What is the point of seeking a diagnosis
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2019 6:32 pm
Hi,
New here. I'm glad to have found this supportive community. My question is: what is the point of seeking a diagnosis? If I have MS, can medications prevent or slow nerve and brain damage? Or, as I have read in some posts, more an issue of lessening the symptoms? I am very reluctant to approach a doctor about my symptoms. I have insurance, but it is Affordable Care Act insurance; I don't want a preexisting condition. I don't want my boss to find out. I can't afford an MRI. Also, I'm fairly sure my "illness" is psychosomatic. How would seeking or (if it's not actually psychosomatic) receiving a diagnosis help me?
My symptoms are pretty much all on the left side of my body (except vision which is general):
* Face has a burning heat that moves from the mastoid process through the zygomatic area if that makes sense, becoming numb and cold as it moves. This has lasted at least 3 or 4 years and happens several times a month, sometimes multiple times in a day in rapid succession. I thought my face was getting hot on the left side but when I look in the mirror it looks the same as ever.
* Vision suffers from white flashes in the periphery of vision (a few times a month), and twice I have experienced a kind of juddering, skipping problem of vision. Occasionally it's hard to focus.
* Leg had a weird burning numbness in the thigh, which lasted off and on for a few weeks and has subsided. Now it's like a dull numb heaviness in that area. This came up suddenly two months or so ago--I thought I had somehow heated up my keys and then put them in my pocket! But the real burning only lasted a few weeks, intermittently, and has been replaced with the numb heaviness and a weird itchy sensation.
*Seriously annoying tic in my left eye. It just goes crazy, which is frustrating because I can't control it and I'm a teacher...I don't want my students to see this, but I'm sure they've noticed. Happens weekly.
*Arm and hand have "pins and needles" and shots of pain but I'm kind of thinking that part is just my imagination.
*Memory is kind of shot in terms of remembering words, terms, and names as quickly as I used to.
*Dizziness when walking from time to time.
*No L'Hermitte's Sign or random pain other than occasional stabs in the temple (which I think is normal, and this isn't confined to my left side like the other stuff)
I am 40, a woman, and suffered brain trauma twice at age 12 as the result of falls. I also had a tiny bit of nerve damage a few years ago after taking an antibiotic to which I turned out to be allergic (cipro). I have always been prone to depression and anxiety, although I have obtained a high level of education and have until recently been doing well in my field. I just don't see how a diagnosis could help me if the medicine only addresses the symptoms and doesn't slow the progression or help with the nerve damage, and then I'm saddled with a preexisting condition. So far, I have just talked to my husband about it, and got a B12 test which was normal at 650. I don't want to alienate a doctor with what is most likely a psychosomatic illness, or at least one that is very difficult to pinpoint.
Any perspectives would be most welcome--thank you!!
New here. I'm glad to have found this supportive community. My question is: what is the point of seeking a diagnosis? If I have MS, can medications prevent or slow nerve and brain damage? Or, as I have read in some posts, more an issue of lessening the symptoms? I am very reluctant to approach a doctor about my symptoms. I have insurance, but it is Affordable Care Act insurance; I don't want a preexisting condition. I don't want my boss to find out. I can't afford an MRI. Also, I'm fairly sure my "illness" is psychosomatic. How would seeking or (if it's not actually psychosomatic) receiving a diagnosis help me?
My symptoms are pretty much all on the left side of my body (except vision which is general):
* Face has a burning heat that moves from the mastoid process through the zygomatic area if that makes sense, becoming numb and cold as it moves. This has lasted at least 3 or 4 years and happens several times a month, sometimes multiple times in a day in rapid succession. I thought my face was getting hot on the left side but when I look in the mirror it looks the same as ever.
* Vision suffers from white flashes in the periphery of vision (a few times a month), and twice I have experienced a kind of juddering, skipping problem of vision. Occasionally it's hard to focus.
* Leg had a weird burning numbness in the thigh, which lasted off and on for a few weeks and has subsided. Now it's like a dull numb heaviness in that area. This came up suddenly two months or so ago--I thought I had somehow heated up my keys and then put them in my pocket! But the real burning only lasted a few weeks, intermittently, and has been replaced with the numb heaviness and a weird itchy sensation.
*Seriously annoying tic in my left eye. It just goes crazy, which is frustrating because I can't control it and I'm a teacher...I don't want my students to see this, but I'm sure they've noticed. Happens weekly.
*Arm and hand have "pins and needles" and shots of pain but I'm kind of thinking that part is just my imagination.
*Memory is kind of shot in terms of remembering words, terms, and names as quickly as I used to.
*Dizziness when walking from time to time.
*No L'Hermitte's Sign or random pain other than occasional stabs in the temple (which I think is normal, and this isn't confined to my left side like the other stuff)
I am 40, a woman, and suffered brain trauma twice at age 12 as the result of falls. I also had a tiny bit of nerve damage a few years ago after taking an antibiotic to which I turned out to be allergic (cipro). I have always been prone to depression and anxiety, although I have obtained a high level of education and have until recently been doing well in my field. I just don't see how a diagnosis could help me if the medicine only addresses the symptoms and doesn't slow the progression or help with the nerve damage, and then I'm saddled with a preexisting condition. So far, I have just talked to my husband about it, and got a B12 test which was normal at 650. I don't want to alienate a doctor with what is most likely a psychosomatic illness, or at least one that is very difficult to pinpoint.
Any perspectives would be most welcome--thank you!!