Your symptoms: MS or not?
There are a lot of folks out there with symptoms that COULD be Multiple Sclerosis...or not. This is some general advice for those of you in that situation.
First of all, start keeping a log of your symptoms, including how severe and anything that makes your symptoms better or worse. That will help you both in figuring out ways to live with them and, by summarizing your log, you will have a clearer picture to share with the doc next time you see him. Limit your summary to a single page so that there is time to review it during the appointment.
With MS, some people present with symptoms before they have changes detectable by MRI. Since most neurologists wait for the appearance of lesions before diagnosing MS, that puts folks in a sort of never-Neverland.
If you are in that situation, you have several choices at this point. First is to wait and return to the doc in six months or a year to see whether the MRI has changed when it is repeated. Another is to seek out an MS specialist.
Folks who specialize in diagnosing and treating MS are usually pretty good diagnosticians overall, and it is definitely worth seeing a specialist if MS is a possible diagnosis. Another option is to talk with your doctor about whether there may be meds that will help with your symptoms REGARDLESS of the final diagnosis. There are several meds out there that might be helpful -- ask.
Related Topics: Multiple Sclerosis Health Center, MS Assessment (sponsored)
Technorati Tags: multiplesclerosissymptoms, diagnosingmultiplesclerosis, MS
First of all, start keeping a log of your symptoms, including how severe and anything that makes your symptoms better or worse. That will help you both in figuring out ways to live with them and, by summarizing your log, you will have a clearer picture to share with the doc next time you see him. Limit your summary to a single page so that there is time to review it during the appointment.
With MS, some people present with symptoms before they have changes detectable by MRI. Since most neurologists wait for the appearance of lesions before diagnosing MS, that puts folks in a sort of never-Neverland.
If you are in that situation, you have several choices at this point. First is to wait and return to the doc in six months or a year to see whether the MRI has changed when it is repeated. Another is to seek out an MS specialist.
Folks who specialize in diagnosing and treating MS are usually pretty good diagnosticians overall, and it is definitely worth seeing a specialist if MS is a possible diagnosis. Another option is to talk with your doctor about whether there may be meds that will help with your symptoms REGARDLESS of the final diagnosis. There are several meds out there that might be helpful -- ask.
Related Topics: Multiple Sclerosis Health Center, MS Assessment (sponsored)
Technorati Tags: multiplesclerosissymptoms, diagnosingmultiplesclerosis, MS
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