diagnosis

Hi. I am a 42 year old man who has recently been diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia after 6 years of sporadic attacks. I have finally got an appointment with the nuerologist in january. After looking into ms I have had many ‘aha’ moments in seeing the other symptoms. Such as feelings of crawling on my skin, occasional blurred vision, vibrating and aching feet and spasms . Some that have been quite frightening like im being squeezed. I have tried to explain my symptoms over the years to my gp but they have all been brushed off. I feel at times like im going mad with it all as it is all so random and the pain differs. I feel almost silly talking about it to people. My question is will the nuerologist understand when I explain the symptoms ? Im guessing they will have a better understanding. How did you find getting diagnosed and was it an arduous journey to find help and get a diagnosis ?

Si

hi simon

neurologists are well used to people explaining strange symptoms so don’t worry about that.

your appointment is the first step towards getting a diagnosis and subsequent help.

be aware that it may not be ms, other things present with similar symptoms.

for this reason, the neuro will run a series of tests such as MRI, VEP (visually evoked potentials), Lumbar Puncture and maybe others.

you sound reasonably calm, try to stay that way.

one way or another you will finally know what has been causing your symptoms.

it helps to write a list of symptoms in chronological order, saying when they first occurred, if they still remain, got worse or eased off. it will help the neuro in his/her detective work.

be strong

carole x