How often do you see your neuro?

[Lulu54]

Hi all,
As you probably know,  I am newly diagnosed, and taking daily copaxone. There is a brain MRI scheduled for me at the end of December - only my second brain MRI in my life, the first was in July 08.  I see the neuro again in late January, I last saw him when he gave me my dx in Sept. 08.  He said to call if I needed to see him, but I don't think I've needed him yet.

Can you tell me what the norm should be for MRI's and doctor checkups?  Should there be spine and brain mri's or just the brain? I know what my cardiologist schedules for my heart but have not a clue what I should expect or request for my brain ... .

Those of you who are dx'd - what do you and your neuro schedule?

Thanks for pitching in with an answer.

Lulu

[Lulu54]

T-LYNN, I DON'T KNOW HOW OFTEN MY NEURO WILL WANT TO SEE ME.  RIGHT NOW MY CARDIO HAS ME ON AN EVERY 4 MONTH SCHEDULE.  I GUESS I SEE ENOUGH OF THE OTHER DOCTORS THAT AN EXTRA VISIT WITH THE NEURO WON'T MEAN ANYTHING UNLESS I AM HAVING PROBLEMS.  

I GUESS I SHOULD TAKE IT AS A GOOD SIGN THAT THE NEURO TRUSTS ME TO CALL IF I HAVE A PROBLEM ARISE BEFORE MY NEXT SCHEDULED APPT.  :-)

All, thanks for the responses.  I was just trying to feel out what to expect.

MY BEST TO ALL OF YOU,
LULU

[young at heart]

I SEE MY NEURO EVERY 3 MONTHS , MRI'S ARE DONE ONCE A YEAR.

THE ONLY REASON I SEE MY NEURO EVERY 3 MONTHS IS BECAUSE OF THE NERVE DISEASE IN MY SPINE ALSO.

HE PRESCRIBES A HIGH POWERED PAIN MED AND WITH MY STATE LAWS I MUST BE SEEN BY HIM.

ALL NEURO'S ARE DIFFERENT,EACH PATIENT IS DIFFERENT.

T-LYNN

[bellaf]

Hi,

I have had Brain and Spine MRI's to check for lesions. I think they are good to get done as they can explain why you are getting some symptoms (depending where the lesions are) and to keep an eye on how you are going with the MS - whether it is getting worse, staying the same etc.
After my initial tests my neuro recommended me seeing him every 4 years if things were stable and i was having no problems. If i had a relapse or question which the GP cant answer i would book in to see my neuro.
It depends on how your health is, what you neuro has recommended for you and also how you feel to determine how often you visit the specialist or need MRI's.
I am planning on a baby soon and saw my neuro to discuss this and he also ordered another mri of my brain just as a reference pre natal.

[Lulu54]

All,
I was just wanting to know if there was a standard.  We go to the dentist twice a year for cleanings, the gyno once a year for exams, etc. but those are routine services.  Because my neuro is 70 miles away I'm wondering how hard I should push for more frequent checkups or if there is even a reason for him to see me unless I am having obvious problems.   My best, Lulu

[sllowe]

I see my neuro every 3 months and have so since my 1st appt.

Had to ask for new MRIs and he wanted to wait a yr due to insurance purposes.

Goes back to one of your past posts where we were looking for the standard of care for MS and insurance companies.  I never did get to look up mine.  

I'd be curious how many Drs ignore what the insurance dictates vs. the way they want to practice.

[LATW]

I see mine every 3 months.  I don't think I am stable right now though.

LA

[Heather3418]

Lulu girl,

While I was stable, I would have a Neuro appontment, once a year.  Sine starting with a new Neuro a year ago, she never goes more than six months without seeing a patient.  Now that I am unstable in my course of MS, she is seeing me every two months.

Since starting Copaxone almost a year ago, she will now do MRI's once a year to check the progress and more often if I am having alot of symptoms.  Which I am now.  Just happened to fall on my one year anniversary.

Heather

[Mand125]

Well here in the good old UK things can be a bit different. I saw a neuro in 1994 when I was diagnosed with mild MS after an MRI and years of varying symptoms. It was a case of you have MS, byee!

14 years later when my MS got much worse I asked my GP to refer me to the neuro again. He had me in tears, treated me like a real nuisance but eventually referred me.

The neuro decided to do an LP and some other tests to "confirm the diagnosis". She then said "well I think we can safely say you have MS.
I pushed for and got DMDs and will now be seen every 6 months. - No further MRIs though since '94.  I would have thought they would want to do the occasional one to see how everything is progressing. Oh well!

[Quixotic1]

I am 20 months after my diagnosis.  I see my neuro every 3 months.  He says he does MRIs every year until he sees that the disease is being stabilized by the meds.  Then he does them every 2 years.  If my next one in January is stable, he will put me on every two years.  Obviously, he would break this routine if anything big changed.

Quix

[GrannyJo6]

I see mine every six months unless there is a problem. There was a four month span once, but usually twice a year - spring and fall. I have only had two MRIs and he likes to do them about every 3 yrs. I thought I might be due this time around, but not yet evidently.

[jensequitur]

My personal opinion is that you should have a full workup once a year - brain, cervical, and thoracic MRI.  You should be seeing your neurologist once every three months, or once every six months if you're really not having any problems with flareups.  MS is so unpredictable, I think the neuros don't want to waste their time with you unless you're having symptoms.

So I always call my neuro with 'weird' symptoms - the leg atrophy, the weird back spasms that felt like a seizure, stuff like that gets a call to the neuro.  Lately I've been on the three month schedule because of the new symptoms.  However, I haven't had a new brain MRI since I was diagnosed in March 07, and I'd like to see if the Copaxone is helping.  But now that I've been injected TWICE in the last month with gadolinium, I doubt I'll get another MRI for a few months.  They're very leery of poisoning people.