Thanks do much for all your encouraging eords, smarts, and support. YOU ALL ARE wonderful! I'll keep you posted! Used probiotics and the constipation is gone now! Hurray!
I've been tested for celiac's disease both with blood work and biopsy and turned up negative. Doc said I am gluten intolerant.
I will respond about the vision problems for the most part. I was borderline diabetic for a number of years and then one day my vision went blurry and could not walk due to extreme pain in my legs. When I got to the hospital they discovered my glucose was at 1100. My glucose was that high from eating too much carbs. This was the cause of the vision problems as well as the walking problems. Since then I have had to take insulin shots every day to control my glucose.
If you keep over eating carbs and your blood sugar keeps going too high you could end up losing your vision completely. I would seriously talk to you PC about this problem as it is most like your glucose causing the blurred vision.
Dennis
Just a thought, since you mention carbs. Some people have had experience with gluten intolerance (Celiac) causing MS type symptoms. I am not sure if this extends to eye symptoms though. Maybe someone else can comment on that.
A small lesion can potentially do more harm than 3 large ones, so it's not that simple. Much of this depends on location, and a lot of brain territory is 'vacant' in terms of lesion effect. Don't worry till they tell you to worry, which they won't. :-)
I don't know what to say about carbs and vision, except this can hardly be from MS. The central nervous system does not know what has been digested.
You are afraid and I get that. But if your brain fog and fatigue appeared after you learned you have a rather large lesion, consider that this could be cause and effect. Our brains and emotions are wily critters.... And it's very possible that your PCP has sent you to an MS center because that was his or her first thought, no more, no less. Not that MS is a foregone conclusion.
What I'm trying to convey is that anticipating the worst case scenario is never good and just causes double trouble. There's an excellent chance you don't even have MS. And if you do, well, there are far worse things, and now there are many MS treatments. But one thing at a time!
Oh one more thing... the 1.6 cm lesion was found in the deep white matter of my brain in the left frontal lobe. Hope that helps.
Hi There thanks for the reply! I've been besides myself with worry because I figured out that a 1.6 cm lesion was large and that's pretty scary. Ever since I received the news, I've had brain fog and fatigue... lol. I'm definitely stressed out for sure. Not knowing is terrible. My primary care sent me to an MS center so he is thinking MS even though the only symptoms I have are the ones listed above. I'm in school so now I'm thinking that I'll be cognitively disabled soon. I don't have much money and up until now I had a great career. So I'm freaked out. Enough with that... lol...
Let me respond to your comments above... yes the carbs I'm speaking about are the pasta, potatoes, bread type... if I overload on those the vision in my right eye seems... well... just different. It's not blurry so I can't see out of it... it's just different. My blood sugar is borderline diabetic and my blood pressure can be anywhere from 133/89 to 88/66...
I have had an OTC and am seen by a retina specialist who sees a lot of MS patients. He says that I do not display optic neuritis. I don't have loss of vision and the only time I have blurred vision us whwn I stare at my computer for hours without wearing my glasses or the strange vision in my right eye when I over eat carbs. I'll call my retina specialistand ask about visual evoked response test.
The new MRIs are being done with and without contrast. They are being done this Friday.
Hi there and welcome.
I don't (of course) know whether you have MS, but still I can offer some comments, so here goes :-)
Yes, a 1.6 cm lesion is large, but as the saying goes, size isn't everything. A lot depends on other factors.
Next, no one has all the MS symptoms, thank god, so don't worry on that score. I'd be more concerned about the eye symptoms you do have. Why are you sure it's not optic neuritis? A regular exam by an optometrist would not show this, and even an ophthalmological exam by an MD might not be conclusive. It's possible to have a lesion further back on the optic nerve that is not readily apparent, and which may not even be seen on MRI.
Have you had the visual evoked potentials test? That might be important for you.
What do you mean when you say you have visual symptoms only when you eat carbs? Stuffing yourself with pasta or bread? After all, veggies are carbs. We all eat and need carbs every day.
Constipation, though it can be associated with MS, is much more likely to occur from some other cause, especially early in the MS game. This could well be a coincidence.
Is your neurologist an MS specialist? Not an absolute requirement, but overall an extremely good idea. You could possibly avoid an LP if the doctor knows enough about MS otherwise.
As it stands now you aren't a candidate for an MS diagnosis, but all that could change, depending on your new MRIs. I hope they will be done with and without contrast, and according to the MS protocol.
Hang in there! If this turns out to be MS, it's often a waiting game, and that's just the nature of the beast. Good luck.