Need medical help (in Off-topic)

Anybody know how one goes about getting a diagnosis of MS, or a rule out . House has been sick over 4 months without a diagnosis. We have seen 5 different doctors and tried lots of antibiotics. Symptoms are getting worse with exhaustion, tingling fingers and feet, shaking in hands. Chronic and now constant ache in the joints and muscles. Pain pills are the equivalent to pez candies. Blood tests come back normal and Brain MRI comes back clean. We are at the point where the doctors simply do no know what to do and our insurance does not pay for us to visit the Mayo clinic. He has many of the symptoms of Ms. One day in July, he just sort of ran into a wall.. We have temporarily removed his driving privileges for our own safety.

Im throughly frustrated and would appreciate any help anyone may be able to provide, even in beating the insurance game. We would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you, GOG and House

it is rather unorthidox, but a member of my friends family used marijuana as a treatment for his pain. I am sorry to hear of this but I believe that it may, ease his pain a bit more than pain killers. There is no definetive cure however, my ex girlfriends father used it to use it as a way to calm the shaking and forget about the pain. My best friends uncle used to smoke and claimed that it made his symptoms better. The condition makes it hard to pass the joint but it does seem to ease the symptoms. Not that I am advocating the use of illegal drugs, however for short term treatment, I would recommend that if House is receptive.

As far as beating the insurance companies, I would recommend actually talking to a Human Resources representatve, and explaining your situation. A second alternative for extra funding is to contact social security. They may be able to help you with finding the right insurance, including state funded programs. I would say that if House is diagnosed properly by the state you would be eligable for other programs. The state may be able to provide some help... You could even contact your local Walgreens, they will help you find an appropriate Medicare Program to at the very least help you cover your prescription costs. Sorry for assuming that you are from the United States, but that is my only advice, hope my advice can be of some help...

For MS you need to get an MRI with and without contrast. It will show the typical plaques of the disease. If they plaques enhance with the contrast it means that they are active/growing.

You also need to get a lumbar puncture to evaluate the cerebrospinal fluid for the MS type proteins.

MS, now, should not be that tough a diagnosis once the proper tests are done.

If House has not had a lumbar puncture, I would say speak with your neurologist about getting one, as other diseases can be evaluated for.

Sounds like a lot of the problems my wife had after our daughter was born. The doc's finally came up with Fibromyalgia. Run a search for it, there is a lot of info out there. My wife also had a spinal tap and had some problems with fluid leaking out. The doctors in the er drew some blood from her arm and shot it where the fluid was leaking I think its called a blood patch. Hope this helps if i can answer any ?'s send me cm

Are you in the US? If so, where? Mrs. Monkey was diagnosed with MS in 1997, and it's been accelerating lately, so we've been seeing her neurologists very frequently. I may be able to get information from our clinic on a clinic/study/neurologist near you that could be a good start. Feel free to CM me.

Also, her cousin (in a more rural area of the state) was recently diagnosed with MS, after showing many of the symptoms you describe. However, she was misdiagnosed and treated for Lupus for a year before they finally figured it out, and in that year got much worse, so do not hesitate at all in this pursuit! Do not let doctors get away with "everything came back normal"!

Finally, I want to second Ranger's advice as 100% accurate and good, backed up from our experiences with the finest MS researcher ever, the late Dr. Lawrence Jacobs. He and his assistant (who Mrs. Monkey still sees regularly) have taught me more about MS than I ever imagined possible.

Sorry I don't know pretty much about MS, but I hope this site can help. http://www.nmss.org/

Has Lyme disease been checked for???

Yes, We are in the United States. Arizona to be exact.

Lyme disease has not been even thought of.

Not had any spinal tap tesing of any sort.

As i am only home for lunch and need to grab a bite to eat and check on House, I'll check back later.

Thank you for all of your comments and recommendations.