MRI came back normal can i still have MS

[deeaberdeen]

Hi Guys,

so I have now had my MRI scan and results, which have come back 'normal' the GP has suggested it could be Fibro, although he did the fbro 18 point test and i had NONE of them.

Is it possible something has been missed?  i have weak legs, very slow movement, i lose balance to the left a lot,
i get foot cramps, ringing in ears, i had an episode of walking along and feeling very strangely tall, like the pavement was very far away, my calves feel like they are locked in a vice,
my MRI was done without contrast, just of Brain and neck,
pleasr help as i really feel like i need help, as no one is understanding me. I lose my taste buds a lot, or smell burning that is not really there, i am seeing phosphenes all the time, my left eye has double vision now.

[deeaberdeen]

Hi super mum

All I got back was a letter from the Nuero saying my
scan was normal , he didn't do tests for those things
you mentioned,
My own gp first referred me as she noticed my hyper - reflex
and was concerned ..
I got my partner to do babinski sign test on my feet
and what we noticed was no reaction in my R foot , I couldn't feel
anything - it was just numb - he thought that was strange
as previously I had really thickly feet
the nuero I saw had little interest in me,
I felt , and he specialises in headaches
I asked my gp if we had any MS specialists I could be referred
too he said we have one at ARI
He is also referring me back to eye specialist
as the light phosphenes I am seeing are getting worse
my walking is getting slower and slower ,
My MRI was only done on head and neck , would it make a difference if I had had my spine done also ? and with contrast ?
I am very forgetful , forgetting things people have just told me.

[supermum_ms]

Hey there,

Ess mentioned a lot of my thoughts, I think the thing to keep in mind whilst trying to work out causation.........is for it to be a neurological condition like MS, you need to have some clinical signs of neurological damage.

If your neurological assessments are clinically normal and your MRI's, VEP, LP etc etc are also normal, then it's 'very unlikely' for it to be a condition like MS causing your sx's BUT if you do have the clinical signs, you definitely need further neurological testing despite what your MRI results showed......

Do you know if you had any abnormal clinical signs eg Hyper-reflex, Babinski's sign, Hemiparesis, Clonus, Spasticity, Nystagmus, Optic Neuritis etc etc ?

Cheers.........JJ

[deeaberdeen]

Hi Ess, thanks for reply , sometimes as no one else understands this is the one place I can speak to those who know what this is like.
I have asked my gp if we have an MS specialist at our local hospital he says there is one !
so he has re referred me, and referred me to eye specialist .  I feel a lot of my symptoms worsen when I over heat, as last week I was too hot in the office and was so unwell .
my walking is worsening , I feel like they are robot legs.

[essdipity]

Yes it's possible to have MS without *visible* lesions on MRI, as about one in twenty fall into this category. MS requires lesions (scleroses), but they're not always identifiable on MRI at the beginning.

Remember that the MRI is a relatively new technology, but people have been diagnosed with MS for several generations at least. The MRI is a tool in the neurologist's arsenal, among quite a few. Perhaps the best one is a thorough neurological examination, stem to stern, as it were. A competent and experienced neuro can tell a great deal just by that. If you are not now seeing an MS specialist, this is the time to start.

Whether or not you'd get an actual diagnosis at this point is questionable, but at least you'd be under the watchful eye of someone who knows what to look for. Subsequent MRIs could tell a different tale.

ess