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Electrical shocks throughout my body.
Brain & Nervous System | Last Active: Nov 30 6:30pm | Replies (125)Comment receiving replies
I am in California and have decent insurance. The specialists are so overloaded that it takes months to see anyone. I went on an email campaign and was finally given the appointment in July which was originally end of September! If I go to an ER, they will just do labs and run my vitals, which will be okay and then send me on my way.
My PCP has been ordering the MRIs - I just had 2 more - but I won't really have them evaluated until I'm seen by neurologist. I know enough from the radiology tech that they are looking for MS, which is what I suspected all along. I know doctors hate when one goes "on-line", to self diagnose, but given that I am always so uncomfortable, may anxiety level is through the roof and I just want to get some relief. I hate taking pills and they don't much work anyway.
I'm starting to wonder if chordoma on my sacral area, which they have yet to image, even with everything going on down there. More months of waiting to find anything out.
Replies to "I am in California and have decent insurance. The specialists are so overloaded that it takes..."
Hello, seeker4answers! (@seeker4answers)
I wonder if the problem is we patients outnumber our doctors twenty- or fifty-to-one; that, and our doctors (not all, but many) have so much digital paperwork to complete before they get to go home. You say, "I went on an email campaign and was finally given the appointment in July, which was originally the end of September… " That sounds all too familiar! Too often, I have the same experience with my doctors, even with the best of them, and by "best," I mean "most caring" when I finally get to see them. You're probably relegated to using "patient portals" the way I am. I use a homemade "factor" or multiple when wanting an appointment or advice: I know I must send three or four messages to my doctor through his patient portal before receiving one response. In 2023, three- or four-to-one odds aren't too bad. LOL, I wish the odds were better, but, but, but …
You also say, "My PCP has been ordering the MRIs … but I won't really have them evaluated until I'm seen by a neurologist." I went for several years, my balance starting to feel a little "off," talking only to my PCP, who sent me to PT and advised various supplements. Someone––a friend? a neighbor? I don't remember––I was the first to suggest seeing a neurologist. My PCP (she's great!) didn't hesitate but referred me straightaway to a neurologist. That's when I had my first MRIs, followed without delay in their evaluation. So, working with a neurologist was the key to making any headway.
"I know doctors hate when one goes "online," to self-diagnose … " I know many do, but some don't. My PCP (my neurologist, too) is among those who don't mind. Among my PCPs umpteen patients (who knows how many she has?), she says about half come to her with questions gleaned from the Web, that they're usually good questions, and asking them not only saves time but sends the patient away feeling that he's been genuinely listened to. My PCP tells me she has only one patient who's a pain in the a**, demanding all kinds of untested therapies and contraptions he saw on the Web.
As Kurt Vonnegut would say, "So it goes!" LOL
Cheers!
Ray
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@seeker4answers I think an evaluation with a neurologist is a good idea. Electric shocks particularly when you are moving your neck, can be a sign of a nerve compression or spinal cord compression because the movement may cause something to be touched. I hope they didn't just look for MS lesions and ignore the spinal anatomy. That certainly would be a question to ask the neurologist if there is anything compressing the spinal cord or nerves that could generate electric shock type pain. I did have a compressed spinal cord and experienced this, so that is why I suggest asking bout it. I had spine surgery that freed my spinal cord and fixed the problem.