Normal wait time for treatment?
Hey everyone. I was diagnosed about a month ago now. I've just received an appointment for a consultation with an MS specialist neurologist (not the same neurologist I was diagnosed by) for the 7th of July, and I'm wondering if this sort of gap is normal? I assume this appointment is when we will discuss treatment, and I so far have not been put in contact with an MS nurse. They want to scan my brain before discussing treatment to, in their words, "stratify risk" for decisions around treatment (was diagnosed from a spine scan, unclear why they didn't do my brain at the time.) It's making me a little uneasy that it seems I'll be going without treatment for a few months, and I was just wondering if this is normal? I annoyingly have already researched and have kind of made up my mind that I'd like to be put on Ocrevus preferably, and I'm hoping they'll support that decision, but July seems like such a long way away to find out.
I was diagnosed in 2006, but did not start meds until 2007. Those days, they preferrably waited for two relapases and a comparison scan before deciding on anything. I am ust talking about my experience, but seems lately on the forums a lot of people started their meds earlier. P.S. Video gamer enthusiast too
That sounds like a long gap, but I can only go by my own experience - I was diagnosed end of February this year and just over 2 weeks later I had my appointment with my MS Consultant and MS Nurse, where we discussed DMTs. I had essentially made my mind up about Ocrevus too, but still took another couple of weeks after to digest the information they gave me, weigh up pros and cons between that and Tecfidera. I would maybe call up to ask if there are any cancellations so you could be seen earlier, the worst they can say is no. It's not a bad thing to have researched what treatment you'd like to go on - in fact that's probably the best thing for you to have done so you can go into you appointment and try to push for the best treatment for you. If you haven't done so already, I'd highly recommend writing down your symptoms, when they came about, when (if) they disappear, the severity etc. too in a notebook. Take care, and let us know how you get on :)