Undiagnosed, have Optis Neuritis, upcoming MRI
Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 9:22 am
Hello everyone! So I have been seeing an Ophthalmologist for about a month due to Optic Neuritis. I have been waiting for my new insurance to kick in to schedule and MRI, but now the wait is over and after my insurance approves it I will finally have an appointment. I have a few questions, though!
I'm kind of afraid that my Ophthalmologist isn't who I should be seeing? He's a great guy, and seems very knowledgeable about ON, but I'm not sure at what point I should start asking about seeing a neurologist? It's all just super confusing. He of course hasn't asked me about any other symptoms and has only done an eye exam. Should I start asking if the MRI comes up abnormal or should I ask sooner? The thing I think that scared me a bit about just seeing him is that the awesome lady who was working with my insurance company to schedule my MRI tried to get me to go to an open MRI, and had no idea that there was a difference. I ended up tracking down a 3 tesla MRI in our area (there's only 1!), and pushed to have my MRI there instead. I'm a little afraid that they won't follow the protocol that is recommended for MS due to a lack of knowledge, and that I'll have to pay to have this done again (we pay 10% of imaging) and I just don't have a lot of money and what to do it right the first time.
There are a few other things I'm concerned about. One, half of my face is numb- not enough to cause paralysis, but enough to feel incredibly strange, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Two, I have a history of pretty serious depression, though it's never been diagnosed. Including thoughts of suicide. Three, for the past few years I have been having lower back pain on just one side that at times is so severe I can barely move. I have told my Ophthalmologist about the numbness in my face, which seemed to concern him, but not about the other two though now I wonder if they are related after spending hours scaring the crap out of myself on the internet LOL.
Anyway, I would appreciate any thoughts on this and any input would be awesome. Everyone around me (my Husband, and family) says "No! You don't have MS", but deep inside I know it's a very real possibility.
I'm kind of afraid that my Ophthalmologist isn't who I should be seeing? He's a great guy, and seems very knowledgeable about ON, but I'm not sure at what point I should start asking about seeing a neurologist? It's all just super confusing. He of course hasn't asked me about any other symptoms and has only done an eye exam. Should I start asking if the MRI comes up abnormal or should I ask sooner? The thing I think that scared me a bit about just seeing him is that the awesome lady who was working with my insurance company to schedule my MRI tried to get me to go to an open MRI, and had no idea that there was a difference. I ended up tracking down a 3 tesla MRI in our area (there's only 1!), and pushed to have my MRI there instead. I'm a little afraid that they won't follow the protocol that is recommended for MS due to a lack of knowledge, and that I'll have to pay to have this done again (we pay 10% of imaging) and I just don't have a lot of money and what to do it right the first time.
There are a few other things I'm concerned about. One, half of my face is numb- not enough to cause paralysis, but enough to feel incredibly strange, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Two, I have a history of pretty serious depression, though it's never been diagnosed. Including thoughts of suicide. Three, for the past few years I have been having lower back pain on just one side that at times is so severe I can barely move. I have told my Ophthalmologist about the numbness in my face, which seemed to concern him, but not about the other two though now I wonder if they are related after spending hours scaring the crap out of myself on the internet LOL.
Anyway, I would appreciate any thoughts on this and any input would be awesome. Everyone around me (my Husband, and family) says "No! You don't have MS", but deep inside I know it's a very real possibility.