Wondering how long it took people from time of first symptoms to diagnosis did it take people here , and did it take long for your doctor to suspect it was MS. It took me 6 months , my doctor thought my walking problems was arthritis until l went to hospital and a different doctor knew it was MS
6 months or so from first symptom to formal dx, but MS was on the cards from the start - mine wasn’t hard to spot.
At least 10 years of not been taken seriously!
It took me about six months from my first symptom to actually go to the doctor. I saw an osteopath, a chiropractor, acupuncturist, Chinese medicine, then eventually just happened to mention it to a family friend who used to be a GP and he told me to go and see my doctor the next day. He never told me, but he knew it was going to be MS. I think it took about six months to be told that I had clinically isolated syndrome, or a single sclerosis as the neurologist put it. I think it was probably about another 6 to 9 months after that when I had a new symptom in a different place that gave me the diagnosis.
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It took 3 years but it wasn’t a surprise.
My first MRI found many brain lesions and a couple of spinal lesions with demylination.
My neuro said it couldn’t be anything else and thought my lesions were old and I had MS for sometime.
It wasn’t until a MRI found a new lesion that I was formally diagnosed and started a DMT. I was 60 at the time.
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Mine happened to be relatively quick. I had lost sight in my right eye, ended up in the ‘eye outpatients’ unit of my local hospital, followed pretty quickly by an MRI which showed ‘quite a few lesions’. There was then a frustrating wait of maybe 6 or more week to see a neurologist. This was over 18 years ago when the NHS was under less pressure. I know that MS can be hard to diagnose. I suppose that in theory it shouldn’t be too difficult but the UK just doesn’t have enough MRI scanners or neurologists
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I was pretty sure it was MS when I went to GP, and luckily GP did a very thorough exam and referred me to neurology straight away saying suspected MS. Took a further 8 months to get a neurology appointment and then an MRI 2 weeks later confirmed it
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That takes me back 25+ years when I was told much the same. The neurologist didn’t want to bother with an MRI, although he drew me a diagram of where the lesion would be if he looked. Relapse no.2 rapidly followed, however, and that did it.
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I did wonder at the time if he was basically giving me the ability to get critical illness cover. I don’t think he was, I just think that 22 years ago when I was diagnosed they were a bit more cautious about giving a diagnosis because there wasn’t much they could do about it.
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I’d been under a lot of stress for lots of different reasons. I was training as a teacher when I noticed bits of me were going numb (just a few days here and there). I thought it was just stress and ignored it! Two years later, I went to see my GP about something else - he dealt with that, then asked me if there was anything else whilst he was there. So I mentioned about the bits of numbness. He asked me if I really wanted to know. I thought about it and said ‘yes’. He arranged for me to be seen at St. Mary’s hospital in Paddington - just a short wait. The result of the tests, scan and lumbar puncture indicated I had MS. They said it would be conclusive if I had another episode. It was!
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I wondered the same, but one’s critical illness insurance goose is already cooked by then, and I remember ruefully thinking that too!
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9 years from the first symptom that started the MS dx hunt to actual dx.
Doctors mentioned MS to me, even after my first relapse (optic neuritis). During the second relapse (hands), they mentioned MS again but it tool 3 years for me to meet the criteria for the MS diagnosis. Mind that things were slower during the pandemic. Xx