I was diagnosed on 29th july 2019 so it is all new to me. I saw the professor in charge of my care. I asked how many lesions I had on my brain and spine, after he had shown me the mri pictures. He said it was impossible to say how many lesions anyone has.I know another patient of his and she knows how many she has. I said I have suffered with low back pain for years. He said he didnt think this was ms related! Everything I have read so far about ms says low back pain is common. I have also read that others with ms are told how many lesions they have and what area of the body they affect. Please can someone tell me am I right and was the professor out of order?
Hello
I have absolutely no clue how many lesions I have or where they are. To be honest, I don’t think it’s that relevant. I’m also not convinced that back pain is necessarily an MS ‘thing’. Some people with MS are likely to end up with back pain because their posture is affected by other symptoms, so it would be secondary to their MS, rather than a symptom of it. (Just an opinion, I have no evidence for this view.)
I think being diagnosed with MS puts you in a state of worry. Because you may know very little about MS, you become stressed over some aspects of your diagnosis, maybe as a sort of displacement for the real worry about what happens next.
People newly diagnosed do tend to run through a whole gamut of emotions, from anger (even rage), to depression and fear. Some people reach a point of acceptance. Some never do, and really there’s no reason why you should accept it. MS is a crappy disease and it’s pure bad luck to get it.
If you’ve been diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS, have you been offered a disease modifying drug (DMD) yet? And do you have an MS nurse? You could do no worse than to run these questions past your nurse. S/he will be the best person to answer your queries and hopefully out your mind at rest about your diagnosis.
Sue
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Thanks for your reply Sue. Firstly the research I have done shows that other MS patients know how many lesions they have and yes it is crucial which of the five areas of the brain they are located in. Secondly low back pain is also a common symptom of ms. Yes diagnoses does throw up many emotions.especially when I have been given lyrica for six years for.neuralgia I now now I do not have because I requested a proper diagnoses and got ms! The ms neurologists tell you to do your reasearch but when you do they dont answer your questions which you have based on that reaserch!!