My dx hit me out of left field. I never heard of MS before, and was clueless as to what it was. There are so many illness that mimic MS, it can take along time sometimes to dx. I was dx after sx check and MRI. My LP was negative, but everything else pointed to MS. I then went on my MS rollercoaster with neuro's. I saw no less than 10 different neuro's, none of them MS specialists, and they all had a different opinion. One thought I suffered from depression, another thought I suffered from migraines and called it migraine neuralgia, another one thought I was fine and all my sx were just in my head . I did have 3 that agreed I had MS. I did this roller coaster for about 5 years and then gave up. I wound up in the ER with sz's one day in 2002, and the MRI showed the MS lesions and my new neuro immediately put me on a dmd and some sz meds. Fast forward to October of last year, I had a bad flare and then had another bad flare in December. My new neuro wanted another LP to be done, so I did it and it had those nice little o-bands of MS. I was then sent to a MS specialist, and Im now on my second dmd, and although Im disabled now, I feel Im doing good otherwise. The journey can be a p.i.a., but worth the fight. Never give up. You are your best advocate. Take care.