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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffSigns and symptoms that may indicate transverse myelitis are generally severe and usually begin suddenly. Therefore, you'll likely need emergency or urgent care.
Questions that the attending doctor is likely to ask include the following:
- When did you first begin experiencing symptoms?
- How quickly have your symptoms developed?
- Do you have pain, tingling or other unusual sensations?
- How would you rate the pain on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being most painful?
- Have you experienced weakness or lack of coordination?
- Have you had problems with bowel or bladder control?
- Are you having any difficulty breathing?
- Have you been diagnosed or treated for any other medical conditions?
- Have you recently had any infections?
- Have you recently had any vaccinations?
- Have you traveled abroad lately? Where?
- Have you had any medical procedures in recent history?
- What prescription or over-the-counter medications do you take regularly? What are the dosages of each?
References
- Transverse myelitis fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/transversemyelitis/detail_transversemyelitis.htm. Accessed Oct. 24, 2010.
- Frohman EM, et al. Clinical practice: Transverse myelitis. New England Journal of Medicine 2010;363:564.
- Bhat A, et al. The epidemiology of transverse myelitis. Autoimmunity Reviews 2010;9:A395.
- Jacob A, et al. An approach to the diagnosis of acute transverse myelitis. Seminars in Neurology 2008;28:105.
- Weinshenker BG (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Nov. 3, 2010.
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