AM I in Denial???

I had   sudden hearing loss in my right ear one day then the next 2 days i was very sick throwing up and could not get of bed.
When i went to the doctor he said a zoster virus had attacked my ear, gave me steroids and antiviral meds.,antibotics.
I went to several other hearing specialist and they said the same thing.  
       I then go to a neuro he does a MRI and says i have 9 spots in my brain and 1 in the stem, demyelination and white matter
tracks and that I have MS.    MS is what caused my hearing loss.   He wont do a spinal tap because he says that he is that sure of MS and no need to do that dangerous test.
       NOW MY QUESTION IS  could the Zoster virus have crossed the blood brain barrier since i did not get meds for that for.a week or so.??  Can the Zoster Virus cause these lessions. ??    P.S.   i have had the zoster virus again on my chest!!!

[Sara Khan]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

Without the ability to examine you and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of your symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

The first thing you describe, with the hearing loss, vomiting and inability to get out of bed, does indeed point towards a viral infection. This is usually associated with severe pain due to the eruption of vesicles on skin of your outer ear and the ear canal. If you did have all of these symptoms, then you most likely had zoster or what we call "Ramsey Hunt Syndrome". If you did not develop the rash, then it probably still was a virus, causing an inner ear infection. Alternatively, if one of the white matter lesions in your brainstem was in the area which controls hearing, balance etc, then that could also have caused the same symptoms, but they would be more longer lasting.

Coming to the second more concerning part. It is of great concern that you have numerous white matter lesions. One of the criteria of diagnosis of MS is the number of lesions, and it seems that you do fulfill the criteria as you have the minimum of 9 different lesions. By guidelines, that is enough for a diagnosis, and does not need to be confirmed by ancillary tests.

Addressing your questions about how it can be related to a virus: there is a demyelinating process called Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis ( ADEM) which is more often seen in children and younger adults but can be seen in an older age group.This is not because of the actual virus attacking the brain, but more because of the immune response of the body against the virus, which ends up attacking the brain. It tends to happen after a possible viral illness or immunization. It tends to be an acute illness, patients are more sick with neurological symptoms when compared to MS.

If the virus itself attacked the brain,again you would be more sick, with fevers, neurological symptoms, confusion, disorientation etc

Patients with MS usually complain of fatigue. They can have episodic neurological symptoms which resolve, but usually patients are not as sick as patients with viral brain infections or ADEM. The jury is still out on the triggers of MS. One possibility is a viral trigger.

If you are doing well otherwise, and this has been going on for a while, then chances are that this may indeed be MS, and that the Zoster and MS are two separate things. Again I can not say for sure with out the ability examine you.

You should discuss treatment options with your doctor. If you are not satisfied, then you can try getting a second opinion at a center where they have neurologists who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of MS.

I hope this helps. Good Luck.