I don't think you need a second opinion regarding MS. For better or worse, it's in the bag :-(
For medication coordination, an excellent source is your pharmacist. He or she will be willing to research all your meds thoroughly to find interactions, etc. After all, it's what they do, much more so than MDs do. Unless you live in a total backwater with 4th rate everything, pharmacists are a wealth of info. Your pharm. very likely will not be handling your MS med, though, because this is generally filled and managed by a specialty pharmacy, per your insurance. However, this would give you one more place to run everything by, and that's a good thing.
If you don't absolutely have to go to Mayo, why go and spend money you don't really have? It's not as if they'll be treating you, at least I think not. On this forum, Mayo gets a big two cheers.... A lot of times hotshot places are
really impressed by their own reputations, and so are 'raters' such as US News and World Report. I've found that to be true about Hopkins, which is huge and bureaucracy-bound, though regarding MS care I can't complain. And I have only to drive downtown to get there.
BTW, you are not 'old' in MS terms. I was past 60 when diagnosed. Although this is fairly unusual, it certainly happens, and there is good research data to show this. We get people here whose neuros tell them they're too old for MS. Hah, red flag to find a better doctor.
ess
Ps Alex,
I get it - Mayo has disappointed me in the past non-related to ms.
We have a joke around here for MS "Hold the Mayo". Many people on the forum have not had success being diagnosed at the Mayo. May be you would have better luck, I don't know.
Alex
Local Universities are much better than Mayo. Mayo is too greedy.
I'm not sure I would go out of my way to be annoyed/frustrated :-) There must be first rate MS care available in St. Louis.
As to age, I was 51 when I was diagnosed. And I'm a guy! two reasons I would have been misdiagnosed by unknowing non-MS specialists.
Kyle
Thanks Alex
I already have the diagnosis. I would only go for:
1. Second opinion
2. Medication coordination between several specialties
Do you think that it's worth it for that? How do I get my several specialists (in 4 different systems) to collaborate at home? I'm having some difficulty with that.