Is gut feeling/instinct a reliable indicator of MS before diagnosis?

I am awaiting 2nd MRI scan results and elimination blood test results which are due this week. I am not a negative person but just know that my body is not working as it should and I have had increasing symptoms in the last few months. My neurologist has indicated from first scan that MS is likely due to brain scarring, neuro obs were all fine but since then i have had pins and needles down left side, tingling in back and have been wiped out. I am feeling very scared and very anxious about results. I almost feel that this waiting is the worst bit and I still have to wait for evoked potential tests next month so it is going to be a long time. If my MRI scan shows scarring on the spine as well as the brain..is this a fairly strong sign of MS and would I be experiencing tingling in my back if there were no lesions therei.e. just from brain lesions? Feeling concerned..

[joc620]

always listen to your gut.

[Lulu54]

Hi Sparky,
Welcome to our MS forum.  This is a great place to hang around while you are awaiting more tests as well as answers.

One of the best things you can do while you are waiting is to learn more about Multiple Sclerosis.  Our health pages here (yellow icon, upper right side of this page) are jam packed full of good information about a wide variety of topics, all related to MS.  They are written by our members in easy to understand terms, without all the medical language.

Feeling concerned, worried and aprehensive is all normal.  Hang in here with us and we'll be happy to help you through.  I sure hope this isn't MS but if it is we're here for you.

be well, Lulu

[HVAC]

You are in a tough place. Hang in therte.
Alex

[slightlybroken]

If you have an abnormal neuro exam, combined with a patient history that follows MS, and all the MS mimics have been eliminated, then you can be diagnosed.

Neuros like to see the damage from the disease. That's why some people stay in limbo for as long as they do, because instead of using the MRI as a tool, to see this damage, they misinterpreted the McDonald Criteria and demand that you have to have the typical MS lesions in the typical spots that MS likes to present.

If your MRI shows scarring in the brain and in the spine, with the above considered, then it it is fairy strong that you do have MS. However, lesions in the spine are hard to detect on MRI, especially if they are done on a 1.5T machine. Even on a greater machine, they are sometimes elusive, when they do exsist. Sometimes it can take years for them to show themselves. That's when the evoke potentails come into play. They can pick up on damage that can't be seen on MRI. It all depends on how big the damge is on whether or not a MRI machine can pick up on it.

If you do have MS, and you are having tingling in your lower extremities, it can be from a lesion in the spinal cord.

It's the clinical lesions they find on your neuro exam that matter, combined with the above & the physical evidence they get by using the tools (MRIs, evoke potenials, LPs) that will lead to a firm diagnosis.

I know that playing the waiting game is the hardest part of this whole process. I hope you get your answers fast. Don't worry yourself too much. It does more harm than good.
Take care and if you need anything you'll know were to find us!

[Sparkysarah]

Well thank you everyone for your comments. I feel hugely supported already and realise that where it is difficult to explain to friends what I am going through there are many of you out there who obviously understand. So I'll tell you a little more about myself. I am married, aged 46 with 3 teenage children (14,18, 20). In the last ten years I have had a lot of stress, including several traumatic bereavements including my mother-in-law who had motor neurone disease and I cared for her until she died lat year. So it feels very tough that I am now facing the possibility of a neurological condition as I have seen first hand how terrible this can be. I also know that the prognosis for MS is very different to MND and am not comparing these two except for the fact that they both affect the central nervous system. There have been lots of other stressful things that have happened and so I am convinced that this plays a major part in everything. I have also had measles in 2002 and have had shingles twice and get cold sores..not good for the immune system. Last night I went to see a nutritionist/allergy specialist and did kineasiology on me (which you either believe or you don't..but I have great faith in her) and she said that I have candida of the gut which will be making all my symptoms worse and she is treating me for this naturally. Does anyone else have experience of this? I will keep you posted on my results and do not think luck comes into it. If I have MS it is there no matter what, and I know that how I deal with it will be my journey. I am a half cup full person, realistic but honest that this is one hell of a challenge to someone who has just waved her husband off to Afghanistan for 5 months last week.......