Approaching the doctor

I am having a bad time of it just now. My anxiety is taking over and I need help! My anxiety is directed at MS - I have trembling, muscle spasms/twitches, pins and needles, dizziness and always feel off balance. Anyway I dont feel I can move on until I have MS ruled out so want to go to the docs about these symptoms.

The problem is I dont know whether to go and say I'm worried about these symptoms and see what they say (and possibly be dismissed with it all being anxiety) which will result in me coming home and thinking I'm still at square one. Or do I go and put my hands up to feeling anxious and knowing that these symptoms can be caused by anxiety but am worried its MS.

For those of you that have been to docs about MS in particular how did you approach the doc and what was the outcome? Did they refer you to neurologist or for MRI? Can a GP send u for an MRI or do you have to see neurologist first?

Thanks in advance

Hello,

First off, I am sorry you are having a bad time, I no what you are going through, I think we all do, it is a battle everyday.

What is your relationship with your doctor? is he aware you suffer from health anxiety? What you can do is if you feel unconfortable talking to him, you might want to print the post you just wrote and let him read it. I no it is very hard bringing up some of these issues, so if you give him the letter ahead of time he has a chance to read it before you see him, then he can bring it up. which takes so of the pressure off you.

This is just a thought, I hope you start feeling better.

D

I agree with *D*
Go to your doctor - make a list (its quicker and easier to read) be open with the doctor - if you break down and cry - IT does not matter DO NOT be embarrassed at your docs - they know what to look for!!!!
MS has its own set of symptoms and anxiety can be very similar - read anxiety and Symptoms - in the Main Menu and you will recognise a lot of your symptoms there.
It is best to know one way or the other instead of worrying what might be:blush:
Sorry to be blunt but I do not take my own advice and i worry for ages - then I'm told "it is only stress":ohmy:
Best wishes
june

Hi just to let you know what happened to me.
I spoke to my doctor over the phone about my symptoms, and I said that I was worried I had MS. I was really at the end of my tether and I actually burst into tears.
He explained exactly what he thought it was (anxiety) and the best thing he said to me was: "Listen, I have seen hundreds of patients with many MS symptoms who don't actually have MS, so don't worry."
It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and because I'm a very anxious person, I put 2 and 2 together: It's more likely to be my anxiety (although I didn't know at the time that it could give you SOOOOOOOOOOO many symptoms).
Then I read a really good book called: Self-Help for your Nerves by Dr Claire Weekes, and that more or less saved me.
Sometimes when something worries me now I still refer to it.
P.S: I had gone to see 2 other doctors before that last one (because I always see different ones for different opinions :blush:) and the first one looked at me like I was a weirdo and said: "It's probably not MS" in a patronizing tone (but it was a A and E doctor so he probably didn't have any patience with me and I don't blame him, what with all the worse cases he witnessed), and the second doctor was a lady doctor, really nice bless her, but she didn't say the right thing "Don't worry even if you had MS we wouldn't give you medication for it straight away, it takes time to diagnose properly :ohmy:" I almost fainted when she said that.
Third time lucky with that lovely third one, who actually was not a regular at my surgery, so I don't see him anymore, but he was so understanding.
He even told me that his own father was a hypocondriac.
I hope this wasn't too long and that it helped a bit.

I do think that you should be honest and say "I am an anxious person and I know my symptoms could be caused by my anxiety, but I would feel much better if you could refer me to someone who could do some tests to see if I have MS, so at least I could rule that out. Because as you can appreciate, it can be a vicious circle, the more unsure I am, the more worried, the more symptoms I get etc..."
Or if you find the strength, accept it if they say "it's probably just your anxiety". Although I know "probably" is a horrible word when you have HA.
What I want to say is, I have been there so I understand 100%, I'm sure your symptoms will lessen as soon as you stop worrying.
All the best!

Thank you for your replies so far. Unfortunately I don't rate my doctors very highly. There's no consistency in who you see at our practice so I've not really built up a relationship with any in particular. I know I have to go and speak to one of them but just wasnt sure how to approach the subject. I dont want to chicken out of telling them I'm scared of MS through fear of them thinking I'm a loony!! So I appreciate your suggestions and will go and practice my speech haha!

Hi hm1177. I actually have had the same fears too and had almost very similiar symptoms and I was worried about M.S, I went to numerous doctors who told me that it was not and that my symptoms were vague. Well I went in the end to see a neurologist who did a clinical test and said it was clear, but he would send me for an MRI and so I went and it came back clear. He told me that these symptoms were plausible for M.S. I have read from Itoldyouiwasill who posts on here that anxiety symptoms mimic M.S symptoms. I have had an off balance feeling for two years and it's not gotten worse, it's horrible at times but I learn to live with it. Also anxiety symptoms can take quite a long time to go away. You like a lot of us probably have anxiety. I have actually been diagnosed as a hypochondriac with undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder (check this out under my threads if you want ). I hope you come to terms with it and that you get sorted.
Take care.
Tony.