I posted previously about the difficulty I had in getting to a diagnosis on the NHS. Eventually I ended up speaking to my MP who was absolutely wonderful - within a week of speaking to her I had received a phone call from the head of Neurology at my local hospital, a face to face consultation and a referral for an MRI scan.
Because the waiting lists are so long in my local area, I was referred for a scan in a hospital about an hour away. I’m more than happy to travel that distance as it cuts down on the waiting time. I had my MRI just over a week ago and was patiently waiting to hear back from the neurologist, then today I received another letter from the hospital asking me to make an appointment for another MRI scan. I assumed it was a clerical error but I called them up and they said no, a request had been made for me to come in for a further MRI. The girl I spoke to didn’t have any further information, but she asked me to come in tomorrow for the scan (which I’ve agreed to). Has anyone experienced this before? My first thought is that it’s positive in that it looks like they’ve found evidence of MS but need a further scan for a more detailed look - for background, after waiting for so long and the impact on my life, the best outcome for me at the moment would be confirmation that this is MS so I can start treatment, rather than finding out it’s not MS and having to go back to the drawing board in terms of a diagnosis.
Does anyone have any insight as to the reasons a second MRI would be requested so soon after the first?
I also have to have another after my first. They found lesions but the neck images (which they suspect also has a lesion) was unclear. It could be as simple as unclear imaging but it could also be to compare to see if there is any change in their findings
Hello,
I remember my first multiple sclerosis diagnosis, the neurologist said the MRI was quite fuzzy and asked if I’d like to do it again on a newer machine and have a lumber puncture, at a different NHS trust.
I declined as I didn’t really believe I had MS and thought it was just a side effect from a medication I was taking for acne.
So the neurologist decided to run with the fuzzy scan and dx me:
“probable multiple sclerosis”.
If you’re offered another MRI, you can go for it, there’s no harm.
Best,
JP
Hi, I had 2 scans aswell and didn’t understand why. Basically the second one was with dye and wasn’t as long as the first mri. Maybe that’s the case for you to, take care Angie
Thanks for the replies everyone. I’ve been back for the second MRI - no dye, but it took around twice as long as the first time so I assume it was a more detailed scan. The technicians at the hospital didn’t have any more information on why a second scan was requested (or not that they told me anyway), so I’ll just wait to hear back from the neurologist now. As I said before the best outcome for me at this stage would be confirmation that I am suffering from MS, so I can start some sort of treatment, rather than continuing with all sorts of tests and being unsure what’s wrong with me. Fingers crossed!
