Help / Guidance Please

Hi, Am looking for possible guidance / input as trying to ascertain if I have MS.

Am 61 year old that does a lot of running so am pretty fit for my age, I appreciate that fitness has no bearing on these things,

Symptoms.

Dragging of right foot since approx May 2012 / Loss of dexterity in Right hand since approx May 2012 / Right eye, have blurring episodes, most common at end of day when gone to bed and reading, but does sometimes happen during day, since approx June 2012 / Speech. At times slurred and have trouble saying words, since early part of 2012 / Balance. Occasionally loose balance when putting trousers on so now have to sit down to do. When I get up from a chair also occasionally loose it. Have fallen over a few times in garden, since early part of 2012. / Mouth. A dropping on right side of mouth, which leads to an occasional involuntary dribble / Right Arm. Loosing mobility, can’t lift up any higher than shoulder, since about Sept 2012.

Action;

Went and saw GP on 4th Oct 2012 and he immediately referred me to a specialist at hospital as thought that had had mini stroke, saw specialist on 10th Oct. Did Ultrasound of neck to check carotid artery - all ok. Did CT scan of head and top of spine - all ok. Did ECG, checked blood pressure and did x-ray of shoulder and chest - all ok. Said had not had stroke but obviously something going on so organised for a CT Scan of head and neck, this was done on 24th Oct. Saw specialist at hospital again on 3rd Dec, told me MRI of head was ok but noticed that potential problems base of neck / top of spine. Basically flumoxed so said he would write back to GP to say I needed to see a Neurologist. Saw GP on 7th Dec and he said would urgently refer me to Neurologist as soon as he had letter from specialist, that was done late December, still waiting to hear back from hospital as the consultants have downgraded from urgent.

I had wondered if it was Parkinson’s, hadn’t even thought of MS until discussing with a friend last week and they said that a lot of symptoms are found in MS.

Would love to get some feedback / thoughts / guidance as finding it all very frustrating and debilitating.

Thanks for listening

Gareth

Hi Gareth, and welcome :slight_smile:

Your friend is right in saying that your symptoms are found in MS, but there are other conditions that can also cause them so it’s best to keep an open mind for now.

Did you mean that you had an MRI on 24th October? I’m guessing so anyway. If it was Parkinson’s Disease, then there wouldn’t be anything showing in your neck so I think you can probably rule it out (unless there’s more than one thing going on). What it might be instead is impossible to say without knowing what it was they saw in your scan. It’s possible, e.g., that your vertebrae are pressing on your spinal cord and causing neurological problems, in which case surgery might fix things. Alternatively, maybe your spinal cord is narrower than expected in which case there is something causing spinal cord damage, e.g. vitamin B12 deficiency amongst lots of other things. If there were lesions (areas of damage) on your spinal cord then it might point towards MS, but again there are other possibilities including viruses, infections and genetic conditions. So, as I already said, best to keep an open mind.

If it is MS, it isn’t the end of the world. It does take adjusting to and we have to learn to adapt to change, but there are some excellent meds and aids for symptoms and life really can still be good, albeit different than we’d expected.

For now, just take it one day at a time.

I hope the appointment comes through soon. (Maybe ask your GP to push a bit harder if you are finding things tough.)

Karen x

Hi Gareth and welcome,

You do seem to have alot going on.

I am still in Limbo land for a diagnoses its been 8 months but my nuro is working hard with alot more test for me to have.

If your symptoms have got worse go back to your GP and ask them to send another letter, if you are stuggling in anyway ask them to send another letter.

I went to my doctors and waited for a nuro appointment, didnt hear, went back 2 weeks later they sent another letter, unfortuntely I went back a week after that in a wheel chair and I was admitted straight into hospital as I couldnt walk at all. Now I I have had 2 stints in hospital and every test possible of which I am now waiting on another MRI next week and results of millions of blood tests.

You say CT scans but then say MRI results, these are 2 different scans, a CT isnt as good as an MRI in confirming lesions on the brain from my understanding so if you havent had an MRI this will probably be next. your first appointment will be a thorougher check of you and a full history with your nuro

If you dont keep on there case then you could be in a very long cue.

Good luck and keep us all updates

Thanks you very much for your immediate support Karen and Tom.

To clarify; I had the CT scan but when the specialist could find nothing ontoward with the results he sent me for a MRI, which I had on the 24th Oct.

After your comments I have followed up with the secretary at the GP practice and she is trying to contact the hospital to find out why I haven’t heard.

I suffer from the good old British curse of not wanting to be a nuisance.

From the glass half full perspective at least I am still able to run, just have to be a bit more careful now when doing a right sided stride.

Again thanks for your feedback, please know how much it is appreciated.

best regards

Gareth