4th February 2008
My original symptoms were sudden onset of numbness and tingling that started in my big toes and moved up to practically my waist. I thought I pinched a nerve or something. Then I was walking and suddenly the numbness was so intense I sat down / collapsed (on the sidewalk curb) and my legs were totally paralyzed for about 30 minutes. Because of that, I was admitted to the hospital. So I had all the tests: MRI (brain & spine with contrast), lumbar puncture (spinal tap), evoked potentials and loads of blood work done in 24 hours. So my diagnosis came within 48 hours. In the span of 48 hours I went from "I over did it at the gym, no big deal" to "You've got MS." Strangely, the guy in the emergency room suggested MS before he even called for the neurology consult or I'd even been admitted and I argued it was just a pinched nerve and he must be crazy and i didn't even think I should be at the hospital wasting everyone's time when there were actual sick people waiting.
However, not everyone is so lucky with a quick diagnosis. It really depends on how quick you can get your tests and how clear the results are. Unfortunately, an MS diagnosis is usually about ruling out everything until MS is all that's left that fits. In addition, even if the tests "suggest" MS and everything else is ruled out, a CLINICAL diagnosis may still take some time. While I was "diagnosed" with MS and immediately started on Avonex, I have not been clinically diagnosed because I've only had one recorded "incident." From what I understand, you need to have at least two recoded episodes (or demylinating events) for a clinical diagnosis. So it can be a really really frustrating path to a diagnosis. In my case, I've been told I have MS but yet have not been "clinically diagnosed" if that makes any sense?! So I guess a year and a half later I'm still waiting for the "you've got it for sure" diagnosis ... but yet I was diagnosed with "we're pretty darm sure it's MS" instantly, put on MS medication immediately and see an MS specialist.
I think the key is to just try to understand that there is no one test that says "yup, it's MS" and you can stay in that "we're pretty darn sure" stage for a long time until everything else has been ruled out and you've experienced more than one MS-like episode. For me, I'm pretty happy being a "definitely maybe" diagnosis because that means no relapses! It's really hard to accept a diagnosis like that ... but I guess it's the best they can do.
However, not everyone is so lucky with a quick diagnosis. It really depends on how quick you can get your tests and how clear the results are. Unfortunately, an MS diagnosis is usually about ruling out everything until MS is all that's left that fits. In addition, even if the tests "suggest" MS and everything else is ruled out, a CLINICAL diagnosis may still take some time. While I was "diagnosed" with MS and immediately started on Avonex, I have not been clinically diagnosed because I've only had one recorded "incident." From what I understand, you need to have at least two recoded episodes (or demylinating events) for a clinical diagnosis. So it can be a really really frustrating path to a diagnosis. In my case, I've been told I have MS but yet have not been "clinically diagnosed" if that makes any sense?! So I guess a year and a half later I'm still waiting for the "you've got it for sure" diagnosis ... but yet I was diagnosed with "we're pretty darm sure it's MS" instantly, put on MS medication immediately and see an MS specialist.
I think the key is to just try to understand that there is no one test that says "yup, it's MS" and you can stay in that "we're pretty darn sure" stage for a long time until everything else has been ruled out and you've experienced more than one MS-like episode. For me, I'm pretty happy being a "definitely maybe" diagnosis because that means no relapses! It's really hard to accept a diagnosis like that ... but I guess it's the best they can do.