A brief recap, I am in UK and had my first neuro appointment after waiting for 8 weeks. I have had numbness/burning/loss of sensation in legs and now all the way up to torso although my arms are fine, thank goodness.

He did a few walking tests, heel to toe etc. tuning forks for vibration and said my left foot is weaker (which I can feel) although I think it is the whole of the left leg and he thinks it may be spinal compression causing the neuropathy and wants to do an MRI to rule this out first of all. The wait should be no more than 6 weeks.

I feel that my gait and balance is getting worse quite fast and look forward to getting the MRI although he did say if it was spinal compression or impingement they could only halt the problem and not improve it. Will up date later after test. Thanks.

Dear Superstar,

Please keep us posted. How are you getting through the long waits for appointments? Wishing you better days.

Did he mention an EMG/nerve conduction study? My initial neurology appointment involved the same "manual" tests as yours. But after I was pretty sure I had symptoms in my arms and hands in addition to my left foot, I called him and he agreed to do the additional tests, and that provided a little more information about my type of neuropathy.

No, he did not mention that but wanted to rule out spinal compression first as it was the most urgent he said and from what I have heard a 6 week wait is not too bad for our NHS in UK but am hoping it will be less than that. I asked if a brain MRI was worth doing and he said he didnt't think so at this time although I would have thought doing both together would have been better but fingers crossed I will get an appointment sooner rather than later. Spinal impingment was also mentioned and also slipped discs but from what I know that would be very painful and I would know if `i had a slipped disc but MRI will rule these things in or out.

Hi Superstar,

"Slipped disc" is a misnomer for a herniated disc, which may or may not be painful depending on severity. They occur as we age, so it's possible to have many and not realize it. Many of the painful ones can heal on their own (like the one I had a couple months ago). When they herniate enough to cause symptoms is when they become problematical; the MRI is a way of finding out exactly what's going on and how severe.

Doc

Good luck with your MRI, I am in the UK too and agree your waiting time is super fast for the NHS. Hopefully they will find out soon what is going on.
Take care.

I am lucky as a 3 week wait is very fast here in UK so counting my blessings there. Am quite worried as in addition to the other symptoms I have noticed over the last couple of months that my balance is not good if I look sideways while walking and also my gait is affected, especially first thing in the morning. Neuro had me hop on each leg which I found almost impossible on left leg which tells me there is a lot of weakness there and they feel like lead as if I had walked up 20 flights of stairs. He did say he didnt think it was MS which is something I had worried about but spinal MRI may show something.

Thanks to everyone on this board for helping us newbies.

Superstar,

I don't know how generous (or not) the UK health care system is with physical therapy, but my physical therapist helped a lot with my similar issues with balance and gait. Medication has also helped (Nortriptyline and Gabapentin). So far my neurologist has ruled out everything but that good old non-diagnosis, "idiopathic PN." Of course, my symptoms might get worse at any point, and your spinal problem might lead to very different treatments, so my case may not relate well to yours.

Thanks for that info ChaucerFan. Physio is available, in fact I have just finished it for my frozen shoulder, still not right but a lot better and I continue doing the exercises at home. The waiting list is over 3 months but it is something to bear in mind if needs be. I almost wish it was a vitamin deficiency because that would be fairly easily treated but the ones I had tested were fine, a bit high if anything (B12, folate ). My vitamin D about a year ago was high also because I had been taking D3 but stopped back then and just started taking one a week now as am sure levels will have dropped down again.

Hi,

I'm also in the UK (London). My GP wrote a letter of referral to one of the hospitals here for a neuro appointment 4 weeks ago. He told me not to phone to book for at least a week after that which I did. My app was for 16 Dec. I went back to the surgery, saw a different doctor who showed me all the hospitals available on his computer and approx waiting times. He chose a different hospital, told me to go home and book online. I now have an app on 6 Nov. My doctor didn't even know patients could do this!

Anyway, good luck with your appointment. Keep posting. I wrote my first one here today and Mrs D replied really quickly which was great!

Karen