odd comment from GP

Hi everyone.

I’ll try to keep this short. Ive had a fairly miserable 6 months or so. had a variety of symptoms. mainly dizziness, imbalance, difficulty focusing, carpul tunnel type symptoms of shooting arm pain, numbness in both hands .( gp has ruled out carpal tunnel) . also had muscle spasms in arms and legs and spacticity in right pinky finger ( has shortened in length and i am unable to close it into my other fingers). muscle spasms in legs causing difficulty walking. numbness in legs and feet. also terrible spasms in back . spasms in lower back resulting in legs buckling unexpectedly. finding it difficult some days in work, im a nurse and on feet alot. also have tightness , discomfort and swelling around joints of fingers and have seen a rheumatologist who said i definately dont have rheumatoid arthritis or any other inflamatory condition. I discussed possibility of MS with GP who said i might have MS but told me its difficult to diagnose. GP also asked me if i would want to know if i had MS. I thought this was an odd thing to say. anyway i am waiting for an MRI. Just wondered if anyone could check through my symptoms and let me know if they are typical or not and also has anyone else’s Gp asked if they would want to know if they had MS

thanks so much

That is an odd comment from a GP! I can’t imagine anyone not wanting to know what was wrong with them because then you can receive the right medication and access to the right health practitioner.

It certainly can be a long haul getting a diagnosis of MS and it is impossible for a GP to diagnose it - only a neurologist can do the right tests. Has your GP referred you to one?

Your symptoms can be caused by any number of things including MS, vitamin deficiencies, Hughes syndrome etc. You need full blood tests and a referral to a neurologist ideally who knows what to look for. MS can only be diagnosed by ruling out everything else and in the course of doing so they may find that it IS something else so try not to worry too much at this stage. If it is a vitamin deficiency this can easily be rectified.

Hope this helps

Tracey x

Hi there,

Some of your symptoms are very common with MS, but NOT unique to it. And some don’t fit at all, most particularly the joint swelling. I find it odd the Rheumy categorically ruled out any inflammatory condition, when you are getting swollen joints! This seems a bit paradoxical. It is possible to have a thing called sero-negative arthritis, which doesn’t have any of the classic markers in the blood.

I suppose not everybody wants to know if they have a serious illness. I am a diagnosed person, and feel, in some ways, I was pushed into getting a diagnosis, when part of me would have happily gone home and forgotten all about it. With hindsight, it was getting to the point I couldn’t really ignore it any longer, and in a way, it was a relief to have answers, and not keep beating myself up about being lazy or a hypochondriac. I was also able to claim critical illness insurance, which was worth it, for that alone.

But at the same time, I’m glad I didn’t find out any sooner than I did. If I’d been diagnosed a decade earlier (I believe I did already have it back then), I’d have had all those extra years of unnecessary worry and stress, because nothing awful happened! So I don’t think there would have been any virtue in knowing, and worrying about it. Ignorance is (sometimes) bliss.

But like most people, I was only diagnosed when things moved up a gear, and neither I nor the doctors could continue to pass things off as stress, anxiety, hormones, etc. etc. Taking everything into consideration, I think I was diagnosed at the right time - for me. At some point, I’d have had to face the truth and claim on the insurance, and that time eventually came. But I don’t regret not knowing sooner. Nobody had deliberately kept it from me - it just took a long time for all the pieces to come together.

Most people DO want to know - for insurance claims and possible treatment, if nothing else. But I suppose your doctor did nothing wrong by not simply assuming everyone always wants to know.

Tina

x

Thankyou so much for your comments. I had a phone call from the GP today to say i have a Vit D deficiency, she said that may be causing me some symptoms and has precribed supplements. She has referred me for an MRI but dont think a neurologist. Hopefully get to the bottom of it in near future because i’m just not me anymore.

Hi Serina,

My first neuro aske dme this question. I do hope you will get some answer shortly.

Dx

so im not alone, thanks for message

I also saw a neurologist about ten years ago who did a CT scan then said ‘it’s best NOT to persue a diagnosis of MS because you’re currently symptom free and the impact on your life (insurance, work etc.,) would be huge’ I’ve been putting down the odd symptoms I’ve had sparodically over the years to life, aging, RSI… anything really. Currently awaiting a neuro appointment in August to actively look into whether or not I have MS as I am not symptom free any longer.

when something is constantly on your mind and you have varying symptoms daily to remind you that something is wrong then getting to the bottom of it must be a kind of relief i would think. probably still come as a shock and be frightening but i think better to know then you can deal with it. also for everyone around you who has to listen to all the moans and groans then at least they can be more sympathetic when its something ‘real’ thats wrong with you.