Many autoimmune and inflammatory disorders share symptoms with MS, sometimes complicating its diagnosis.

Getting the correct diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) can be a challenge. No single test can determine a diagnosis conclusively, and not everyone has all of the common symptoms of MS, such as numbness, tingling, pain, fatigue, and heat sensitivity. And to complicate matters, the symptoms you do have may resemble symptoms of some other condition.

To figure out what’s causing a person’s symptoms, doctors look at their medical history, the results of a neurological exam, an MRI, and sometimes a spinal tap, says Jack Burks, MD, a neurologist and chief medical officer for the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America. "The diagnosis can also require eliminating the possible MS mimicker diseases," he says. That leads to an MS diagnosis by exclusion.

Here are some conditions that can be mistaken for MS, starting with the most common:

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted through a tick bite. Early symptoms include fatigue, fever, headache, and muscle and joint aches. Later symptoms can include numbness and tingling in the hands and feet as well as cognitive problems, such as short-term memory loss and speech problems. If you live in an area that’s known to have Lyme disease or have recently traveled to one, your doctor will want to rule out the possibility, Dr. Burks says.

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