# Fibro or MS?



## 16085 (Feb 3, 2007)

Hi everyone, I've been dx'd with Fibro for 6yrs.....had problems for 10. The first 4 out of 10 yrs were mostly pins and needles/creepy crawlers/electric shock feelings and numbness.I finally went to see a Neurologist this month because my Rheumatologist who was to treat my fibro was horrible. He was unreachable ALL the time. Well when I saw the Neuro he wanted to test me for MS. I had the Brain MRI, thankfully it came back normal. He wants to do a MRI of the C & T spine and Im getting an EMG.I was wondering how many had MS ruled out before they Dx'd you with Fibro? I had Lupus/RA and all the other blood tests for everything!!! All normal then I was dx'd with fibro with the tenderpoint test.I am becoming frustrated though, I'm being told that even with a clean MRI I can have MS, especially if lesions are found on the spine.Has anyone else gone thru this?Lisa


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## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

Hi Lisa!I think ruling out MS seems entirely reasonable, especially from the point of view of a Neurologist. MS symptoms overlap greatly with both Fibro and CFS (or ME) symptoms. A Neurologist would most likely be more familiar with MS than with Fibro, so it does make sense to me that he would want to test for that as well.If you were diagnosed with Fibro by a good Rheumatologist, who is familiar with Fibro, I would put a lot of confidence in that diagnosis. My guess is that your new Neurologist is probably just more familiar with MS, and as most of the symptoms are VERY MUCH alike, he just wants to rule that out for good measure.I know it's easy to say, but I wouldn't worry too much about having MS. Your tests so far have come back clean, and you already have your solid diagnosis of Fibro. This doctor probably just wants to cover all the bases, especially since he's fairly new to your treatment case. But I know it's a lot easier for me to say that, than to really try not to worry. I really think your future results will come back fine too, I think your Rheumy did a thorough job of diagnosing you, even though he's hard to get ahold of. But please be sure to let us know what happens! My fingers will remain crossed for you!!


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