Could it be MS?

[Crystal1423]

I am a 32 year old female who was diagnosed with Vertigo 6 years ago.  I usually get two attacks a year once when weather gets colder and once when the weather starts getting hotter.  These dizzy spells usually last 15 to 20 minutes and  then all symptoms vanish, with the use of Meclizine.  The last one I had lasted two days.  Along with the dizziness & nausea I had blurred vision, headache, tingling in the legs, and sudden pains in the back of my head and neck.  Since  the attach which was last week, my joints & muscle groups ache and are very tight, I am shaky all the time which cuts down my hobby (which is painting, I can't even hold the brush straight), my stomach is not feeling right, and I have anxiety.  I have since gone to the doctor, who is ignoring my family history of MS and sticking with the Veritgo.  I have l also noticed that I have some short time memory loss, which I have had for a couple years now, but ignored it, brushed it off a stress.  My Dr. is sending me for a cat scan because of the joint pain not matching the Vertigo, but from what I read will not really detect MS.  Is there a possiblity that this is MS and if so, how do I go about asking me Dr. to upgrade the test to an MRI?

[Crystal1423]

Thank you Ess,

No I have not seen a specialist yet.  I have HMO so my primary Dr. needs to exhaust her knowledge before sending me to a Specialist.  My grandmother is seeing one for her MS and I have written down the name and placed in my purse so I can request my Dr. send me to him, his speciality is MS and being that he knows my family history I think it would be a little better.  

In the past I just let it go and accepted Vertigo as a diagnosis, but, from reading some of these blogs I see that I need to be more persistant.  Thank you and I will keep posted on outcome.

Crystal

[essdipity]

Hey, Crystal. Welcome.

Vertigo is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Absolutely work at getting to the bottom of this. I can't possibly guess as to what's wrong, since your symptoms occur in lots of maladies. Have you seen a neurologist? An MS specialist is preferable, but to start with see anyone who will order an MRI of brain and spine, with and without contrast. There are lots of other tests you should have as well.

There are many threads on this forum which describe tests, symptoms, 'rule-outs,' and so on. If you can't find them let us know and we'll bring them to your attention.

We're here to help, so please ask.

ess