im going to tell you the same thing I just told another nice young lady who found her way here.

First, breathe, just breathe! this is a long haul process to become diagnosed for 90% of us, and its almost never as easy as walking into an MDs office and having them sit down on the first test and say "oh, you have MS" it normally takes years to be diagnosed.

Getting that diagnosis is like a rule out process. There are more than 100 diseases that can mimic MS including the brain lesions, the fatigue, the heat intolerance, and so forth. So, your MD will start with that 100. My best advice is to seek out an MS center. They deal with the subtle nuances of this disease all the time. They are the pros at this. Even if you only see them once for your diagnosis or rule out and then see your local guy, its so worth it.

So, lets start with the 100. There are easy ones to look at like Vitamin D def, or Vit B def. They can use a regular blood test to rule that stuff out. Migraine syndrome (some can be silent) is another that can be kept in the running for a long time. Lupus, Lyme, sjoghrens, and several other big name goodies can be ruled out with another round of blood tests. Once your MD has run the list of 100 down to a list of 10 or so, it then becomes a guessing game, or a game of what fits best in YOUR catagory of symptoms. MS is like a finger print. no two of us have exactly the same sx at the same rate and style.

Your MD will then look at Devics and other such things along with MS. Guillan Barre and so forth. There is NO single blood test or even MRI test that can say "oh yeah, she has MS" they look at the pattern of lesions around the ventricles of where the blood flow enters the brain. If you have lesions in other areas it doesnt mean you do or dont fit in the crowd. So, you need some patience, and some tenacity.

Please dont let all the language and stuff overwhelm you. Let the big boys sort that out. That is why they went to 100 years of college and practiced on folks for years before they chose a specialty. If you want to look up words one by one, you may or may not understand them. The best advice is to sit with YOUR MD and ask. What does this mean for ME? For some folks this little blip means nothing. For others it means drastic changes are coming. So...have faith. have patience. Take some time to get your paper work in order, because once anyone actually writes on paper that YOU have MS...you WONT be able to get life, health, disability or long term care insurance. If you can get some of that stuff now...DO IT!

So, pull up a chair and talk with us. Breathe, and remember that its a long process to get a cemented diagnosis, and even then, its a marathon, not a sprint. STep by step.

I did copy and paste it, because its so hard to write that much twice in one morning. Im sorry you are on this road, but glad you found folks here to help you sort it all out.