Multple Sclerosis

Posted By Martha on July 27, 1998 at 14:39:44:







I am a 43 year old woman who was initially diagnosed with MS in 1981 after eight years of recurring bouts of optic neuritis.  The diagnosis was arrived at via a positive spinal tap.  Throughout the intervening years I have continued to experience relapses and remissions, primarily sensory: ON, nostagmus, double vision, fatigue, leg jumps, feelings of hot/cold and the like.  Each time I was treated with Prednisone given orally. My most recent bout with ON left me with 35% vision in my right eye and I was told this was caused by the Prednisone.  I have since changed neurologists.  My new doctor questioned 1)my original diagnosis, 2)could 'see' nothing wrong with my right eye (though previously diagnosed by a retinal specialist as well as an opthalmic-neurologist) and had me take an MRI.  The MRI revealed that I had "silent lesions clustered around the ventricles".
Given this background, I hope you could answer some questions for me:
   1) Can Prednisone cause lack of visual acuity?  
   2) What type of drug can or should I take when I relapse in order not to
      loose any more of my sight.
   3) Could you explain for me what silent lesions are, and if there is  
      any significance ot the location around the ventricles?