Hi, another newbie looking for advice.

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

Hi,

I am looking for a little advice and reassurance. I went to the doctors at the beginning of April this year as I had noticed a numb patch the size of my palm on my right wrist, I had also had a patch on my thigh last year…as soon as I told the GP he sent me for an MRI and said he needed to rule out MS, of course I was taken aback as I am a fairly healthy 40 yr old woman who doesn’t drink or smoke (not sure if that’s even related) so, I had the scan in May and was referred to a neurologist by the GP when he got the scan back as there were ‘bright spots’. Fast forward to July, I received an appt, which was then cancelled.

Something else happened to me in this period, I have been getting blurred vision in my left eye after exercise and when I was on holiday in the heat, I went to the opticians and after a thorough check he told me I had something called pigment dispersal syndrome…he referred me to an ophthalmologist. I saw him last month and he stated it was not PDS and that my eyes were ok, it wasn’t till the end of the appt I thought to tell him I had a neurologist appt, he called up my notes and said it may have something to do with this…he said the name of another syndrome that causes blurring and is related to MS.

So, back to the appointment, I finally got a new one for mid October, I called the appointment line to see why it had taken so long and the guy said that my Neuro appt request wasn’t sent till June, then after the ‘team’ had looked at it it was deemed as routine. Apparently it’s within the NHS 12 week criteria.

Now, I’ve done the stupid thing of googling MS and it freaked me out…of course I can mould anything that happens to me in to it, but the one thing that stood out was that I seem to be ok for ages then something crops up…i sound like a hypochondriac now…I’m really not, I’m healthy and happy, but I thought I was having a heart attack earlier this year, so much pain when I was trying to breathe…my husband took me to A&e as we were so worried…my heart was fine!! Now when it happens I just try to breathe through…anyway I’m waffling, I read about the hug? I think maybe I’m driving myself mad!!

Im hanging on to the fact my MRI was classed as routine…surely if there were any signs I wouldn’t have been waiting this long?

Thanks!

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Hi Twinmum,

I’m sorry this won’t be the reassurance you are seeking, but MS investigations are pretty much always classed as “routine”, for the simple reason it’s not life-threatening to wait a few weeks, or even months. It’s a chronic condition, not something that will kill you if not treated immediately, so it simply can’t compete with things like tumours or blocked arteries, that need urgent intervention.

That’s the difference between serious and urgent. MS, despite being serious, is very rarely urgent.

I’m not saying you do have MS. I’m just saying you cannot read anything into it either way from the fact it’s not being treated as an emergency. On the bright side, they must be confident whatever it is safe to be left alone for a few weeks. They are satisfied you don’t have anything that might burst and kill you, and that has to be good news.

Tina

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Thank you Tina! This is why it’s so good to post…I just didn’t see it from that point of view! A bit selfish really!! I’m grateful that I don’t have a life threatening condition and I do feel reassured, thank you.