Hi there, im new here but not sure if im posting in the correct place.
Im 55 and I dont have a diagnosis of MS and my gp hasnt told me she has suspected it either.
I have had lots of issues over the years and been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, sciatica, cervical spondylosis.
All the issues i have ive put down to these conditions and not really bothered the gp for much (for fear she thinks im a hyperchondriac) apart from the cluster headaches and medications.
However the ongoing cluster headaches have increased over the years getting worse and changing in frequency with intermittent blurry double vision and my eyes feel like they wobble side to side every now and again.
Ive waited soo many years to see a consultant neurologist and finally seen him last week, he didnt say much apart from ordering an MRI which was today … i was nervous because the last time i did one for the cluster headaches was over 10 years ago and i was much slimmer altho claustrophobia almost stopped me i did go through with it.
This time im a bit more weighty and altho i fitted nicely in the tube the claustrophobic feeling was so overwhealming i had a full blown panic attack.
The nurses were absolutely amazing and we tried again but i couldnt do it. They talked to me for a while after calming me down and saying i will need to talk to my consultant for the next steps as he needs to see if there are any lesions in my brain.
I found out from the nurses my neurologist is a specialist in MS and they were surprised i didnt know.
They wouldnt say if hes suspected MS obviously because its not their place to but im now worried that i might have it after looking on here and seeing all the symptoms.
I seem to have quite a lot of them and have done for as long as i can remember, ive just put them down to fibromyalgia mostly.
Anyways, what happens with those who cant do the MRI ? What other diagnostic tools are there to use in suspected MS cases without the MRI?
I have had loads of mri’s over the years and never had an issue until I had a bad experience with one for my shoulder , total panic .
I have overcome this with Diazapam , taking my daughter into the room with me ( to rescue me ) and also asking for a comfort scanner which is bigger inside .
I close my eyes from start to finish and get them to talk to me when they can .
It’s awful to claustrophobic but you may hopefully find ways to help .
I’ve not long had a phonecall from the hospital asking if i wanted to try again or i could wait a month for a bigger scanner which is 40 miles away from me.
I did say I’d try again first so fingers crossed i dont have to wait a whole month for the bigger one.
My daughter said she’d come with me but im not sure if they’d let her go into the room with me … i might ring them and ask.
I think what scared me most is that the inside of the scanner was touching my arms and although it wasnt a tight squeeze i felt so scared i’d have no way to get out if i needed to. I know the nurses would come in and get me out but theyre in another room and im all alone in there squished an a tube with a cage over my head.
If only it were big enough not to touch me i think id cope in there.
So the nurse rang again and recommended i ask my gp for a sedative which im not sure will help.
She also said i cant have anyone with me which im sad about because i thought it would help me too
I just want friday over and done with … im terrified but want to try hard to overcome the fear.
If not though, ill definately be asking for the wide bore scanner … even if it is 40 miles away.
Im so sorry ive taken soo long to answer, well my gp gave me 3x2mg of diazepam. I had to take up to 2 an hour before, she never said anything about the 3rd one but after looking on here some took another 15 mins before they get in the scanner so thats what i did too.
I have to say i dont think much of diazepam, which i found out are vallium.
I felt absolutely no effects from it at all unless i was given a placebo or something.
Anyhoo … i didnt get much sleep the night before and kept on imagining myself inside the scanner, trying to figure out a way that’d be easier for me to cope with.
So the thing i was most worried about was it touching my arms. I could only come up with imagining my partner hugging me tight for a while and maybe pretending it wasnt a tube but maybe it had an open top and i could see the sky. I also wore a thin tee shirt because last time i had a chunky jumper on an i thought maybe thats what made the tube feel tighter.
Soo, when i got there i also asked the guy doing it if he could talk to me at each stage of scanning. He agreed and offered a ‘periscope’ attached to the head cage so i could see outside the scanner by my feet.
I only agreed to it just in case my curiosity got the better of me and i opened my eyes.
I tried it before i was inside the scanner though and all i could see being a larger lady was my boobs haha … so my eyes stayed firmly closed.
So they let me do deep breaths and psych myself up before they put me in. They did it slowly and i concentrated on my partner hugging me, i think the periscope thingy also brought in some light from the room so through my eyelinds it was bright which helped me thinking the sky was above me.
The guy said at every stage through the headphones how many minutes the scans were so i counted each one down.
It was over very quickly in my head even though it was 20 minutes. They just did my head.
After i got out and was on my way home my legs turned to jelly and i was shaking like a leaf. I dont know if it was just relief or maybe the meds had only just then kicked in, im unsure because they didnt affect my head at all. Then i went to lie down and fell asleep for a good few hours.
Anyways, its alll done now thank god. I have no idea when i’ll get the results or another appointment, so its just a waiting game now.
Hi Smurf … you got 6! Wow! Im jealous haha, I think ill be asking my gp for more then if i have to ever go through that again.
Theres nothing worse than staff who dont care Is there and ive had plenty of them, especially consultants who are trying to be the big i am’s in front of student staff.
) and also asking for a comfort scanner which is bigger inside .
you got 6! Wow! Im jealous haha, I think ill be asking my gp for more then if i have to ever go through that again.