How can it be suspected as MS?

[Buffy1970]

I have a firm diagnosis of FM, sleep apnea, migraine (and stress...) and have been told to continue monitoring for possible MS by Mayo Clinic.  (For awhile every other doctor I saw said MS.)  I do have neuro symptoms and lots of muscle/tendon issues but the more interesting quirks never last more than days at a time.  If it is MS wouldn't the falling, speach problems, etc. last longer and/or wouldn't it be easy to see on MRI with symptoms going on for almost two years now?  I'm tired of doctors and no real answers.  What do you all say.

[Buffy1970]

Thanks.  I have lesions but they "aren't typical of MS."  Only my local GP and the Mayo Clinic think MS is likely.  At first I thought MS felt right when I looked it up, like it fit, which is a little crazy.  But now I don't know what to think.  It just seems like my body is short circuiting (plus I watched a movie about someone who has MS and it didn't seem at all like what I experience).  The twenty-four hours test sounds good and seems to eliminate MS, too.  When I fall it may be a couple of times but I can get up and I honestly can't tell you why I fell.  I have weakness in legs and arms but... I don't know.  I have a few neuro symptoms that never seem to go away but most are transient.  My follow-up MRI is in December but I may not pursue it.  Whatever it turns out to be will only be a name, after all.  I've been living with this thing almost every day for the past two years.  

Good luck to you two.  I don't know what I'll feel after a few more years of this but I hope I can be supportive of others.

By the way, I've been told that I've experienced foot drop but I'm not so sure.  Have either of you experienced it?  How long does that last?  I'm wondering if FM problems with tendons in foot can mimic it...?  Ugh!  Good night and thanks again from everyone who reads your posts but isn't a member.  Take care of yourselves.

[COBOB]

Just a small comment about 3T and 1.5T vs. T1 and T2.

3.0 Tesla (3T) MRIs seem to be about 20% more sensitive in detecting brain hyperintensities than 1.5 Tesla MRIs. There seems to be a greater benefit in using the 3T MRI and special sequences (like STIR - Short Tau Inversion Recovery) in detecting lesions on the spinal cord.  

T1W/T1* and T2W/T2* are scan sequences used on both types of machines.  Fat, high protein fluid, melanomas, GAD contrast, meta-hemoglobin (fresh blood) show up "bright" (hyperintense) on T1 weighted scans.  Tissue destruction (more water) and iron based contrast shows hyperintense on T2 sequences.  So demyelinating lesions fall into the "tissue destruction" bucket.

Bob

[jcrain9663]

MS does different things to different people.  Add to that the fact that you have FM (in some it's an MS mimic), and the waters become muddier.  However, there SEEMS to be some correlation between (at least in my mind) between FM and MS. I had FM about 20 years before anyone thought to check for MS.  By the time I was diagnosed with MS, I'd probably had it for 10-15 years.  The FM diagnosis was clouding the issue.  

In addition to FM, I also have sleep apnea, a tendency to migraines (which was HUGELY aided by cPap therapy), have some difficulty finding words, and feel like speech is very mildly slurred at times.  I haven't fallen yet, but my balance is severely compromised and I have to be careful.  I also have tons of tendon issues.  So you see, we are very similar.

The problems you mention might be considered 'typical' of MS as long as they last more than 24 hours.

I've heard that a T3 MRI is more sensitive to the smaller punctuate lesions that may not be noticed on the usual T1 or T2 scans.

It took my symptoms accumulating to a certain level before anyone thought to check for MS.  At my first MRI I had 3 lesions, all fairly small and my symptoms mostly sensory.  Dr. said if he had done an MRI 2-3 years previously, it could well have been declared 'normal'.

Search this site for the health page "How can a person with MS have a negative MRI?" and you will that MS is complicated.  After saying that, though, there are lots of conditions that mimic MS, which is why followup is important.