Can this be partial TM?

[taiga]

Thank you for the website. I am an otherwise healthy 43 year old female.  On December 16, 2003 I had a flu vaccine.  On December 18th I had a herpes type II outbreak. The next morning I woke up with vertigo, nausea and inner ear pressure in my right ear.   On December 27th I started having intense muscle spasms and sharp pains around my heart.  On Dec. 30th I went to the ER because I thought I was having a heart attack.  A heart ultrasound was normal.  The deep chest pains lasted about two weeks. I then started to have sharp pains and tingling in my chest but more on the surface instead of the deep chest pains.  I also began to have a sensation of coldness in the center of my chest.  I have intense burning in both breasts, my underarms, my back and scalp. I get very intense pains in my skull/scalp mostly along the top and sides of my skull. I also have sensations of coldness (like ice water in my veins)  very intensely throughout my torso and down my arms and my back and in my legs.I also have tingling sensations in my legs, arms,back face and scalp.  The neurologist gave a tentative partial transverse myelitis diagnosis.  MRI's of the cervical spine and brain have been examined by the radiologist but not the neurologist.  Both were normal.  Can I have partial TM w/ a normal MRI?  Can the herpes virus enter the spinal cord & cause these type of symptoms?   Is there anything else that can cause these symptoms?  W/ transeverse myelitis is the damage continuing? Can herpes infect the nerves themselves?  This has been a very frightening 3 mos.  Thank you for your response.

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

Transverse myelitis is simply an inflammation of the spinal cord, which can have various causes. To explain all of your symptoms the myelitis would have had to be very high in the spinal cord. The other possibility would have been inflammation within the brain. If the MRI's were done with contrast it would be unlikely to miss inflammation. Other conditions to be considered include connective tissue disorders, vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies, lyme disease, and syphylis to name a few. If the MRI is truely normal, perhaps an evoked potential would be useful to test the sensory pathways.

If this is transevers myelitis the majority of these cases are self limited and would not progress. Regarding herpes, the virus lives within the nerve cells and occasionally reactivates. This is why an outbreak always occurs in the same areas. However, I have never heard of herpes infecting the spinal cord.

If you do not receive answers to your condition with your current neurologist, I would encourage you to obtain a second opinion. Good luck.

[Debbie1965]

A related discussion, Neurology/Epidural Block/Seizures was started.

[Debbie1965]

A related discussion, Chronic Headache/Epilepsy was started.