concerned about MS

[teenies]

Hello there
my symptoms started 18 months ago immediately following the birth of my daughter. When i was in labour on insertion of the epidural the catheter sheared off leaving 4.5 inches of catheter at the level of L2.  I am 30 yrs of age and previously very fit and well.  main symptoms to date , parasthesia to left arm and leg( initially was only left leg until feb this year) .  Bladder difficulties sometimes urinary retention and other times complete lack of bladder control( never lasting more than 3-4 days at a time.  I was admitted to hospital in Feb with stroke like symptoms ( unable to move left arm or leg initially, very poor balance this took about 4 days to return to normal all this occured about 5 weeks after a suspected bout of optic neuritis.  Unenhanced MRi study of brain normal.  Visual evoked potentials abnormal.  Spinal fluid mildly reactive no malignant cells and not oligoclonal bands.  Had VEP's repeated this may and results were worse than in Feb.  Had another bout of ? optic neuritis in april which may account for worsening latency of optic nerve. my neuro has said that he cannot rule out MS as have ongoing waxing and waning symptoms and veps abnormal.  My question is is it likely that i will have MS in the future and is there anychance that having a foriegn body such as a length of epidural catheter in the area could cause these symptoms

thank you very much for your time

have started low dose amitryptilline for nerve pain and soon to try gabapentin to see if that helps also. need to self catheterise at times ,  no further meds

[cvo]

I have tried on numerous occasions to post a question, but have never beem able to get on.  I am hoping that the neurologist may see my comment and respond.  I am a 49 year old female and had never had any problems until February of 2000.  Not even colds or flu.  I woke up one morning in February of 2000 with both of my arms numb.  To make a long story short, I had a bone spur growing into my spinal cord.  I had a cervical discectomy the next week.  Two and a half weeks later my body began going numb from my feet up.  When it reached my chest and I could not walk without assistance, I checked into the hospital.  They ran an MRI and visual evoked potentials the first day and they were both abnormal.  They diagnosed me with multiple sclerosis.  The next day after the blood work returned, they said that I did not have enough B-12 left in my body to even register so they dropped the MS idea and started giving me B-12 injections and by the end of the week the numbness had gone back down to the top of my legs.  Both of my legs are still numb and the doctors say that it will be permanent.  As a notation in the MRI report, they saw a polyp in my right maxillary sinus and suggested that I look into that once I had my strength back.  I went to an ENT for the polyp and 2 weeks later was told that I had an esthesioneuroblastoma.  I was sent to M.D. Anderson and it was removed.  I followed with six weeks of radiation.  A year after the radiation, I was still having extreme fatigue.  I then had a lumbar puncture test which was normal.  I wanted to definitely rule out the MS so I went to the MS center here in Atlanta.  He looked at my brain and spinal MRI's, my visual evoked potentials and the lumbar puncture reports.  He said that I definitely had MS and I have had it for quite a while.  I have since also been diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis which is also another autoimmune disease.

My three questions are:
  1. Could all of my problems have been a result of late diagnosis with the pernicious anemia which weakened my body to the point where the other problems were allowed to develop?
  2. How do I know if I truly have multiple sclerosis if the pernicious anemia has similar symptoms?
  3.  Have you ever know anyone to have so many odd diseases in one body?  All of this happened in a space of 3 years.

Thank you very much for your time.  I think that I would be a good candidate to study.  The doctors just tell me that I am a complicated case.  I am still working full time and will continue until I can no longer do it.  I am a fighter.  Thank you again.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-CS]

The catheter in the lumbar region should not cause these symptoms. Traditionsl MS and other CNS inflammatory disorders need to be excluded. Perhaps a second opinion at a large academic MS center would be reasonable. They will be able to review your studies and then arrange the appropriate testing to confirm or deny the diagnosis. If you are in the area, our Mellen center for MS is one of the best in the world.