misshayleesmom,

Argh...this is where the Canadian medical system really sucks. The wait for specialist appointments is a round a year here too. If you have to wait that long, at least try to get your PCP to refer you to an MS Clinic neuro, if there is one in Ontario. I waited for about a year to first see mine, but he is the head of the MS Clinic in B.C. The draw back is that he is super busy, is interested and involved in research and hasn't shown a great deal of interest in my situation since he determined that I am now SPMS.

When I first saw him though, it was because the body went into a relapse and didn't go into remission. He ordered all sorts of tests and evaluations to exclude secondary diseases or MS similars. That all took another year to complete and get back in to see him again. But at least I got some answers. I honestly don't think that I would have gotten that from a regular neuro...and I've seen quite a few over the years.

Also, depending on your financial situation, your PCP can write a request for an MRI that can then be done in a private clinic. The wait is usually under a week and the cost for a brain MRI is around $ 800.00.
Here's the listings for the ones in Ontario:

Ontario MRI Clinics for Private MRI Scans in Ontario
http://www.findprivateclinics.ca/Ont...-9-0-82-0.html

Raynaud's is a distinct possibility for your hands turning blue but it might be worth having a check on general circulatory system stuff as well. Have you had an ECG and blood work done?

Also, I'm a bit surprised that the doctor prescribed Flexeril. It really isn't recommended for chronic spasticity and is more often used for spasms due to acute conditions like post surgery and injury. It might help with a differential diagnosis though, because it does nothing for neurogenic spasticity, which is what causes most of the spasms in MS and other neuro-immune disorders. Baclofen is the most common drug used for MS spasticity.
Thus it will be interesting to see if Flexeril has an effect on the spasms that you are experiencing.

Flexeril is a sedative-type drug, so be careful and watchful for dizziness, in-coordination and weakness; especially in the first few days that you are taking it.

Here's some info from a pharmacy data base for prescribing practitioners:

FLEXERIL should be used only for short periods (up to two or three weeks) because adequate evidence of effectiveness for more prolonged use is not available and because muscle spasm associated with acute, painful musculo-skeletal conditions is generally of short duration and specific therapy for longer periods is seldom warranted.

FLEXERIL has not been found effective in the treatment of spasticity associated with cerebral or spinal cord disease, or in children with cerebral palsy.


With love, Erika

Good Lord!!!!

12 Months?????

Sorry, but that is soooo long! There are some people in Australia that complain about our health system, but from what I read on here, it is awesomely good. There is no way that you would wait more than three months for an appointment where I live - and that is in rural/remote Australia.

With the documented urgency that your case demands, it is ridiculous that you are forced to wait so long.

The video idea was excellent - by the time you get there, your body (if it is anything like mine) may well not perform for you the way you want it to (as in the way it has been all of the rest of the time when you aren't seeing a doctor).

I hope that you are on a cancellation list, and that your ER doc has written a really good referral for you.

Sorry that you are going through all of this, but at least it has been seen first-hand by a professional now.

Good luck, and hope that the meds will give you some relief.

Hi Erika,
I went to an MS clinic in Toronto, my appointment was in May2011 my MRI was done in July2011... so he was looking at an old MRI.

He was very impatient with me as I was having spasticity and couldn't straighten my leg while he was examining me.

He then sent me home.. said it made no sense to come back since at my age I should have been worse.

My report from my GP said it was a Neurological Abnormality.

I don't understand why I can't get a dx.

Every doctor that I see.. the first thing they say is.."why haven't you been dx yet" I wish they would do it based on symptom alone. I have been tested for everything else.. B12 is fine.. no lupus..

Totally frustrated and going downhill fast.
The last time I relapsed I wasn't this bad.. I'm dragging my foot and my left arm is really heavy and uncoordinated.

When they checked my reflexes I had none in my left leg but my right leg was insanely strong.

I'm glad its all documented by I will video take pics when it happens

I have to ask (as I do all), have you got a copy of mri on cd so YOU can look?

Blue hands tells me blood flow/plumbing needs repair.

Sorry to hear 1yr wait, I guess that's the downside of every person being able to see a dr at will. Hope usa doesn't go downhill.

I will make sure I get a copy of my mri, they wouldn't let me last time.
But this is a new neuro.

The Canadian medical system isn't what its all cracked up to be, no doctors and long wait times to see a specialist.

"He then sent me home.. said it made no sense to come back since at my age I should have been worse."


IMO, "He" needs to get his head out of you know where, and read up on what he is supposed to be specializing in. Age has nothing to do with it. Gee Whiz.
Clearly you need to see someone who has a handle on diagnosing neuro-immune disorders. You might try going back in to your PCP and talking about why every doctor has said "why haven't you been dx yet" to you. Tell your PCP it is because they, including him/her are not assessing you, but are apparently just dismissing you; and that you now need the reassurance that the referral that your PCP sends to the neuro that he/she has referred you to, outlines this part of your history with 'specialists' and doctors, as well as the importance and urgency of getting a diagnosis ASAP.

You can also press your PCP to phone the specialist and not to just send in the referral. During that call, the PCP should ask the neuro what they suggest in the interim, seeing as you haven't been diagnosed and you Sxs are getting worse. That might get you in sooner for both the MRI and in to see the neuro.
If your PCP won't do this, you might need to find another PCP. Even with Canada's health care system problems, how you are being treated is not acceptable; especially when you have relatively easy access to the resources in Toronto.

My PCP referred me to a general neuro while I waited to see the MS neuro that I have now. The wait to get in to see the general neuro was a couple of weeks because my PCP called the guy and said that there had been sudden and profound changes in my status. I had recently lost the upper left hand visual field in both eyes and was unable to stand with my eyes closed.

That neuro worked out of the regional hospital where the satellite MS Clinic is located in Northern B.C. He assessed and documented my Sxs, and also ordered an MRI stat, as he thought that I might have something else going on besides MS. I was actually happy to learn that he found only new lesions, so that the wait to see the MS neuro wasn't so bad, but all of those assessments and test results were available to the MS neuro when I saw him a year later.

Please go back to your PCP to see how the referral has been sent and to see if he/she will push a little harder with a phone call. Sometimes that can make all the difference.

With love, Erika

I'm sorry this is taking so long for you.

errrr, those comments are the stupidest, most unprofessional, most unscientific ones i've ever heard. no dr i know would say something like that and if they did i'd fire them.

i really feel for you. sounds like you have limited choices which are not the best. in the US we have a legal right to any medical record. all we have to do is sign a release. i guess you don't have the same there?

i wish you the best. maybe you'll get in sooner than you thing. make sure you have a copy of the ER dr's note if possible.

"in the US we have a legal right to any medical record. all we have to do is sign a release. i guess you don't have the same there?"

Actually we have that here too.

BTW, I suspect that misshayleesmom might not have power. Her area is being hit with a major ice storm (the worst on record, to the north in Toronto). The news reports are saying that the power might not get hooked up again in some areas until Wednesday.

Sending prayers that you are OK, and have power misshayleesmom

With love, Erika

Thanks for thinking of me, I do have power.. further north they don't.
I don't live near Toronto anymore.
I live across from the Detroit border in Windsor Ontario.

I will make sure I get my records.