Hi. I’m 36 years old and nearly 3 years ago I woke up in agony and didn’t know what was happening. My back, ribs and stomach muscles had spasmed and I couldn’t move and it has been the same every night since. I started getting other symptoms about a year ago with pins and needles every now and again and a tingling feeling on my back near my shoulder blade. Fast forward to before last Xmas and everything got worse. I woke up with the usual back spasms but also a weak right arm and leg. I went to the doctors and he took my bloods to rule out any deficiencies and the bloods came back ok and he referred me to a neurologist as he reckons it’s nerve related. Since December there have been a lot more symptoms, my arm has improved but I still walk with a limp with my right leg. Numb toes,sharp pains in my finger tips and occasionally a numb thumb, my bum cheek goes numb on the side and also to the top side of my thigh, pain down the top of my arm, sharp pain in my ribs from my armpit to my breast, facial and body muscle twitches, tingling in sides and stomach, also a lot of shooting pains anywhere on the body. I have also been diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia in my face. Plus a lot more but to many to list. My appointment came through for october 24 but today that was cancelled and rearranged for December.
Has anyone gone private for an mri scan and can tell me their experiences as I don’t know what will need scanning, my brain or my back? I don’t think I can wait until december
I was diagnosed privately after being dismissed by the NHS. I had medical insurance which covered it though. I think the scans were about £2000 if I remember rightly. It was a while back though so could have that wrong!
I would’ve thought you’d need head and spine. Could you push your GP to change your referral from routine to urgent?
Other option is to pay for a private consultation £100-200 just to get an expert opinion in the meantime.
I went privately for my first MRI in 2021, and luckily I had BUPA cover through work that paid for it.
I think the cost was around £400 for the MRI and £200 for the consultation.
I only did this as my GP wouldn’t refer me and felt my symptoms were due to anxiety !
Following my MRI I was added to my Neurologist NHS list.
I think if you can afford it it’s worth arranging.
Take care
Hi so in Jan 2023 I had optic neuritis. I saw a private eye consultant a week later and after unpicking my general health history decided to send me for a head MRI 4 days later. It cost me £475 for the mri and £200 for the consulatant.
The MRI supported along with two other random illnesses (one in 2010 and one in 2021) the mcdonald space and time criteria.
I was referred back to NHS for another MRI in the march and I was formally diagnosed in may 2023.
I started DMT (Kesimpta) in july 2023.
If I hadn’t followed up the optic neuritis privately, I wouldn’t have a diagnosis of MS. NHS were not going to do an MRI and in all honesty, nothing else was wrong as far as i was concerned at the time so I wouldn’t have even questioned it. Turns out that i have had many ms symptoms that i thought were just part and parcel of getting older (I’m 42 now). The “weird” things ive lived with turn out to be l’hermittes, ms hug, numb patches, tingling feelings, toilet urgency, aches and pains.
They tracked the ms back to 2010 when i visited the gp with concerns about a stroke- but was diagnosed as some sort of palsey (i can’t remember what) but they have over turned this decision as the onset of ms.
So in answer to your question- i would definitely see someone private so that they can refer you back to the nhs for treatment/diagnosis.
Hi i was diagnosed privately nearly 2 years ago, the gp had dismissed me serveral times saying it would just go away. Im a nurse and after speaking to the drs at my work i knew something was very wrong. I had 2 MRI scans and serveral consultations privately and they diagnosed me and gave me the support i needed. I was transfered to a NHS neuro as MS treatment cant be prescribed through private health care. I got started on kesimpta a couple of months after diagnoses, i still have appointments with the private neuro as i trust him and also the nhs neuro i have only seen once when he said he would let me start kesimpta, not seen him since! Its crazy as your meant to be seen once a year, so glad i stuck with the private neuro too. If your able to i would definately recommend going private, its so much quicker.