Whit spots on Brain in MRI

[Deb A]

I have been seen by a cardio Dr. and 2 Nuerology Dr's. I have had 2 MRIs one of my brain which showed white spots all over the white matter of my brain, then one of my C spine because I get headachea from there, and I had an MRA of the brain, and all kinds of cardiologic tests.  the blood work has all come back negative, no lymes, no other problems, no ANA problems.  The thing is I passed out once, and I am constantly exhausted, and have been diagnosed previously with Myo Facial Pain Syndrome, and Migraines.  Now they want to send me all around the state to an epilepsy specialist.  I have never had a seizure, and when I passed out, it was just that, no convulsions or tongue biting.  I am wondering if Migraines is the cause, and if I am wasting time and money going to see an epilepsy specialist, for nothing?? I think I have ME, and no one is paying attention to the pain, and the exhaustion??

I dont know what else to say to the Dr's to make them look at what I feel??  

Help

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

Sorry to hear about your symptoms. I can understand how frustrating it must be not knowing what's going on and going for test after test. COmmunication between you and your physicians will be key in proper diagnosis and treatment of your illness. There's not enough information provided for me to try and figure out what this could represent. But a good start would be to discuss with your doctors which symptom bothers you the most and has really affected your way of life. If it's headache, then you should talk to them about trying some medications specific to what type of headache you have for symptomatic relief in the midst of your diagnostic studies.
As I have not personally examined you nor reviewed your films, I'm not in any position to tell you whether or not you should see an epilepsy specialist. However, before seeing an epilepsy specialist, consider getting an EEG to see if there is any evidence of seizures. Another option would be a video EEG monitoring to see if they can pick up an episode of "passing out" and look for any concomitant seizure activity. As for white spots on the brain, that can mean a lot of things depending on where and how many. You really need to sit down and talk to your docs about what's going on, what your tests mean, and what you should do about your symptoms. Good luck,

[Enhanced Lesions on White Matter]

I dont know what ME is there are other answers here on the site that explain possible reasons for white matter foci or spots or lesions.  All say migraine headaches. I thought that was the best reason for my spots and turned out to be MS. I hope you find out soon. Glad that you had the mris so now they have a base line.  Good luck

[Deb A]

thank you Islander, the white foci, is in the white matter all over the brain... its kinda reminisent of swiss cheese but smaller holes... It's the fatigue that gets me most of all, the headaches are bad, but with med's they have gotten better, non of my nuero work ups including eeg had anything significant to discuss, thats why I guess they want to send me to NYU but, I just feel like with all thats been done, there should be some kind of answer.  I will keep checking this post.  

Thanks again.

Deb

[searching]

Hi Deb...

Just wanted to mention that seizures do not always present themselves as convulsions, tongue biting, etc.  There are many types of seizures...  for example, "passing out" could really be what is referred to as a "drop seizure."  

So, I think your docs are smart to evaluate the possibility of seizures.  I'm not suggesting that you do have seizures, but if I were you, I'd jump at the opportunity to have a thorough work up to make sure it's completely ruled out.  In an odd way, you're "lucky" to be offered the testing because some docs are not educated about the different, more subtle, seizure presentations - which can lead to unnecessary delay in diagnosis and treatment.

Also, in regards to your normal EEG, sometimes EEGs can be normal in between episodes... so, more extensive EEG testing may be necessary.

[born2chirp]

I recently had an MRI (3rd in my life) and they found white spots on my brain too.  They weren't sure what to make out of them, so a lumbar puncture was ordered, as well as a full blood work up (no results yet, but soon).  My neurologist believes it may be either as a result of or caused by the complicated migraines I have been getting since I was 8 years old (1981). I had spent two weeks in the hospital at that time, where I had a left temporal lobe brain biopsy, because doctors had to rule out the possibility of herpes encephalitis.  My doctor figured out later that I suffered from complicated migraine with hemiparesis.  I have been hospitalized many times for this chronic condition, some for extended periods of time, with the worst being in 1989 lasting a month when I was 16 years old.  I have tried all sorts of drugs and treatments, and none seem to have helped me very much.  I still have to drop whatever it is I happen to be doing on the onset of the attack and immediately try to sleep it off in a darkened room with the radio on and have an icepack from the freezer in hand going straight to the pain in my head.  Lately I have been taking Advil for the pain, but that doesn't help with the hemiparesis.  Usually I will fall asleep easily for a while, but the pain and discomfort are there for up to 12 hours or so, but on occasion symptoms will linger, depending on what the cause may have been.  I am still trying to determine exactly what that may be, but I have adjusted my diet over the years to exclude obvious triggers, such as cured meats, red wine and sharp cheeses (and other foods with high sulfite,nitrite, and other ingredients ending in -ite levels) and increased consumption of foods of a mostly organic nature (wherever possible).  This seems to help, as well as regular exercise, eating and sleeping habits.  I know that when there are drastic changes in barometric pressure levels, often times that is when an attack will occur, but there really is nothing I can do to change the weather.  Stress is also something I have learned to manage, but when stress levels are high, a migraine is close behind (or rather the sudden disappearance of stress rather than a slow decrease of stress).  Although I still suffer from migraines, I don't seem to get them as often or as severe as I used to, but I still would like a final answer as to why I still get them and what I can do to never get another one again.  I don't know that this can really be answered, as it is different for everyone, but maybe as doctors find out more about migraines and other related problems, it will help everyone find the answers they are looking for.

[linniekm]

I am a 36 wf, normal health, I think, except for the following...

I went to a radioligist 2 years ago for an MRI for neck pain.  (my sister works for a doctor, she goes a little overboard sometimes and sent me there) anyway, the MRI revealed those damed white spots on my brain, a second revealed progression, and herniated disks in the spine.  I was sent to a neuroligist immediately after, who told me I most likely had MS and proceeded to do non evasive testing, and soon after, at a check up, had me admitted to a hospital to undergo steriod treatment for 2 days and to have a spinal tap.  He did not have a very good bedside manner, and proceeded to tell me that anything could happen, i.e. crippled, loss of vision, all that fun stuff.  I was told it was conclusive that it was MS.  I have switched doctors since, she is just as cold as the first, and she has put me on copaxone, I have been on that since Oct/01.  It has been two years since the diagnosis, and I feel exacty as I did before I was diagnosed.  Can they be wrong?  I feel like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. I just wanna know, if they can be wrong, I keep reading things about having to have had at least two relapses to verify MS, to be put on a treatment,  but as far as I know, there haven't been ANY.  I do feel very fortunate that all is well physically, but I am left wondering, could it be something else.  I read about the symptoms, I can say that I have very few of them, but so could anyone in any health condition.  The spots are, as far as I know just on my brain, can something else cause these?  Or should I do like my Doctors tells me and stop denying.  Sorry to babble, but I am frustrated!

[chapo]

White spots,or, hyperintense areas on brain MRI can indicate acute ischaemia. Meaning lack of blood flow to those tissues that are coming up white. In a younger person this may be a vascular abnormality in the smaller diameter arteries.

[lseven67]

I also recently had an MRI that showed white spots and was told by the neuro that he thought it was from migraines.  Since October I have been having numbness and tingling, muscle twitches, visual migraines, and buzzing sensations all over. He said after further testing it wasn't MS, and wasn't ALS.  He thinks I have restless leg syndrome and migraines.  But the twitches and spasms and buzzing is all over.  It goes away and then flares up again, like something viral.

I would love to have some answers, so if anyone gets any answers, please post them!  I am now on Klonopin for sleep, Zoloft, a baby aspirin a day and lots of natural supplements just to "stay afloat."  What is going on with all of us????

[Aspen]

I'm 26 year old and in January I came down with Vertigo/Dizziness, Head and Hand Tremors, which led me to get an MRI. The MRI showed "high intensity foci" on the right temporal lobe which my neurologist(2) have told me are nothing but normal growths. Does that sound right? Normal growths? Also, I have since come down with what I call "Baby Seizures" which affect my walking, balance, and my speach at times. My head tremors violently and I have to hold it in balance. This lasts 20 min. to 2 1/2 hours. My doctors told me that I have depression and to take a anti-depressent which I refuse to take, because I am not depressed. Not even in the slightest. What is up with these doctors all of a sudden pushing depression as an answer to all medical problems? Has anyone else experienced this? Noone will help me and my neurologist won't listen. I don't know where to turn to now, except to try more neurologists. Has anyone experienced these symptoms/problems?

[Aspen]

I'm 26 year old and in January I came down with Vertigo/Dizziness, Head and Hand Tremors, which led me to get an MRI. The MRI showed "high intensity foci" on the right temporal lobe which my neurologist(2) have told me are nothing but normal growths. Does that sound right? Normal growths? Also, I have since come down with what I call "Baby Seizures" which affect my walking, balance, and my speach at times. My head tremors violently and I have to hold it in balance. This lasts 20 min. to 2 1/2 hours. 24Hour EEG was Normal, but the ENG was Abnormal. What does that indicate? My doctors told me that I have depression and to take a anti-depressent which I refuse to take, because I am not depressed. Not even in the slightest. What is up with these doctors all of a sudden pushing depression as an answer to all medical problems? Has anyone else experienced this? Noone will help me and my neurologist won't listen. I don't know where to turn to now, except to try more neurologists. Has anyone experienced these symptoms/problems?

[redegg]

I have symptoms similar to Aspen - tremors, imbalance, dizziness, and also some skin burning sensations.  I'm currently waiting to find out if any white spots showed up on my MRI.  I'm posting because of what Aspen said about a trend for diagnosing vague symptoms as "stress," "anxiety" or "depression" without investigating further.  A couple years ago I had major stomach problems which were attributed to stress and depression.  I actually *was* depressed and stressed at the time, but it turns out that gallstones were actually to blame for the stomach pain.  Now that I've gotten my depression under control, it seems impossible to escape an automatic assumption that all vague symptoms are a result of my mental state.  *shrug*  I'm not an anxious person, this is probably the least stressful my life has ever been, and with medication and a year's worth of therapy, my depression is well-controlled.  I guess that's what's so frustrating...I feel like I'm having a great life, but there are niggling little vague symptoms that make me think that something physical might be going on.  

Well, sorry to vent.  I just wanted to say that you aren't alone in believing that things that shouldn't be are often being attributed to mental states.

[journey]

While having my MRI evaluated by a neurosurgeon for a brain tumor, he spoke to me about "high intensity foci in the frontal subcortical matter." He said that mine were caused either by migraine or the normal aging process (I'm 39). He also said that if most middle aged people had an MRI, they all would have some type of high intensity foci showing up, including himself.This put my mind at ease.

The caveat to this is that apparently "hyper" intense foci (not merely "high" intensity foci -- can implicate other conditions sometimes. Best of luck to you. I know how nervewracking it is to go through these things as I've been there myself.

[searching]

Um... journey, do I know you?!  ;o)  

Does the ER finale ring a bell?

[wife]

I am concerned about my husband. About 9 years ago he had an accident. A beam he was putting up fell and knocked him off a ladder and he fell face first on cement, the beam came down and hit him again. He had broken bones across his forehead, they had to reconstruct his nose, 2 blood clots to the brain. Three months later he had to have emergency surgery, there was a hole in his skull. He has recovered almost 100%, he does not taste, or smell, and has some short term memory loss. Lately he has been having headaches. He had an MRI done and it showed that he has a cyst in the back of his brain. It was not there after his accident. Is there something more we should be doing? Could it be because of the accident?
Thanks for any insight.

[dizzyd]

I have quickly read over some of the comments from you all.  My son is 18 and hopefully will graduate next month.  He has missed two weeks of school - due to migraines.  He has suffered from migraines for six years now.  After trying so much **** that didn't work, we finally found Maxalt.  It worked great!  For a while anyway.  At this time he has a migraine that he has had for four weeks now.

His doctor put him in the hospital and put him on 5-day treatment of ergotamine.  May have helped a little, but not much.  The doctor said it had to have helped him, and basically said that my son was faking.  What a crock!  

When he was in the hospital I asked his doctor to take some tests since the headache was so severe and painful, more so than any he has ever had.  Blurred vision has also occurred.  The doctor said it was pointless.  They ran a few tests and an MRI about three years ago.  Everything is fine.  What I am wondering.  Am I stupid?  Or isn't it possible that something could have happened since the last tests that are causing a serious and painful headache?  

Does anyone know what specific tests should be ran to rule out a serious or fatal condition?  I need help badly.

I cannot stand to see him this way.  His life is going down the tubes because of this.

A loving mom needs advice.

Please feel free to email me at ***@****

[Aspen]

For 3 months I've been trying to find out what was wrong with me. You can see my symptoms in my earlier post. I wanted to let everyone know that I finally have an answer to all those weird symptoms. I've been diagnosed with Complex Partial Seizures in the temporal lobe aka Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. My Neurologist told me that it's very hard to diagnose and because it's so hard to find many Neurologists just disregard the findings as something else. Even small blips on an EEG can be disregarded if the Neurologist isn't looking for it. I'm writing this in hopes that if anyone else had any of my symptoms too, then they can use this information to perhaps look into TLE and find out if this is possible what they have too. Good luck in your search and I wish all of you the very best!

[ptkyanth]

i was told my white spots were due to my lupus( i also have seizures). I was told to take an aspirin everyday in addition to seizure meds.

[carla472]

A related discussion, pain in foot,brown sequard was started.