What investigations have people had?

[countrysidelover]

Before being diagnosed with M.E or after being diagnosed what clinical investigations have people had done.... For example: CT / MRI Scans, EEG tests, Blood tests etc...

[tettridge]

Hi

To get at my diagnosis I had blood tests, urine tests and I had a spell in hospital hooked up to some machine that checked all my basic heart and body functions. it was while in hospital that a doctor visiting another patient first diagnosed me. I cant think of any related tests since being diagnosed. if you want some of those then there is just about everything that has been tested.

Kindest regards

Terry

[Tearsofaclown]

Hi,

To arrive at my diagnosis, my GP arranged many tests, including MRI, CT, ECG, Urine, Blood, and after all of the tests, he told me that ME could only be diagnosed by the process of elliminating everything else. For some time, it was thought I had MS, but CT showed this wasn't the case (fortunately). The test that has always shown a problem for me, is my blood tests, which always show a high level of inflammation, and a high level of ESR/CRP. The potassium is always high, and sometimes there has been blood in my urine. Further investigations have always proved nothing to cause these problems, of significance, ie. cancer, etc. My kidney tests have also shown some deterioration above the normal for my age. Again, this doesn't prove it to be ME as the cause.

As my GP told me, it really is a process of ellimination. When all the tests show there isn't anything significant, or particularly diagnostic of another condition, there can only be one cause remaining - that being ME.

With the multitude of other symptoms happening since my diagnosis, my GP has always listened and where necessary referred me for additional tests. I have regular 3-monthly blood tests, and twice-annual urine tests. This is like a car-service, for the purposes of 'checking' on me!

All we can hope for, is that research continues, and a cure can be found for those who have the condition, and a preventative for those predisposed to the condition. The best we have at the moment is drugs to reduce symptoms, and each other!

Tearsofaclown.

[Abundance]

In the early days pretty much everything as a process of elimination, through the specialist team, then at the City Hospital in Edinburgh. I remember sleep tests, psychiatric tests, breathing tests as well a pretty much every possible blood, urine, stool test. Also since seeing the Fife ME Nurse specialist, scores for anxiety and depression - got the former, not the latter. My Edinburgh GP used to run regular blood tests, which like previous contributor showed up inflammation but no reason - I did wonder afterwords whether it was because I was taking Echinacea.