Hi all I’m Sera. New to the forum and hoping someone can help me with a letter I received after a head/neck mri I had in September.
Reason for mri was because of lumbar back pain, nerve pain in back, right leg and foot - especially big toe, altered sensations - feels like I’m wearing wet socks all the time, cold intolerance, balance issues which have gotten worse the past year or so, and then there’s the flare ups which intensify my pain tenfold.
Almost forgot - brain fog, memory issues and fatigue.
Anyway, here is my letter from the neurologist, does it sound like he suspects MS?
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HI
Not sure you should be showing the name of your neuro on the letter.
MS is difficult to diagnose a lumbar puncture would give more results and may indicate MS.
Fingers crossed you don’t have it.
Jen
Hi Goldrat, thanks for the reply! I’ve edited and removed my neuro’s name. 
I found the letter to be quite vague and was just hoping someone could diagnose me here and now 
, the waiting is unbearable. It’s took 10 years for a doctor to refer me to neurology.
Hi Sara, it doesn’t look like anything specific’s been mentioned and I wouldn’t expect it to be. Sounds like they are gathering information, which they’ll need to diagnose. It mentions wear and tear: have you been involved with contact sports, or similar physical pursuits? It’s tricky to diagnose MS ‘quickly’ as many symptoms can be caused by viral infections. Let them cross the Ts and dot the Is and see how there collective conclusions look like. I know it must be awful feeling as you do but not knowing why. Hang on in there x
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Hi Wazzy, hope you are having a good day today.
No contact sports, gymnastics from around age 7 - 11 and then a bit of running in my teens.
For the past 11 years I’ve been “treated” with various opioid painkillers, ranging from co-codamol to Tapentadol. Then for nerve pain I was on a pretty high dose of Amitryptiline before changing to Gabapentin due to too many side effects from the Ami. Now I’m taking 600mg of Pregabalin daily along with Baclofen at night. Also take Naproxen when I get a flare up.
I take other meds also for anxiety/depression.
Oh, and Vitamin D3 as my levels were extremely low for years according to an orthopaedic consultant I was under for a while.
Apologies for rambling on
Thank you so much for your advice, I will just keep plodding (or hobbling) along for now. x
Sera
Yours seems to me the sort of maybe/maybe not situation where a lumbar puncture can be really useful. In your shoes I would go along with that proposal. It feels to me likely that this will give you the best chance of getting some clarity as soon as possible.
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I know it’s easy to say, it try not to obsess about a diagnosis, Sera, and see what the neurologist has to say. There’s the lumbar puncture too. Hang on in there and have the best Christmas you can x