Hi, i am in the uk, was bad with anxiety few mnths ago had an mri in feb was ok,, had it becase of me side headaches, feels like cramp in the side of my head between eye and ear, spacey feeling, http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/dizzy.gif dizzy feeling etc they said it was anxiety when results came clear.. but all started again now but i am worse, and what ever i go to the docs for he says its all anxiety even my bad sinus affections was anxiety.. o my.. come on get real, any way ben to see 3 docs at the sergery and all said the same, but i am not happy with this, i know there is something wrong with me, had an mri in feb lasted 15 mins had no dye, my mate had one and hers lasted for 45 mins and she had dye, we both went for the same thing they found she has a tumour of the frontal lobe... i am so worried been 7-8 mnths now and i feel i am being puched away, so anyways cut to the chase..... how to i go about having another mri without being refered by my doctor, and if i wanted to go private ide have to be refered by doc to go private which will cost me loads of money, trvale 200 miles for nearest private clinic and also whats the bet my doc wouldve told him my situation (anxiety) i am FED up of being shrugged of.. any suggestions would be much appreciated ..

Thankyou and hugs to you all

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donna

Unfortunately, unless you get a referral from a doc for a repeat MRI scan, then the only other way that you can get a repeat is to pay privately unless you have Bupa insurance or any other private insurance such as PPP.

The only other thing that you could do is to go and see a Bupa doctor privately and pay for your consultation. It normally costs about £47 a time. You may have to fill out a form, but you don't have to put your GP details down and they never seem to ask too many questions. You could tell him your symptoms and get him to examine you and then you would have to wait and see if he felt that your symptoms warranted an MRI scan. If so, you or your insurance would have to pay for it. You would get it done sooner, but may have to travel.

If you can't do this, then I don't know where you live in England? but if you live in London, there are at least two private GP and visiting doctor services. You can call them out to come and see you or make an appointment to go in and see them. There are also walk-in GP services around the London stations and landmarks where you can just walk in and ask to be seen by a doctor. They will examine you and perform blood tests and can refer you for other test if they feel it is necessary. Depending on other parts of the country, there are other services of this sort around. Just look in the yellow pages or on the internet.

I have to say though that an MRI scan is one of the most accurate diagnostic tools available, whether performed with or without contrast - there may have been specific reasons why they did not want to give you constrast, and if you did have a tumour, it would definitely have shown up on this. All the scans are checked and reported on by a fully qualified Radiologist. If this did not show a tumour, then it has to be good news? Also, the fact that you have seen three different docs already and they have both agreed on your diagnosis must be telling your something?

I have to say that a lot of headaches and stomach problems can be caused by anxiety and you need to work on this and once you reduce your stress levels, you may find that your headaches go. Also, anxiety can make sinus problems worse and sinus problems can also make headaches worse too. You should look at cutting dairy out of your diet, as this can make sinus problems and headaches worse. Consider food allergies/intolerances as a cause.

Personally, if you have seen three docs already and had an MRI scan which was NAD, then I would not waste money on a repeat. I would suggest that you have some allergy/intolerance tests done and work on your stresses and anxieties and once you have those under control, you might find that you start to feel a lot better generally.