what mimics ms

[geo1888]

Hi everyone.  
Its been a few months since i have been on the site and unfortunatly i am no further forward.I had a couple of incidents when i ended up with no power in my right leg after going shopping with my wife.My doctor sent me to hospital and the recieving physician done tests on me and said she was refering me to a doctor o leary who is an ms specialist in the mean time my own gp also refered me to the same doctor.I finally thought i would get some form of answer wether i had ms or not when i got there the doctor asked me why i was there and what i thought was wrong with me.I told him i was refered by a hospital doctor and my own gp ( he said he had no letters from my gp but i know he wrote to him) . I had a list of all my syptoms with me and i explained that i have a lot of the symptoms of ms but wasnt sure what it was . I also explained that i had two lumbar punctures which were clear but the other neurologist had said that my second mri had shown quite a lot of lesions compared to the first.He didnt ask to see my list of symptoms but he looked at me walking checked my eyes and reflexes and assured me i didnt have ms but he then hit with a bombshell , he told me a lot of things mimic ms and thats what i have he didnt give it a name but said he would write to my gp and they would treat the symptoms.My problem is ,how can i have something that mimics ms but i dont have it and how are they going to treat my stmptoms if the dont know what it is .Do any of you in the forum have any idea what i might have .I am happy its not ms but i am worried that i have something that is copying it and may not get the right treatment.Funny enough i have multiple allergies as well and they are going to treat it with immu suppressing drugs which is also used for ms in the uk, i am also getting amytriptilene for the pain in my leg and it is also used for ms in the uk.Any ideas,help ? George

[Amyloo]

If it were me, I would avoid steroids until you rule out Lyme disease, which is one mimic of MS.  Steriods are not at all good for Lyme disease.  Just my thoughts.  God bless you.

[Heather3418]

We hear of this so often and it makes us all want to scream.  You show abnormalities on exams and MRI, then they wont' tell you what they think it is.  Okay, if it's a mimic, then what mimic is it?  They are plenty of other tests they can do to find out what "mimic" it is.  They don't have to sit there and wonder.  With the "mimics" there are tests that do not involve MRI's to diagnose.  Most or the majority of them can be found through specialized blood testing.

This doctor sounds lazy as you know what.  Do you have access to anyone else that will look at your case thoroughly?  Someone that will not send you out the door until they find out WHAT is causing all of this?  If you do, you need to get an appointment with as many doctor's as it takes, to find out what is wrong.  Just treating the symptoms is not an answer and certainly not fair to you.

Oh George, I am just so sorry to hear yet another Forum member having to go through this "game" that doctor's play.  Some doctor's are getting lazier and lazier.  I really think when it comes to MS, they are like that because there is no CURE for MS.  So they don't want to bother with it.  That's just my opinion.

Please keep us updated and not be such a stranger.  We are always here to help you.

Best Wishes.  Please hang tough and don't let these doctor's push you out the door without a dern good explanation of what is happening to your body.  If it is MS, it needs to be treated now, not later.  You already know that....

Heather

[Lulu54]

Hi George,
Good to see you around - it sounds like what you have is aa neuro who is afraid to commit to any diagnosis at all. How can he suggest a tretment if he hasn't decided on a dx?  It sounds out of order/backwards to me.

here is a site I found that has a great reference list of symptoms of MS that are mimiced in other diseases - maybe it will give you a clue.


http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/multiple-sclerosis-000474.htm

I hope to see you around more,
Lulu