2nd opinion neurology appt today

[Leannrough]

Well this neurologist was much more attentive and spent like an hour with me however I'm still confused about things he said?

He believes my constant numbness and burning in my legs that was brought on the day after my shoulder surgery is from the nerves in my hips being pinched while they sat me up during my 2 hr surgery but he didn't have any answers to why I have the muscle cramping in my calf and feet and kinda dismissed it as fatigue .The numbness in my hands he said is carpel tunnel and gave me braces to wear at night

Then my cognitive issues of , forgetting words, dropping thigs out if my hands and bumping into wall and door ways plus horrible vertigo , he said has nothing to do with my brain because the white foci in my brain don't show MS even the the radiologist stated as a forth option demyelinating processes. To him it's normal and he's says maybe the fog I'm in has to do with sleep apnea which he is going to test me for or a virus.

Finally we delt with my bladder issue mind you I had gone 6 times This morning before I saw him at 9 am. I also am having to wear a liner for accidents which I shouldn't have at 38 yrs old. He did order a bladder US to look for post void residual and thoracic and lumbar MRI because of the bladder issue not for all my leg symptoms . Weird he feels they have nothing to do with each.

So all and all he feels even though I have leg numbness, cognitive issues, vertigo and bladder issue collectively they don't mean anything to him and he's treating them all separately.

So at this point I don't know what to believe or if MS is even a possibility?

Has anyone had anything on a Thoracic or lumbar MRi that showed MS lesions or is it just cspine and brain

Sorry so long but just frustrated and still in limbo
I guess the best part is I didn't walk out if his office a crying mess like the other doctor.

Hugs
Leann

[suziq38]

I want you you go see an MS doctor.
Find one at a teaching hospital or get a recommendation.
You have several MS symptoms.
Still, it doesn't mean that you have MS.
MS is very difficult to diagnose.

I am still in "limbo," I have tested negative for brain, LP, and other blood tests. No vision problems at all.

My last test is scheduled for April. They want two sets of MRI's for my brain and spine so that they can compare them. The last set was taken in late September 2012.

Ignorance is bliss for now.

[MSer102]

The lumbar spinal cord is really just a little nub that handles only the lowest parts of the body so doctors don't usually do an MRI of it when looking for MS. Most of the problems your having are handled by the rest of the spinal cord or brain so doing an MRI of your lumbar spine won't help with those things.
It might give some clues about what's going on with your legs so its good that your neuro ordered MRIs of your lumbar spinal cord. The thoracic spinal cord can give clues about your legs and your bladder so its good that he ordered the thoracic MRI too. The other reason to have MRIs of the thoracic and lumbar spinal cord is that they can show other problems that aren't MS so it sounds like the neuro is really looking for all kinds of causes.

MS is always a possibility with neurological symptoms and it sounds like your brain MRI shows that its a possibility. But MS can't be diagnosed until every other possible cause has been ruled out and it sounds like that hasn't been done yet.

It sounds like the neuro is looking for other causes so that's good because it has to be done. But its also possible that you might have more than one thing going on. That could make MS harder to pin down. So if you haven't seen an MS specialist yet that might be a good idea because it might take an MS specialist to separate MS from other things. And as long as MS is still a possibility you might need to see one or more MS specialists before you get a good idea of whether you have MS by itself or with something else or if you don't have MS but something else instead.

[Whimpurr]

I agree that you need to find an MS specialist to be certain! My regular neurologist and the radiologist for that clinic missed several lesions in my cervical spine including ACTIVE lesions!

The MS specialist found them immediately!

[Leannrough]

Thanks for your responses.
I have an HMO and with all there neurologist they don't have one that specializes in MS. Huge corporate crazy I know.
I'd imagine paying to see a specialist would cost a small fortune and since I haven't been working still because if the shoulder surgery I'm not sure i could swing it

[MSer102]

Too bad about not having an MS specialist. The one your seeing is at least on the right track by looking for all kinds of causes. It sounds like you'll have to wait until the test results come in and then follow up on everything individually. Its important to follow up on the possible sleep apnea and the bladder tests.

You might have to keep seeing different neurologists and different specialists until everything has been looked at and ruled out. For example I don't know how your neuro could say that your hand pain is carpal tunnel unless you've had an EMG to test for it. So if you haven't had an EMG to explain the hand pain you should push for one. And if you haven't had other nerve conduction studies you should push for them.

After you've had as much testing as you can inside your HMO you can and still don't have good answers you can ask your HMO to send you to a neurologist out of network. But you have to do as much inside your HMO as you can first. Your HMO wants it that way and its also good for you because it keeps your costs down. But for now it sounds like you just have to wait for all the test results to start coming back so you know what to do next. Good luck!