Afternoon, first time on here…I will try and keep it short !! I am 39 yrs old and after having a pants year with an assortment of different niggles the GP sent me for an MRI, I went to see GP on Thurs expecting to be told that nothing found and putting it all down to anxiety (which has been done regularly for the last few years). However he is referring me to neurologist as i have what he says is some scarring with 2 possibilities of having a mini stroke at some point or MS. When I asked him what he thought most likely he stated MS. (I could see T2 and MS on the report?).
I am in a state of shock …i think i am really wondering can you tell from an mri which it could be? also, i have had bouts of vertigo over a 10 year period, internal tremors, headaches, and for the past 10 months bad lower back pain and sciatica… i also get numbness and tingling on my face and head and “odd” vision.
Nobody can really say if it’s MS or not until you see a neurologist. Having lesions on your brain is certainly one indicator of MS and also I have to say that your symptoms are very MS-like. There are other conditions that cause similar symptoms but from what you say it does seem that the radiologist (from the report) and you GP are both thinking MS.
I don’t know how they tell the difference between stroke and MS on MRI, so, frustrating and scary as it is, you’re going to have to wait and see the neuro.
It’s hard having to wait but there isn’t any shortcut. In meantime, get as much rest as you can. You can look at this site and read about MS and find out more about it… but I advise you against googling your symptoms… so much cr^p on the internet and you can end up believing you’ve got everything going!
You’re come to the right place for advice and support hon and hopefully you’ll get some definite answers very soon. As you will see from this site, IF it is MS it is certainly not the end of the world. MS is not a terminal illness… life can still be good and many many people with MS still work, have relationships, have babies, drive, etc etc etc. So life goes on and can still be full and happy.
You’ve already had great advice from Pat so I thought I would just explain the MRI bit: basically T2 is a type of scan that is good for showing up lots of types of lesions. I would recommend not reading too much into the MS bit and not just because there may have been more information on there that you didn’t see (including other possible causes or even the word “not”). For example, lesions from TIAs (mini strokes) can look very similar to lesions from MS so a neurologist can only diagnose when he/she has put together your history, symptoms, clinical exam results, MRI results and any other tests that they think are suitable. Unfortunately, this can sometimes take quite a while, so be prepared for a bit of a long haul
And if it does turn out to be MS, please know that it really is NOT the end of the world!
Thank you so much…I now have my appt for neurologist…27th Feb!!! this is an urgent referral from gp…
I had to giggle as my gp had some bookable appts but the first was 22nd feb so he put it through as an ugent referral as he thought it too long to wait and hey presto its 5 days after !!
If it is MS and as Karen says that is a big IF, nothing drastic is going to happen by waiting that long…except it does your head in being in limboland and if you aren’t careful you can tie youself up in knots about every twinge etc.
Even when you do see the neuro any tests he asks for means more waiting, both for the test and then to see the neuro for the results. As MS requires the ruling out of other possibilities rather than a test to diagnose it, we all have to learn the art of waiting.
One piece of advice is to look at answers Rizzo has cut and paste giving people pointers on how to prepare for their first neuro appt so as to get the most out of your visit.
