I know what it's like to be totally dismissed. Every day is a struggle, I am exhausted and my right side is a mess. We know our bodies and we know when something is wrong. It is sad that often it is such a challenge to get someone to listen.

Best of luck in your search for a decent neuro and answers. Hang in there!

Hugs,
Minnie

[ChristyB]

First post ever, had first Neuro visit last week

I found this board, and was happy (sorry guys!) to find that others felt blown off by their neurologists. Not that I'd wish that on anyone, but it was such a lonely feeling.

I went to my GP in June due to migraines, which I'd been having for years but they suddenly got very much worse, and lasted for days on end. She sent me for a brain MRI. The report showed "numerous" lesions, and she referred me to the neurologist. It took 3 months to get an appointment, and meanwhile over the past two months I started to get all these concerning symptoms like extreme fatigue, inability to concentrate at work, vertigo, arm weakness, tingling scalp, and bowel incontinence .

I told him my symptoms. He did a very basic exam (reflexes, made sure I could follow his fingers with my eyes) and told me he didn't think I had MS. I had never mentioned MS to him, though I was suspicious of just that dx. I said I was most upset about the bowel urgency/incontinence (I've crapped my pants twice in the past 6 weeks), and he said, unsympathetically, "what does that have to do with anything? that's not neurological." I said I thought it was an MS symptom, and he SCOFFED at me and said, "no, never." I stared at him. He said, "It would be very rare." Does anybody here have bowel symptoms like this?

I asked what he thought about the lesions. He said they could be from migraines. They could be from high blood pressure (I don't have), diabetes (I don't have), could have been there at birth (???). I said, the report said they are numerous, how many? He said, I don't know, I haven't seen the images. I asked could he look at them, and he said he guessed he could order them over. Seriously, I waited 3 months after my MRI so this guy could not look at the images? Then blow me off?

So, he has ordered a VER and BAER (evoked response tests) and I go for those on Thursday. But I felt I only got those because I pushed him for answers and stared him down. What a frustrating experience! I tried to explain it to my husband that evening, and just started crying.

Thanks for the opportunity to get that off my chest here. Sounds like you folks might really understand how that felt! Sadly. But, if it's happening, at least we are not alone. What is it with neurologists??