I'm Tired Of Being Sick...What Should I Do?

Q:
I have been struggling with various symptoms for about three and a half years (although some things longer) that to me seem to point to MS. Listing a few off the top of my head: vertigo, trigeminal neuralgia, word confusion, (aphasia), slurring, stuttering, memory loss, confusion, blindness in one eye, and eyes that always hurt, "jello" legs, shaking hands (especially when I reach for something), burning, tingling, and sometimes very painful toes and feet (in particular in my right foot), numb scalp/head, and sometimes face, exhaustion...well that's enough for now.

The thing is, I also have migraines, which have become chronic during this time, and my migraine specialist, (who is a Neuro) attributes most of these things to migraines. I did have a normal MRI in 2010, although it was not with contrast, and was in one of those smaller MRI machines that is not enclosed. At the time I thought this cleared MS off the table, but now from what I've read, maybe not? And now my health is so much worse. Anyhow, I guess I don't really know my specific questions, I am just at a loss, and really tired of being SICK. How would you approach this with your Doctor? What should be my next step? Are there things I could be doing without an official diagnosis to lessen symptoms if it is MS? Thanks for your help.

A:
You said you have seen a neurologist, but is this neurologist an MS specialist?  If not, we recommend that you have a consultation with an MS specialist. We aren't sure where you are located in Maine, but you can use this website as a starting point to find an MS clinic in your area (or perhaps in Boston if you are close enough). http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Treating-MS/Find-an-MS-Care-Provider/Partners-in-MS-Care If you let us know where you are located in ME we might be able to recommend an MS specialist for you to obtain a consult.

If your neurologist is an MS specialist, you might want to seek out an independent second review/opinion.

Here are some blogs to read that might help you prepare for this second opinion:
http://www.healthcarejourney.com/q--a-for-virtual-ms-center/the-diagnosis-of-ms

http://www.healthcarejourney.com/physician-blog/how-to-prepare-for-a-visit-to-your-ms-specialist-the-present-and-the-future

In regard to your symptoms, you can read about them and ways to help manage them. If you look for the 'symptoms' page on this site you will see a drop down menu with many of the symptoms you have listed. As an example, here is our symptom page for hand dexterity http://www.healthcarejourney.com/loss-of-hand-dexterity-and-coordination.html and one for migraines http://www.healthcarejourney.com/migraines.html

We hope you feel better soon and that you get a second opinion so that you can determine whether or not your symptoms are due to MS. Write back in the future and let us know how you are.