This will make number four that Neuro has ordered. Since Aug 2011, two brain & one spine MRI...this one is number 3 brain MRI. I know this is done to track progression, but still no diagnosis. My questions are:

Is this a common occurence? How many is too many?

Is it time for a second opinion?

Are there other tests that are more acccurate than contrasting MRI for the brain?

What type of results is the Neuro looking for, over what type of time frame?

This is getting expensive & I'm still majorly stressed over the lack of results. Or maybe lack of info on results, as he is not very forthcoming with what he is looking for. Symptoms are varied and I am now keeping a daily journal as to what might be triggers for some symptoms.

Hello

This certainly does sound like a lot of MRI's over a fairly short period of time. Apart from the expense, I am not aware of MRI causing any health concerns in itself. Does your Neuro specialise in MS, or have a lot of MS patients?

I think you need to be better informed about what he is looking for. Have they found lesions on your brain? Part of the diagnostic criterial is that there is evidence of two or more attacks, separated by time - if you are experiencing new things that is quite possibly what he is looking for.

There are really no definitive tests for MS - it's just a process of finding evidence and excluding other reasons.

Hang on and I hope that you find the answers you need soon.

Regards

Lyn

Not really sure what you would consider "attacks". Have had several episodes, including what has been considered a possible seizure (as I refused the ambulance, we don't know) & a later EEG result must have been negative as I wasn't immediately seen by said Neuro. 1st brain MRI showed white matter defects greater than 6 on right & less on left (direct from MRI report) with largest mesuarign 4 mm. My Dad used to work for Phillips Medical; training doctors on the usage of their PET scans. He immediately had me make a Nuero appt & my PC already thinks it's MS...not that I want it to be; I just want this pony ride over with.

Tonights smorgasboard of symptoms is arm pain & sawallowing issues.

Thanks for listening (or reading) my whine...I'd send you cheese, if I knew where to email it to.

Sit with them MD and remind him that YOUR out of pocket expenses for such tests are considerable. Is there a change from one to another? Can he gain information from the new one that he couldnt from the old? Is there a way to limit your out of pocket expenses such as 2x a year vs free wheeling it? Ask him to explain the process as its lost on you and now you are worried about money on top of disease.

Good luck.

Does everyone here stick with the same Neuro & for how long? When would a second opinion be a valid option? Will be seeing this guy again in June (after the May repeat brain MRI). I'm calling my PC tomorrow to see what my options are.

I'm on neuro # 4 since 2006.

I stuck with my Neuro from 1992 until she retired, in 2002. She was the Partner of the Neuro who DXed me, 17 yrs prior. For those 17 yrs of remission, I didn't see a Neuro.

I saw the Neuro who took her patients, until about 2008, when I dropped him, because I had become SPMS and he couldn't help me. I may have stayed, if he would have written my LDN script, but he scoffed at me. See ya later Doc..

I only see my PCP once a year now. I love him. Who needs a condecending Neuro/God, anymore?

I have had the same neuro for 26 years, he is the one who diagnosed me.
I am really going to hate it when he finally decides to retire

I tried a neuro (3 visits) who was closer but I was not happy with him freaking out over my c-spine MRI and telling I should NOt even be able to walk. I AM still walking

I'm on neuro #4 which doesn't include the jerkwad (just learned this new word from Dejibo--it's so apropos for terrible doctors/nurses!) at the Mayo Clinic who told me my brain looked like Swiss cheese.

But.....I LOVE my current neuro! I went through all of them in the space of about 2.5 years. If you don't like the treatment or the doc please go find someone else. There is a doc out there that is perfect for you . You deserve it!! You just have to keep pushing on until you find him/her.

I have been with the same neuro who diagnosed me since 2001. He has been pretty good (apart from the fact he waited for six months to tell me that I had an unruptured brain aneurysm).

I have never caused him any hassle though - quick and easy textbook diagnosis and not too many dramas since.