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Neurologist Issues
Hi. I'm new here. I've had two doctors, including my current GP, say they suspect I have MS. My current GP specializes in "neurological disorders" and said I have textbook symptoms of MS. She referred me to a neurologist in another city about two hours away and I wasn't able to go to that one because of transportation issues, so I ended up with a local neurologist with extremely bad reviews.
My appointment was today and, even before the neurologist had done any sort of neuro exam, said I don't have MS and "it's probably just depression because of your weight." He didn't do a full neurological exam - made me walk and tapped on both my knees. He also tried to make me stand up on my heels, but I could only do that with my left leg. He argued that I was doing it with my right, too, but I wasn't. Even my husband told him I wasn't up on my right heel. Then he said that I am "definitely sick" but he doesn't know why, brought up depression again, and then argued with me about sending me for an MRI because I had had an MRI done six years ago... on my stomach. After he decided to go ahead with the MRI, he is only sending me for brain and c-spine, not l-spine. Even his nurse goes "I don't know why he's sending you, he already thinks he won't find anything."
I don't know what to do at this point. My paperwork says I have "occasional tremors," "weakness," and "numbness in right foot." I have essential tremors - my right hand tremors when I try to use it. Two different doctors diagnosed this. I spent less than five minutes with the neurologist and it seems like his diagnosis is depression, which I'm actually already being treated for. I've already had a psych evaluation. My B12 is good, my vitamin D was low at 11 and I am being treated for it. Everything else was good, too.
Do I go to another neurologist? I'm not really prepared to be told again that it's basically all in my head. I was a straight A, Dean's List student before this. I just had to request a medical withdrawal from college.
My appointment was today and, even before the neurologist had done any sort of neuro exam, said I don't have MS and "it's probably just depression because of your weight." He didn't do a full neurological exam - made me walk and tapped on both my knees. He also tried to make me stand up on my heels, but I could only do that with my left leg. He argued that I was doing it with my right, too, but I wasn't. Even my husband told him I wasn't up on my right heel. Then he said that I am "definitely sick" but he doesn't know why, brought up depression again, and then argued with me about sending me for an MRI because I had had an MRI done six years ago... on my stomach. After he decided to go ahead with the MRI, he is only sending me for brain and c-spine, not l-spine. Even his nurse goes "I don't know why he's sending you, he already thinks he won't find anything."
I don't know what to do at this point. My paperwork says I have "occasional tremors," "weakness," and "numbness in right foot." I have essential tremors - my right hand tremors when I try to use it. Two different doctors diagnosed this. I spent less than five minutes with the neurologist and it seems like his diagnosis is depression, which I'm actually already being treated for. I've already had a psych evaluation. My B12 is good, my vitamin D was low at 11 and I am being treated for it. Everything else was good, too.
Do I go to another neurologist? I'm not really prepared to be told again that it's basically all in my head. I was a straight A, Dean's List student before this. I just had to request a medical withdrawal from college.
You need a MS Specialist. There are not a lot of them. My area has 5 which is geographically half the state.Only a neurologist can diagnose MS because of the insurance companies. Brain MRIs are the norm. I have never had a spinal MRI. They do them when you have MS symptoms not high in the body or later when they know you have MS but you have a kind with more spinal lesions. It is impossible to be still enough and they are expensive so insurance companies do not want to pay for them. Depression is the old fall back for I don't know it must be depression. If he was having you com back he is not dismissing you. The deal with neurologist is it is not MS until they are sure it is MS. I was told it was depression too.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi and welcome,
Q: Do I go to another neurologist?
A: I think you already have enough discomfort and distrust with the appointment, that you'll probably not have much faith in this neuro's opinion, even if he did find evidence of MS or something else, so it's probably in you best interest to make another appointment with the neuro your GP referred you to. Who hopefully is an MS specializing neuro and someone who doesn't ignore everything that doesn't fit into the preconceived mental health idea....
Unfortunately many people have experienced similar....i'm very very lucky to never personally experience mental health issues, I haven't a clue why but i've always been a happy go lucky optimist throughout my life. My mother has Bipolar and both my brothers and kids have Asperger's (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), which was enough for a general neuro I saw to get focused on a mental health causation before he even examined me.
LOL I didn't need to be there, my medical and athletic history, clear mental health assessment etc just didn't register, hmmm who knew only someone else's history would be more important doh lol. He only asked mental health related questions and when the answers, no matter which way he worded it, were always 'no' he stopped asking me and started asking my husband the same questions. lol The answers were still no, which seemed to confuse him more than change his mindset.
My neurological assessment was as eye opening as it was painful, hard not to be when your knee caps hit the floor simply because you close your eyes, and don't get me started on what it feels like to repeatedly be tazered during the trillion times he kept checking my unilateral ankle clonus, lol not literally but that's the reaction my body produced.....I had no clue i was even going down until the last second before hitting the floor and i doubt i would of believed my body would do what it did, if i hadn't experienced it first hand lol neurological weird-R-us :D at the time i honestly didn't know any of this weird stuff could happen...
I actually just noticed the other day that there was an error written in my paperwork, it say's "5 years of jerky spasticity of the legs...." back when this was written, i'd only just started walking like a drunk string puppet, which came with the other classic cerebellar signs (balance, speech, tremor, jerky walking, nystagmus) 3-4 months before i got an appointment with the neuro, so i don't know where the '5 years' came from, definitely didn't come from me or my doctor.
Paperwork (minor and major) errors do happen, it's not always a big issue unless it's totally factually incorrect, you'd think they'd at least get the basic patient information right, it doesn't instill confidence but try not to let the little things get to you. Weight can actually be a potential causation of neurological issues, either excess or not enough, my weight has been the elephant in the room all my life, although i am naturally below average through genetics, my size use to be the first medical idea regardless of what the problem was.
The only advice i have for what might be the direction your neuro is focused on......it's just always better if you acknowledge every 'potential' explanation in your specific circumstances eg weight, depression etc and be obviously proactive. It probably won't make a difference if this neuro already has his mind made up but it will help YOU regardless, it's helps you to have a psychological opinion in writing and it helps you if you seek some help with any type of dietary issues.....if it can only help, its worth doing right?
At this stage it might not be MS, something is going on but you'll not have a true idea if MS is even on your list until after all you're neuro related test results come in, so deep breath and hang in there!
Hope that helps..........JJ
ps second attempt to post sorry if its duplicated
Q: Do I go to another neurologist?
A: I think you already have enough discomfort and distrust with the appointment, that you'll probably not have much faith in this neuro's opinion, even if he did find evidence of MS or something else, so it's probably in you best interest to make another appointment with the neuro your GP referred you to. Who hopefully is an MS specializing neuro and someone who doesn't ignore everything that doesn't fit into the preconceived mental health idea....
Unfortunately many people have experienced similar....i'm very very lucky to never personally experience mental health issues, I haven't a clue why but i've always been a happy go lucky optimist throughout my life. My mother has Bipolar and both my brothers and kids have Asperger's (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), which was enough for a general neuro I saw to get focused on a mental health causation before he even examined me.
LOL I didn't need to be there, my medical and athletic history, clear mental health assessment etc just didn't register, hmmm who knew only someone else's history would be more important doh lol. He only asked mental health related questions and when the answers, no matter which way he worded it, were always 'no' he stopped asking me and started asking my husband the same questions. lol The answers were still no, which seemed to confuse him more than change his mindset.
My neurological assessment was as eye opening as it was painful, hard not to be when your knee caps hit the floor simply because you close your eyes, and don't get me started on what it feels like to repeatedly be tazered during the trillion times he kept checking my unilateral ankle clonus, lol not literally but that's the reaction my body produced.....I had no clue i was even going down until the last second before hitting the floor and i doubt i would of believed my body would do what it did, if i hadn't experienced it first hand lol neurological weird-R-us :D at the time i honestly didn't know any of this weird stuff could happen...
I actually just noticed the other day that there was an error written in my paperwork, it say's "5 years of jerky spasticity of the legs...." back when this was written, i'd only just started walking like a drunk string puppet, which came with the other classic cerebellar signs (balance, speech, tremor, jerky walking, nystagmus) 3-4 months before i got an appointment with the neuro, so i don't know where the '5 years' came from, definitely didn't come from me or my doctor.
Paperwork (minor and major) errors do happen, it's not always a big issue unless it's totally factually incorrect, you'd think they'd at least get the basic patient information right, it doesn't instill confidence but try not to let the little things get to you. Weight can actually be a potential causation of neurological issues, either excess or not enough, my weight has been the elephant in the room all my life, although i am naturally below average through genetics, my size use to be the first medical idea regardless of what the problem was.
The only advice i have for what might be the direction your neuro is focused on......it's just always better if you acknowledge every 'potential' explanation in your specific circumstances eg weight, depression etc and be obviously proactive. It probably won't make a difference if this neuro already has his mind made up but it will help YOU regardless, it's helps you to have a psychological opinion in writing and it helps you if you seek some help with any type of dietary issues.....if it can only help, its worth doing right?
At this stage it might not be MS, something is going on but you'll not have a true idea if MS is even on your list until after all you're neuro related test results come in, so deep breath and hang in there!
Hope that helps..........JJ
ps second attempt to post sorry if its duplicated
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi and welcome,
Q: Do I go to another neurologist?
A: I think you already have enough discomfort and distrust with the appointment, that you'll probably not have much faith in this neuro's opinion, even if he did find evidence of MS or something else, so it's probably in you best interest to make another appointment with the neuro your GP referred you to. Who hopefully is an MS specializing neuro and someone who doesn't ignore everything that doesn't fit into the preconceived mental health idea....
Unfortunately many people have experienced similar....i'm very very lucky to never personally experience mental health issues, I haven't a clue why but i've always been a happy go lucky optimist throughout my life. My mother has Bipolar and both my brothers and kids have Asperger's (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), which was enough for a general neuro I saw to get focused on a mental health causation before he even examined me.
LOL I didn't need to be there, my medical and athletic history, clear mental health assessment etc just didn't register, hmmm who knew only someone else's history would be more important doh lol. He only asked mental health related questions and when the answers, no matter which way he worded it, were always 'no' he stopped asking me and started asking my husband the same questions. lol The answers were still no, which seemed to confuse him more than change his mindset.
My neurological assessment was as eye opening as it was painful, hard not to be when your knee caps hit the floor simply because you close your eyes, and don't get me started on what it feels like to repeatedly be tazered during the trillion times he kept checking my unilateral ankle clonus, lol not literally but that's the reaction my body produced.....I had no clue i was even going down until the last second before hitting the floor and i doubt i would of believed my body would do what it did, if i hadn't experienced it first hand lol neurological weird-R-us :D at the time i honestly didn't know any of this weird stuff could happen...
I actually just noticed the other day that there was an error written in my paperwork, it say's "5 years of jerky spasticity of the legs...." back when this was written, i'd only just started walking like a drunk string puppet, which came with the other classic cerebellar signs (balance, speech, tremor, jerky walking, nystagmus) 3-4 months before i got an appointment with the neuro, so i don't know where the '5 years' came from, definitely didn't come from me or my doctor.
Paperwork (minor and major) errors do happen, it's not always a big issue unless it's totally factually incorrect, you'd think they'd at least get the basic patient information right, it doesn't instill confidence but try not to let the little things get to you. Weight can actually be a potential causation of neurological issues, either excess or not enough, my weight has been the elephant in the room all my life, although i am naturally below average through genetics, my size use to be the first medical idea regardless of what the problem was.
The only advice i have for what might be the direction your neuro is focused on......it's just always better if you acknowledge every 'potential' explanation in your specific circumstances eg weight, depression etc and be obviously proactive. It probably won't make a difference if this neuro already has his mind made up but it will help YOU regardless, it's helps you to have a psychological opinion in writing and it helps you if you seek some help with any type of dietary issues.....if it can only help, its worth doing right?
At this stage it might not be a neurological condition MS, something is going on but you'll not have a true idea if MS is even on your list until after all you're neuro related test results come in, so deep breath and hang in there!
Hope that helps..........JJ
Q: Do I go to another neurologist?
A: I think you already have enough discomfort and distrust with the appointment, that you'll probably not have much faith in this neuro's opinion, even if he did find evidence of MS or something else, so it's probably in you best interest to make another appointment with the neuro your GP referred you to. Who hopefully is an MS specializing neuro and someone who doesn't ignore everything that doesn't fit into the preconceived mental health idea....
Unfortunately many people have experienced similar....i'm very very lucky to never personally experience mental health issues, I haven't a clue why but i've always been a happy go lucky optimist throughout my life. My mother has Bipolar and both my brothers and kids have Asperger's (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), which was enough for a general neuro I saw to get focused on a mental health causation before he even examined me.
LOL I didn't need to be there, my medical and athletic history, clear mental health assessment etc just didn't register, hmmm who knew only someone else's history would be more important doh lol. He only asked mental health related questions and when the answers, no matter which way he worded it, were always 'no' he stopped asking me and started asking my husband the same questions. lol The answers were still no, which seemed to confuse him more than change his mindset.
My neurological assessment was as eye opening as it was painful, hard not to be when your knee caps hit the floor simply because you close your eyes, and don't get me started on what it feels like to repeatedly be tazered during the trillion times he kept checking my unilateral ankle clonus, lol not literally but that's the reaction my body produced.....I had no clue i was even going down until the last second before hitting the floor and i doubt i would of believed my body would do what it did, if i hadn't experienced it first hand lol neurological weird-R-us :D at the time i honestly didn't know any of this weird stuff could happen...
I actually just noticed the other day that there was an error written in my paperwork, it say's "5 years of jerky spasticity of the legs...." back when this was written, i'd only just started walking like a drunk string puppet, which came with the other classic cerebellar signs (balance, speech, tremor, jerky walking, nystagmus) 3-4 months before i got an appointment with the neuro, so i don't know where the '5 years' came from, definitely didn't come from me or my doctor.
Paperwork (minor and major) errors do happen, it's not always a big issue unless it's totally factually incorrect, you'd think they'd at least get the basic patient information right, it doesn't instill confidence but try not to let the little things get to you. Weight can actually be a potential causation of neurological issues, either excess or not enough, my weight has been the elephant in the room all my life, although i am naturally below average through genetics, my size use to be the first medical idea regardless of what the problem was.
The only advice i have for what might be the direction your neuro is focused on......it's just always better if you acknowledge every 'potential' explanation in your specific circumstances eg weight, depression etc and be obviously proactive. It probably won't make a difference if this neuro already has his mind made up but it will help YOU regardless, it's helps you to have a psychological opinion in writing and it helps you if you seek some help with any type of dietary issues.....if it can only help, its worth doing right?
At this stage it might not be a neurological condition MS, something is going on but you'll not have a true idea if MS is even on your list until after all you're neuro related test results come in, so deep breath and hang in there!
Hope that helps..........JJ
Ugh. Sorry again, I meant intention tremor, not mention intention. My brain feels like mush right now.
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