Gliosis. Dilated Pupil. Memory Loss. Help!!

[Josie72]

Hi Everyone, be gentle with me...first time poster.
I have an aunty who was diagnosed with MS about 20 years ago & in 2001 I was sent to a Neurologist questioning if I had the same.  My MRI conclusion in 2001 stated "Non-specific foci of increased signal intensity in the peritrigonal white matter bilaterally. These may represent small foci gliosis but given the patint's history small demyelinating foci should also be considered".  The increased intensity on the right was 1cm & 5mm on the left. At the time I was in an abusive relationship, I have had 3 abusive partners in total, so it was possible I had suffered head trauma. I never went back to the Neuro as he could not offer much explanation.
I am now 39 years old with 19 month old twins. I have a dilated left pupil that is regularly going from big to normal size. I have seen GP who of course wants me to go to the Neuro.  He has put me on blood pressure medication as my blood pressure was at a dangerous level. I have a sinus type headache over my left brow about 5 times a week and I find myself with memory loss.  Unless something drastic or exciting happened 2 days ago, I couldn't tell you what I did.  We have joked that the twins make me forgetful, but yesterday it took me 10 minutes to find where I parked my car.  I also have trouble getting words out.
My dilemma is I am due to travel to Tasmania from Queensland next Friday & cannot get into the Neuro until September!!  My diastolic blood pressure reading has come down a little but my pulse & systolic is still quite high. I had my fingers crossed that my blood pressure was affecting my pupil, but no such luck. Still dilated.
I have researched this until I am blue in the face. I have been trying to determine if where the gliosis is located affects the eyes.
I have read this post : http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/MRI-Result-question/show/1132758

I am wondering if anyone has any futher idea.
Thank you for your time.  I just want to make sure my head doesn't explode on the plane!@!@  I think the GP has memory problems of his own.

Thanks again.
Josie.

[Caninesrule]

What happened to talking about gliosis and the brain. I'm curious about the memory part.

[Deb61]

The dilated pupil issue shouldn't wait until September.  It is possible that this is a sign of something very serious.  If you can't get into an opthalmologist soon, perhaps you should should consider getting emergency care of some kind.  Is this possible?  

Are you having any other symptoms with your eyesight?  You mention the blurriness.  Do you have pain when you move your eye or any other pain?  

When I had optic neuritis, I had the dilated pupil in one eye and some pain.  To my surprise when the doctor had me cover one eye, I saw the color red differently in both eyes.  In my affected eye, it was washed out.  When I was out in the direct sun and heat, I couldn't see the color red at all in that eye.  The blurriness was much like having Vaseline in my eye.  

There are other conditions that will cause the one dilated pupil that are also not good to have.  I hope you get into an opthalmologist on an emergency or urgent basis.  

Deb

[Josie72]

Thank you for the warm welcome!!
My BP is okay at the moment due to the BP medication.  My eye is still dilated.  I had my eyes tested about 8 months ago as I noticed my eyesight was not as good as it used to be.  They said it was just a sign of getting older.  I have not been to an opthamothologist though and will look into going to one.  September is a long time to wait to see a neuro.  I go back to the GP on Tuesday so if it is urgent I assume the GP will try and get me in sooner.
My mum has had 6 TIA's and with an Aunty with MS I guess I am a little paranoid, but better to be like that than the alternative.

Thank you again for your support.
Josie.

[sllowe]

Adding on welcome to you too!

Thanks for joining us.

Uncontrolled Bp can cause many, many problems in the heart and brain. I 2nd what Deb says about keeping about the neuro hope too you get into good hands soon.

I hope these responses give you the support you need. You'll not get abused here - and hope those are relationships of the past.

Hope you get back to us upon return from your trip.
-Shell

[Deb61]

Welcome to the forum!  

Have you been to an opthalmologist?  You may want to go to one in addition to a neurologist.  I remember having a dilated pupil in the eye that I had optic neuritis in which is sometimes associated with MS.  

I would also make sure that you have started on your blood pressure medicine to ensure that you get that down in the meantime.  Perhaps some of the headache is caused from high blood pressure?  Many think that there is no correlation between high blood pressure and headache, but when I have headaches (which are usually migraines, not sinus), my blood pressure is high.  It could be that because of the headache your blood pressure goes up and not the other way around.  People's blood pressure responds to pain sometimes that way if you already have blood pressure issues.

Another thing that comes to mind is the possibility of a TIA or stroke.  I hope you do get into a neurologist very soon.  You need another MRI for sure.

Take care!
Deb