I'm not going to go into a long post on my history yet, maybe after the neuro I'll do a better post. In any case, my history is long and weird, and I'm that person the doctors never know what's wrong since i was a teenager. I'm a male in my late thirties.

Most recently I went in with what I thought was a serious back and neck injury. I had trouble walking, partial loss of use of my right arm, and some other things. Referred to an ortho.

On the second visit after the MRI (lumbar/cervical no contrast) he was much more serious. I had transverse myelitis and he told me it was possible I had MS. Wow. It makes a whole lot of sense given my history. This was not the first weird neurological problem I have had, although this is the first time MS had been mentioned.

After another MRI, this time with cervical contrast and the brain with and without contrast. Of course I had a horrible reaction to the contrast (sigh), but otherwise the results were good news. Normal brain, still the same cervical transverse myelitis. Doc said maybe it isn't MS, but I didn't give the ortho my whole weird history (was there for back/neck issues!). Referred me to a neuro, who I see friday.

After extensive reading, I am almost certain it is either MS or a mimic. Definitely wasn't a one time event, although THIS attack was completely different than my last 2 major attacks. And even though I was nearly paralyzed on my right side (mostly ok now) it wasn't even close to as bad as my 2004 vertigo attack. That was pure hell for nearly 2 years, and I've never been the same person since then.

In any case, I'm really confused right now, a little scared, but really just want some answers. I don't even know why I registered here and why I'm posting this. I don't even know if MS is the right forum to be posting in since i have no idea what's wrong with me! I guess just to get some feelings out of my head.

Sorry.

Hi and welcome to NeuroTalk.

Lots of us were confused at first.....didn't have a diagnosis and didn't know what to believe. One doctor says one thing...then another says something totally different.

Keep reading the forum. There are lots of subjects discussed. Many have more than one medical issue.

Others will be along soon to welcome you and give their experience. I believe you'll feel less alone once you realize you're not the only one who feels the way you do.

Sorry you're going through this but glad you found this site.

You don’t have to have MS to come here and talk. Loads of us don’t have a solid diagnosis, and those of us who do know what hell we went through to get one. You will find plenty of information here, as well as a shoulder or two to cry on when you need it. Welcome. It sounds like you’ve been through the mill.

Thanks for the quick replies.

Through the mill is exactly how i feel. I've been living with all these symptoms for years (since the vertigo attack). At the time I was diagnosed with a vestibulopathy and sent off to over a year of PT, which helped very slowly. I was told I might never recover fully, so I've just been bearing these symptoms almost every day, assuming it was just normal (for me).

Now it might be something else? Something worse? You mean I could end up flat on my back with 24/7/365 vertigo again at any moment? Or near paralysis out of nowhere? Gah. I don't even know what else to say besides gah!

Thanks for the shoulder.

I hope your Neurologist appt. goes well. Is this a general neuro or one who specializes in MS?

My only suggestion is to write down the questions you plan to ask. If I don't have them written down I get there and "dummy up" and can't think of a single thing I wanted to discuss. Plus, if the doctor starts talking about something else and gets my thought process off track then it's just all downhilll from there. And I think of all the things I wanted to talk about....but just on my way home.

Let us know how things go for you on Friday.

He is a general neuro who is 'certified' for MS, whatever that means. I didn't pick him, I was referred to him.

I don't even know what I want to talk about, lol. I wrote up a several page medical history with as much of the weird stuff as I can remember back to my teen/early college years. Well I'm almost done with it anyway. Hopefully that's enough.

Honestly, I don't even know what to expect out of this appointment.

Welcome Yeti. Making a list for yourself is a good idea, to remind you what to ask but, keep it short (the really important stuff). Don't give a long list to the Neuro, he probably won't read it and think you're a hypocondriac.

Good luck at your appt. and please let us know how it goes.

Well, the list is long lol. I'm not sure what to do about that as it is a very strange history, and I have symptoms. I would have thought he would want as many pieces to the puzzle as I can give him? If not, what's the point of going to the doctor, right?

Sally's right tho yeti about keeping it short. Ive seen over 10 neuro's in my MS journey and only 1 was interested in my long hx. If MS is suspected, do yourself a favor and find an MS specialist. If you have an MS clinic in your area, that would be good. A general neuro I have found in my personal experience, is not great at treating or even dx'ing MS. Hopefully its not MS, but if it is, there's a great bunch of folks here to support you. Good luck to you

I'll try to shorten it. So disappointing that they wouldn't even read/listen to you. I have no idea how any doctor could think he could do his job without listening.