MS question....

[Andrea`s_mommy]

Hi I had some neurological problems 7 mos. ago after the birth of my baby. I began having problems 2 weeks after she was born. I had tingling, numbness, twitching, cramping. I went to a neurologist after this all started. He performed an MRI of brain and C-Spine in about 0ctober `02. He also performed a NCT which was essentially normal, bloodwork-normal. I`m still experiencing a lot of these problems. I was under a lot of stress after my baby was born. So I`m curious... If the stress caused an autoimmune response in me such as MS, would the MS have shown up on the MRI`s about a month after the symptoms began? What may be causing this? Thanks...

[Andrea`s_mommy]

What`s your email? I`d like to email ya some more about your symptoms if possible. Thanks...

[blob]

Glad your tests are coming back normal like mine did.  I began to think i was going crazy becasue i knew i had the symptoms but nothing ever came back positive.  I did not have an epiderual and like i said my symptoms started at 8months or pregnancy.  Good luck and i hope all goes well for you.

[Andrea`s_mommy]

Hi Blob,
Thanks for your posts. I know how you feel... I just got back from my neurologist today. I had an evoked potentials nerve test done recently, and it came back normal too. So my MRI`s, blood, nerve tests, and evaluations, have all been normal. This thing has improved slightly, and I think we`ll all just monitor over time. But hopefully it`ll completely go away. If I start falling in the floor, blacking out, etc., I`ll definitley persue it more! How old are you? I`m 23, married, and this was my first baby. Did you take an epidural? I did. It had to be placed 3 times! How do you feel now?

[blob]

you name it i had it done...mri's brain, spinal, all kinds of blood work....nerve test (forgot name)  they thought it was MS at first.  When i was about 8 months preg. my left side of my body kept going numb..they thought stroke or ms....all tests were normal though..so we thought it just had to do with my pregnancy...well symptoms got much worse after the baby was born...dizziness..feeling very ill, no energy, weakness in legs etc.  this lasted a long time but slowly went away after a few years...its very scarey..  alot of posts i have read about...this has happened to many women after childbirth...my doctors to this day have no explanations....i have been to 2 neurologists....the one i currently see is an MS neurologist....he will just continue to monitor me and make sure i have no changes.  any other questions, feel free to ask...

[Andrea`s_mommy]

Hi Blob,
Thanks for posting a message to me; that`s encouraging to me. So far my tests have been normal too, but I have to go to the neuro doctor tommorrow for more results. I had an evoked potentials, and some heavy metals blood work done recently. I hope they`re normal too. Could you tell me a little bit about what happened to you, when, and what kinds of tests you had done? I`d appreciate it. My email is: ***@**** Thanks a  bunch!

[blob]

I had the identical thing happen to me after giving birth to my 3rd....after 3 years now of testing and not getting worse...i have just realized that this is part of my life and i need to just live my  life.  I have been through the MS/Lups rollercoaster but all my tests always come back normal...If you have any questions..please fell free to ask.

:)

[Andrea`s_mommy]

Hi Sanne,

Sorry to hear about your mom. I`m not sure if your post was to me or the doctor. If it was to the doctor, I`m afraid he won`t answer a post after the first question. You have to try to post your own question, not under another post, for him to answer it. As far as your mom... It`s good that her MRI was normal. I`ve read a lot on MS lately since I`ve been having problems, and from what I can tell, MS is definitely a clinical diagnosis. An abnormal MRI, Optic neuritis, and abnormal spinal fluid are usually strong indicators of MS; however no test is 100% for the disease. But a normal MRI, Neuro exam, and other normal tests, point away from a diagnosis of MS. It is hard to get a doctor to declare a person w/ MS if all of their tests are normal. Your mom may need more testing done other than an MRI. I however have no diagnosis yet, and am still having more testing done to rule out other possibilities, and try to find out what I have. I hope your mom doesn`t have MS and finds something out soon!

[Sanne]

My mother has been having prblems with her leg for over 2 years now.  The doctors are have no idea what is causing the problem.  Her leg gets really numb and feels very heavy.  Her eye sight is different now too.  The eye doctor says it looks like damage done by MS, but her MRI was normal.  When she had the MRI done she wasnt experiencing any of the symptoms.  10 years ago her face went numb for awhile then the full feeling came back and its been fine ever since could this be MS?

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

It's likely that there would have been changes on the MRI with the active symptoms if this were MS.  However, up to about 10% of patients who do have MS have an initial normal MRI. It's also important to keep in mind that stress in in itself can cause neurological symptoms such as numbness and tingling. Without seeing you personally or reviewing your diagnostic studies, it's very difficult to give an accurate opinion, especially without the full details as to where the numbness/tingling was on your body or face, what side, how long, etc... If the symtpoms are still significant, consider a followup with your neurologist to see if anything has changed on your exam.  One thing to consider is more extensive bloodwork to rule out other autoimmune diseases such as lupus or look at an electrolyte panel to make sure everything's ok like your levels of potassium, calcium and magnesium.  These blood tests are relatively inexpensive, easy to do, and noninvasive. If everything comes back normal, then you may want to consider elavil or neurontin for symptomatic treatment if you have stopped breast feeding. Good luck.

[Andrea`s_mommy]

By the way, the MRIs I had done in Oct. `02 were normal...