About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffAlthough you're likely to start by seeing your family doctor or general practitioner, he or she may refer you to a neurologist, a doctor who specializes in nervous system disorders. Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment, and to know what to expect from your doctor.
What you can do
- Write down any symptoms you're experiencing, including any that may seem unrelated to the reason for which you scheduled the appointment.
- Write down key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes.
- Make a list of all medications, as well as any vitamins or supplements, that you're taking.
- Take a family member or friend along, if possible. Sometimes it can be difficult to soak up all the information you get during an appointment. Someone who accompanies you may remember something you missed or forgot.
- Write down questions to ask your doctor.
Preparing a list of questions for your doctor will help you make the most of your time together. For multiple sclerosis, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
- What's the most likely cause of my symptoms?
- Are there other possible causes for my symptoms?
- What kinds of tests do I need? Do these tests require any special preparation?
- Is my condition likely temporary or chronic?
- Will my condition progress?
- What treatments are available?
- What are the side effects of each treatment?
- What treatment do you feel would be best for me?
- What are the alternatives to the primary approach that you're suggesting?
- I have these other health conditions. How can I best manage them together?
- Are there restrictions I need to follow?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me? What websites do you recommend visiting?
Don't hesitate to ask any other questions.
What to expect from your doctor
Your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions, such as:
- When did you begin experiencing symptoms?
- Have your symptoms been continuous or occasional?
- How severe are your symptoms?
- What, if anything, seems to improve your symptoms?
- What, if anything, appears to worsen your symptoms?
- Does anyone in your family have multiple sclerosis?
- Olek MJ. Epidemiology, risk factors and clinical features of multiple sclerosis in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 29, 2010.
- Olek MJ. Treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 29, 2010.
- Multiple sclerosis: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/multiple_sclerosis/detail_multiple_sclerosis.htm. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010.
- Burt RK, et al. Autologous non-myeloablative haemopoietic stem cell transplantation in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a phase I/II study. Lancet Neurology. 2009;8:244.
- Foley F, et al. Taming stress in multiple sclerosis. National Multiple Sclerosis Society. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/search-results/index.aspx?q=stress&x=0&y=0&start=0&num=20. Accessed Oct. 15. 2010.
- Harmon M. Exercise as part of everyday life. National Multiple Sclerosis Society. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/search-results/index.aspx?q=exercise&sitesearch=&x=0&y=0&start=0&num=20. Accessed Oct. 14, 2010.
- Medication guide: Gilenya. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/index.cfm?fuseaction=Search.Label_ApprovalHistory. Accessed Oct. 20, 2010.
- Lucchinetti CF (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Oct. 18, 2010.
- Baclofen. Micromedex Healthcare Series. http://www.micromedex.com. Accessed Nov. 23, 2010.
- Tizanidine hydrochloride. Micromedex Healthcare Series. http://www.micromedex.com. Accessed Nov. 23, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on