Questions posted in the Neurology and Neurosurgery Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Question Title: Are these MS symptoms?

Forum: Neurology Forum
Topic: Multiple Sclerosis

Almost a year ago I experienced a sudden loss of central vision in my left
eye. Many tests were run in order to locate the cause including MRI, chest
Xray and more blood tests than I can count. All came up normal.

This has since been described
as an "optic neuropathy of unclear etiology". The Neuropthamologist is
unsure whether this might be ischemic vs. optic neuritis. This symptom has
not changed and the only recommended course has been to take an aspirin a
day in case the problem is ischemic (blood related?).

Just the other day I have noticed that two of the toes on my right foot are
tingling and numb. It may be getting slightly worse, but not too much so.
I started doing some more research and see that both of these are signs of MS.
The Opth. mentioned this at the beginning when the MRI (brain only) was ordered,
but everything looked OK last November. My question is: Is this tingling
something to worry about? Is it time to go to the doctor? Do I need to see a
Neurologist. What do you think?

Thank you for your response.



Dear Paul,
Your symptoms a year ago did sound like optic neuritis. Was there pain and your age should help differentiate the two (optic neuritis is more common in younger population vs. ischemic optic neuropathy in older individuals).
If the tingling is transient (seconds/minutes/hours) this is probably not due to demyelination (the major pathology in MS).
Symptoms due to demyelination last for days/weeks, or may even persist.
The negative MRI is very reassuring, because abnormal MRI in someone with optic neuritis is a strong predictor for MS. In addition, your doctor may order spinal tap to evaluate your spinal fluid for possibiltiy of MS.
Another test is Visual Evoked Potential to check the integrity of the visual pathway. Anyway, it is not a bad idea to discuss these symptoms with a neurologis who are experienced in treating MS.

Good luck and I hope this helps.



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