I had my appointment today with the neurologist and I am so emotional and I don’t think my family will understand.
After going through my symptoms which are as follows:
-right sided arm had and leg weakness
-bladder urgency and frequency (on tolterodone for this)
-balance issues
-accidents from balance issues
-memory problems including recall
-and some other small issues
-multiple a&e visits for right sided paralysis recent one being a couple weeks ago.
Back ground is that I have had 2 brain MRI’s not with contrast.
Anyway after going through medical history the neurologist said that she thinks it’s FND functional neurological disorder and dissociative disorder and that there’s no medication because it’s the fact that my brain is not talking to my body and that stress can cause this. She said that my brain MRI’s look fine.
She said to cross the T’s and dot the i’s she will consult with the consultant radiographer but my symptoms are not suggesting to her MS. And she’s confident it’s this dissociative disorder which can be caused by stress and that i should refer to IAPT’s to get talking therapies.
I said that my last a&e visit the dr didn’t get any response on my right sided leg reflex on my knee Achilles and toes. She said that having no reflex is not an issue and that some people just don’t.
After she did some tests she said i had right sided weakness and when she tried to elicit a knee reflex with the hammer my right leg didn’t respond. She kept hitting it between 10-15 times and got 1 response on the last attempt and said oh there it is it was just being stubborn. She also did 10-15 times on left knee and I had a response every time.
She gave me some web sights about FND and dissociative disorders said she would write to my gp after she had conferred with the radiographer. She also said that she could refer me to the FND clinic but all they would do is talking therapies. After that she said is there anything else I’d like to discuss like that was the end of the consultation.
I asked if she would be discharging me and she said she would review me in 6months. I then asked so you don’t have to do any scans on my spine and she then asked me have i not had one and i said no and she said oh ok i guess we should order one just to cross the T’s and dot the i’s (again!!!) but I’m sure that won’t show anything.
And that was the end of my appointment. I know not getting a diagnosis of MS is a good thing but i feel so defeated. I have had therapy numerous amounts of time. Talking therapies and CBT regarding my life and to be honest i am in the best health mentally i have ever been. But now i am so emotional because i feel if I hadn’t suggested the spinal MRI that would not have been done and i wanted to ask about the lumbar puncture but i already felt like an idiot sitting there and just wanted to leave and cry.
How the hell is talking therapy going to fix my leg weakness and no reflex!!!
My husband is just happy I don’t have an MS diagnosis which is great but what the hell is wrong with me.
I am now waiting for my spinal MRI now so I guess what I am asking is can you have a normal brain scan and then have legions on your spine?
Sorry for the long winded post but I guess I just needed to vent.