MS or not

[kmil1999]

I had an MRI done.  It said there was a small oval area of abonormal signal in the posterior right parietal lobe and a tiny nodule in the posterior basal gnglia on the right.  Impression: Two tiny areas of abnormal signal on the T2 and Flair sequence that are nonspecific.  My doctor said since I have had symptoms for a while, my MRI would have been worse if I had MS.  So is it normal to have the above and nothing be wrong?  Thanks for your help.  I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.  And tired of going to doctors.   Karen

[kmil1999]

I forgot to add that some labs were weird along endocrine issues (cortisol, ACTH) and my creatinine level goes up, my GFR goes down, and I have high protein in 24 hour urine test.

[kmil1999]

Thanks for the reply.  You too Sally!  I am 44 YO and have a long, quagmire like list of diagnoses: Chronic Fatique syndrome, fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Interstitial cystitis, Asthma, Narcolepsy, mild sleep apnea, Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, arthritis, degenerative disk disease, GERD and depression. Two other times I have been worked up for MS, both times they said that it must just be CFS acting like MS.  This was the first time the MRI had anything abnormal.  As far as symptoms, I have had fatique, pain, numbness, tingling, vertigo, ataxia, incontinence & urgency, blurred vision, swollowing difficulty, lose my voice, problems with speech, forgetfulness, memory problems, sleep difficulties, cold fingers,toes & nose, and today has been really bad with these weird stinging like pain on the back of my leg.  (kinda like bee stings) while the other leg was numb.  As far as blood work goes, my platelets usually run high, I have a history of high EBV IGG/IGM and my ANA is all over the place (sometimes negative, to mixed pattern as high as 1:160 homogenous & 1:160 speckled)and of course the MDS say this is normal . The problem is since I have been to so many doctors, I have not been very good a keeping track of my symptoms and if there is a pattern.  I figure the docs will say everything is fine and maybe it is a little denial on my part.  I am trying to figure out the tracker to use so that I am more reliable on knowing symptoms &/or patterns.  Sometimes I wonder if I were male if I would actually get an accurate diagnosis.  Lastly, I am not sure what the strength on the MRI was.  It does not mention anywhere on the report that I can see.  Thanks so much for the response.  I know I am not crazy, but sometimes all of the weird symptoms makes you feel that way!!!  Again, thanks all!      

[Salamander2]

Sometimes I don't "get" doctors.  You have symptoms, an MRI is ordered to rule out disease processes.  Your MRI is positive, suggesting MS and the doc doesn't accept it? If you do a test for a disease, why won't the doc believe the results???   Well too bad,  if he isn't smart enough to recognize MS you need to move on.
What I have learned from this site and reasearch:
Age doesn't matter
The size or number of lesions doesn't matter
A negative Spinal Tap doesn't matter
What matters?
The experience and knowledge of your Neuro matters
Your symptoms matter
Luck matters ;)

Don't give up!
Sally

[Quixotic1]

Hi, another welcome to the forum.  I hope you find us a good place to while away the time while you get all this sorted out.  I'm sure you noticed that our ratio of diagnosed with MS to undiagnosed is 3:4.

Your doctor is wrong in his assessment that your MRI would look worse because of the length of time you have been symptomatic.  I don't know whether your doc is your PCP or a neurologist.  If he is a neuro he should know that MS is far more variable with regard to how symptoms match up with lesions.  They often don't match up.   We have people here that have horrible symptoms and few lesions (I am one of them) and people with a brain full of lesions and just a few symptoms.  MS can't be that rigidly categorized.

But, why don't you tell us more about what is happening to you, when the symptoms started, how old you are and if there is any pattern of attacks which improve.

Also, what testing has been done?  What was the strength of the MRI machine?

My quick story is that I had only one small, measley brain lesion for two years with a negative spinal cord MRI.  However, I had severe fatigue, heat intolerance, right leg weakness with drop foot, R leg spasticity, diffuse hyperreflexia, incontinence, and R deltoid weakness with marked loss of R hand grip, plus congitive problems with memory and word recall.  So I had FAR more symptoms than could be explained by a single brain lesion.  The real story is that when I moved to a higher intensity MRI machine I actually had a spinal cord riddled with lesions.

So you know we are going to be recommending another opinion for you.  

Tell us your story and we'll be your cheer squad and personl guide as you jump through the remaining hoops.  I am not able to say whether you have MS.  that is something that can't be determined online.  But, you need a neuro that understands that the diagnosis of MS does not always appear magically and that all the mimics must be ruled out first.

Welcome, again

Quix

[kmil1999]

Thanks for the kind words.  I am so tired of jumping through hoops!

[PastorDan]

Welcome, Karen.  I wish I had a simple yes/no answer for your question.  You've come to the right place, though.  I believe that you'll be surrounded by people with accurate information and supportive spirits in this forum.  I'm calling it a night, but within 24 hours, you can be pretty sure you'll hear from a number of us.

Peace & blessings.