11 Feb 2023 The search is on

[RoyceNewton]

G'day my Relapsing Remitting ms {RRms} family, I hope all are well and your sleep last night was restful. Mine last night was good, a little chilly and today is greyish in the sky BUT that is good. Give it a few weeks and it will be back to life in the desert. Can YOU say really hot and dry? Well, life is like that.,

Okay, a simple question. YOU suspect ms of some sort. YOU are having all sorts of tests, so why not an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image)? It will tell you if there are lesions, if you have them MS and YOU can get started on your very strong Disease-Modifying Therapy (DMT). Years ago I met a nice General Practioner. She said I was in the age group, and my symptoms lead her to believe ms (She has a sister with ms), so an MRI it was. I did not know I was claustrophobic so no valium. I know so now always valium. Easy MRI then a few weeks later DMT. Since then I have had other tests but I knew the answer, a somewhat simple process. Admittedly my first symptom was teeth issues so Trigeminal Neuralgia was pretty easyish.

So why not try an MRI if YOU are stuck in the uncertain, maybe, maybe not stage? Just an idea, remember I am still NOT a doctor of any sort, let alone yours, just an idea.

Royce

Your ms writer

[LHermitte]

Good morning, Royce! I agree with you about the usefulness of MRIs in diagnosing MS. The first one I ever had revealed just one white-matter lesion, so although there was more of a suggestion of the condition, it wasn't confirmed as a definite diagnosis until I came in later with a complaint of facial pain, which he said was trigeminal neuralgia. He scheduled a spinal tap for the following morning, my cerebrospinal fluid showed the presence of oligoclonal bands, so I was started on Avonex.

I'm so glad premedicating has helped the claustrophobia you've experienced in that miserable little tube! The gridlike mask that's placed over one's face and the very loud clanging and banging of the machine, with its various Tesla units, makes good earplugs a necessity for me.

[hairbrain4]

I agree with the MRIs. That was the first thing my GP did when I presented with numbness on my face. That was the beginning of my journey of testing.

[RoyceNewton in reply to hairbrain4]

yes on and on we go, maybe one day we can learn what and why.

[hairbrain4 in reply to RoyceNewton]

Personally I think my "why" was due to having Chicken Pox at age 13. I had a really bad case of it. A couple of years later I started having a lot of little different symptoms that the doctors had no idea as to why, like numbness at the end of my fingers when it was cold. I also had fatigue after being in the heat of the sun, I lived in Southern California. When I was in my 20s I had a place that was numb on the bottom of my foot, the dr wanted to do surgery, I said no. The numbness eventually went away but the fatigue kept getting worse. I was finally diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. That was really the only symptom I had until the numbness in my face when I was 50 in 2005. I'm the only person in the family with MS or at least that has been diagnosed.

[RoyceNewton in reply to hairbrain4]

chicken pox does appear to be common.

[Tazmanian]

My first symptom sent me to the hospital and a whole bunch of tests later (two spinal taps) and I was diagnosed

[RoyceNewton in reply to Tazmanian]

ouch 1 spinal taps, I here1 is not fun let alone 2

[Tazmanian in reply to RoyceNewton]

The first one was okay but the second one gave me a severe headache that lasted several days

[kdali]

Or a second opinion of the first refuses to order the MRI

[RoyceNewton in reply to kdali]

good point