Why is Multiple Sclerosis so Hard to Diagnose

The primary dilemma in the current way that multiple sclerosis is managed is that while early diagnosis allows for damage-sparing treatments to begin, diagnosing someone with MS too early increases the possibility of someone who does not have multiple sclerosis being treated for it unnecessarily . Most of the current disease-modifying drugs are taken by injection and cost anywhere from $1,200 to $2,500 a month. Betaseron, which is what I am currently taking, runs right about $2,400 a month. Besides being expensive and a frightening experience for the individual being told they have MS but there is also some risk with taking interferons, this means a person mistakenly diagnosed with MS inherits the risk of the medication without gaining the benefits. This would not be such a problem if MS wasn’t so hard to diagnose, however MS happens to be one of the hardest diseases to accurately

diagnose especially in its early stages. I ignored my symptoms twice believing that I was experiencing other health issues and never imagined MS; I was even diagnosed with a vitamin deficiency after having an attack and was not accurately diagnosed for another year and a half after being told to take a multi vitamin every day. You can see that the difficulty in properly diagnosing MS can have negative results for both individuals falsely diagnosed with MS and those who have MS and are misdiagnosed with something else.


I think I have mentioned before that I have at least 4 attacks before this last one that lead to me being properly diagnosed and beginning treatment. My previous 4 attacks all involved numbness in my hand, legs and feet and as the number of attacks increased so did the length they would last and the intensity of the symptoms I would experience. This latest attack has lasted since December 27 or so and has gotten worse not better. This is a large part of what can be so scary about being diagnosed with MS, all the unanswered questions.


All though the symptoms that MS patients experience vary most of us experience many of the same symptoms and share the same outcomes when attacks occur. When attacks do occur they can produce a multitude of symptoms which will vary depending on what functions the nerve-fibers that are being attacked normally perform. For example, when the nerve-fibers being attacked control aspects of vision then the patient’s symptoms tend to be vision related like experiencing a loss of visual clarity or double vision. When the nerve-fibers being attacked are those that control sensation then the symptoms usually include numbness or tingling in the extremities. In fact, visual and sensory symptoms are often the first symptoms experienced. But initial symptoms might instead consist of dizziness, weakness, clumsiness or difficulty with urination. The wide variety of symptoms that a patient may experience is part of the difficulty in accurately diagnosing MS.


The process of being diagnosed with MS is a process that involves 3 steps, the first of which is getting a clinical evaluation. If the evaluation finds no other explanation for the symptoms then an MRI is performed. An MRI can show irregular brain activity which are caused by the lesions and the damage they do, however just because you may have some lesions or abnormal brain activity does not automatically mean MS. If lesions or brain activity that is not normal is found then the last step is to have a lumbar puncture or spinal tap as it is also known. This procedure allows the doctor/s to examine your spinal fluid which helps in the diagnoses. Unfortunately the best that can be done right now is an educated “guess”, there is no definitive test that can say “yes you have MS” or “ no you do not have MS, It is just a process of elimination that aids doctors in coming to a hopefully correct diagnoses.


In conclusion, if you think you may have MS or you are experiencing MS like symptoms you need to see a doctor as soon as possible and discuss your symptoms with him or her. Additionally you should find out everything you can about the disease and whatever your diagnosis is you should get a second opinion just to be safe.