Scarring in the Brain?

[Dee050807]

I am a 26 year old woman. I recently had the oncoming of some odd sympotoms, facial numbness on my right side, jaw pain, eye pain when I look at lights or move all the way to one side or another, and really bad headaches. I have also been really fatigued. I went to the doctor who took blood and said I probably had lymes disease. But when she did the test, I only had 1 out of the 3 enzymes. I am currently taking the antibiotics for that, although they are not sure if I do or do not have it. They took an MRI of the brain and said they found some scarring. That was pretty much all they said and told me to make an appointment with a neurologist. I have an appointment at the end of the month. Just wondering if anyone had similar symptoms. It is very hard to concentrate right now because I have this cloudy feeling in my head. It does not hurt just feels wierd, very hard to explain. Does this sound like anything to anyone? Help!

[cfloyd75]

I have been diagnosed with some of the symptoms you are having and scarring on the brain as well.  My vision has weakened so much in the last month and half that my eye doctor has revoked my night time driving and wanted me to stop driving in the day time as well, but I have children and I have to work. I have migraines more often than usual, muscle weakness, numbness and pain in my face, both arms,hands, left leg, tingling sensations, my speech has slowed and slurred since this began, short memory loss, poor sleep, mood swings, and very fatigued more than usual.  I just had an MRI without contrast and they found several areas of scarring and said that is was due to migraines and I need to see a neurologist. I do not have seizures and or any trauma to my head. I do not agree that all of my scarring is caused from  migraines and therefore want a second opinion. If you feel there is something more underlying, I believe you should follow that gut instinct until you are satisfied with the answers you are looking for and or diagnosis/second opinion.

[Jules77733]

Did you suffer any kind of injury at any point in your life that may have hurt your brain? A concussion while playing sports, or something? It's very odd...but then again, what in medicine isn't! Keep me posted once you hear anything else; I'll be thinking of you!

[Dee050807]

No, not at this point, I am happy to say! I guess I'll just have to wait and see the doctor to see what they think I should do next. It's terrible to be in the "don't know what going on" phase!

[Jules77733]

I understand what you mean. I'm still in the "don't know what's going on with me" phase, and I've been stuck here for almost 10 months now. If you had really visible lesions on your brain that are a result of MS, I can almost guarantee that you'd have a lot of accompanying symptoms. Do you have any difficulty walking, muscle weakness or pain, resting tremor, etc.?

[Dee050807]

I think I get it now. That deifnaltey painted a better picture for me. I am worried that it is the start of MS but that they won't really be able to tell. I looked up MS and it says it is so slow that you can not always tell that that is what it is until there is more damage...I just don't understand what could have caused scarring? I do not have or have had seizures, trauma, or anything like that that would have caused it. But odd for the symptoms to come on so quickly!

[Dee050807]

Okay, well that makes me feel better. Do you get these odd feelings in your head, like a cloudy feeling? Good luck on your journey. Thanks for the help!

[buriedinfur]

Just to quickly address the tumor vrs contrast thing - contrast is used to look at the scarring to see if some active process is going on to cause more scarring. Any tumor should have shown up fine without the contrast and they should have already let you know about it. So at least you can wipe that one off your list of worries.

I've got a spotty brain too and am going through a bunch of other tests for it, so I know it's a frusterating process. Hope that you get some relief and answers soon.

[Jules77733]

From what I understand, they essentially mean the same thing. Perhaps the way in which they are used is a little differently--lesions usually refer to a localized "patch" that shows up on the brain in an MRI, whereas scarring seems a little more general and wide-spread. But a scar is a lesion, while a lesion can be a scar but isn't always a scar. Some lesions can heal themselves completely over time, and include things like infections (which would look like a 2-D patch since bacteria or fungi spread out rather than clump together, if that makes sense). The actual definition of lesion is "a localized pathological change in a bodily organ or tissue", meaning that a scar is a lesion, though not every "pathological change" is a scar--it can involve bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc. rather than just scar tissue, what is probably being seen on your MRI. Scarring refers to an area of tissue that has been damaged, and subsequently repaired, or patched up, with collagen, a common constituent of our cells' extra-cellular matrix.

I hope this helps...to me, a scar can be called a lesion, whereas a lesion wouldn't always be assumed to be a scar. It wasn't a silly question, by the way. It certainly made me think!

[Dee050807]

The MRI will be sent to the Neurologist by my docotor, I justhave not gotten a copy. I WILL make sure I do though. Thanks for that...Does scarring mean lesions? Or could be anything I guess I guess the regular internal medicine doctor who prescribed the first MRI is not the best person to read them...But, does that mean that "scarring" could be lesions? I'm knew at this...Sorry for silly questions. Thanks for the help.

[Jules77733]

The neurologist will likely order another MRI, but this time have it done with contrast. It sounds like some of your symptoms could be directly related to the lesions that showed up in your initial MRI (especially the right-sided facial numbness, indicative of damage to one of the major cranial nerves; this can be reversible, however)--or perhaps are attributable to the ones that may not have shown up, yet.

Getting a copy of your MRI is crucial, especially if they aren't forwarding a copy to the neurologist you'll be meeting with--bring your disk and report along with you to the appointment.

Good luck and I hope you get an answer soon!

[Dee050807]

Thanks! I will make sure I get copies. The MRI was without contrast because it was just a general imaging. I don't think they expected to find anything. I'm just not sure what scarring means. Could there be a tumor or something that they did not see because there was no contrast? This feeling in my head is so uncomfortable and makes me feel weird. I just want to see the doctor but have to wait. They are all on vacation for the holidays... Thanks for your help.

[selmaS]

did u get a copy of ur MRI on disk and the report?...u may request one, without the entire report it is diff to speculate as to what is going on.
do u know if they also looked for lupu, MS or chiari?

was ur MRI w.\/wo contrast?

Unfortunatly, ur symptoms fit several conditions, with out testing for all to rule them out it will be diff to dx.

get  ur copies....of all reports.

Good luck
Godspeed
"selma"