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small vessel white matter disease

Is small vessel white matter disease a form of MS?   I seem to have all the symptoms of MS plus I have Celiac Disease which seems to be related.   I am confused....
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987762 tn?1671273328
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi and welcome to our little MS community,

I would also recommend you start a new thread post and introduce your self to everyone, you'll get a lot more people responding to a new post (this is from 08) and someone may be able to recommend who to go and see in your state.

You haven't mentioned if you did get to see the new neurologist or not, so i'll assume that that hasn't happened yet and its just the new GP that is questioning your MS dx. We've had a few MSers over the years, say that their dx is being questioned by their new neuro because of their older than the norm age but never because they're only 35! That thought/sound bite/opinion is so wrong just coming out of the gate, it makes me wonder what else he could possibly be thinking it is or be getting wrong?

Btw your right that it doesn't make sense because 35 is well within the most common age group for MS. And before you start trying to work out on your own, what else it could be, if its not MS. I'd highly recommend you put your concerns aside for now, take a breath and wait until you've seen and got the opinion of the neurologist, who i hope specialises in MS and isn't just a general neuro!

It seems to be a common theme, when a dx MSer has had their dx questioned, it seems to happen when (for what ever reason) they have had to see a new dr but its actually less common these days to be misdiagnosed with MS because of the 'Mcdonald Criteria'. So if you did previously meet the criteria for MS and was dx and treated for MS (DMD?) and since no other 'more likely' dx has been discovered to explain 'all' your sx's, diagnostic evidence etc. Then to me it wouldn't make any sense to just take it away so i'd have to assume your dx of MS will not be revoked with out an alternative dx to explain it.

Now just to muddy the waters, do you know if the MRI was done with MS protocol, which give smaller slices etc or not and what strength MRI it was eg 1.5T or 3T? And considering part of your sx's could be dx with further testing, have you ever had a full spinal MRI or had your vision assessed for optic neuritis? True to form, lol i just have toooooo many questions going around in my head, if you do have other diagnostic evidence, its always a good idea together what you have because it will all help.  

We cant really interpret MRI findings, we often know what MRI findings are common for MS, whats needed for the Mcdonald criteria etc but with what little you've provided, i'd think it would be impossible for anyone here to give you anything, sorry!

Cheers........JJ      

Helpful - 0
751951 tn?1406632863
Yeah, the cold turkey order and the fact that he thinks 35 is the wrong age for MS make me wonder where the fellow got that degree.  Jus' sayin'.
Helpful - 0
1045086 tn?1332126422
I'm sorry you are having such a hard time.  The internet isn't actually a very good place to get an interpretation of a MRI report.  There are so many possible causes of white matter changes.  Your best bet is probably to wait on your appointment with the neuro.  I hope he is one that will look at the actual images and review them with you in the office.  Did the radiology department where you had it done give you a CD copy of the images?  They usually do it at no charge if you request it.

You probably didn't notice but this thread hasn't seen the light of day in over four years.  Not many people are likely to notice your add-on.  Using the "Post a Question" icon near the top of the page to start a new question of your own will likely get you a better responses from more people.

For what it's worth, I'd look for a new GP.  The one you have now may have had good reason to want you off of narcotic pain medication but in my opinion, the sudden and complete withdraw of all your pain medication was a cruel act - not to mention, potentially very dangerous.
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Avatar universal
my last dr and neurologist treated me for ms due to the lessions on the mri and the symptoms it started with bad headaches and pain all over it would just go away and when it came back it always seemed to come back worse than ever.  i fell two years ago my brain thought it told my feet to walk but my feet didnt get the message i fell and broke both feet. the same thing happened last month i broke only one foot this time thankfully. the problem is both my dr and neurologist retired i had to get a new family dr and a new neurologist! my family dr said he just didnt agree with the diagnosis of ms because im only 35 years old wich makes no sense to me but he has the degree so whatever. took me off all pain meds i thought i was gona die the first two weeks and still suffer ALOT. he sent me for a new mri and made me an appt with a new neurologist he sent me results of the mri saying "several deep white matter damages" when loking this up the internet comes up binswanger disease does this illness cause the same physical widespread pain? and my vision is going out in one eye my hands and feet stay ice cold i get alot of headaches a migraine about twice a month and about every other day i feel like i have a brain freeze that lasts for hours (without eating or drinking anything cold) i have anxiety BAD and get soo depressed and go days without sleeping and now idk whats wrong with me i feel like im gona loose my mind if anyone can help me please any advice would be appreciated ***@****
Helpful - 0
405614 tn?1329144114
Hello,

I too am curious what brought you to ask this question.  Did you have a brain MRI because of some symptoms you were having?  Did the radiology report suggest the possibility, or a doctor that discussed the results with you?

Which symptoms of MS are you having?  Is that what brought you to consult with a doctor, or are you just suspecting that you may have it, and have been doing some research on the internet.  That can be very confusing.

As I understand, small vessel white matter disease, or what I have heard of as small vessel ischemic disease, which shows small lesions in the white matter, is generally a result of things like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, migraines, and sometimes other reasons.

Such lesions would not cause symptoms as one would experience from MS.  Of course, I'm no expert, either, but I've sure done a lot of reading.

Let us know some more about you, and I'm sure someone with a lot more knowledge and experience can help you find the answers you're looking for, or at least know which direction to point you in!

Helpful - 0
486038 tn?1300063367
Hi there, I'm not that qualified to answer your question, I'm going to bump it to the top. can you help us by giving us a few more details? Did your MRI show upt this small vessel white matter disease? where they looking for MS?

Hang in there, hopefully someone will drop by and either have an answer or be able to research it thoroughly for you!
~Sunnytoday~
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