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MRI question RRMS
Hi all, I was hoping you could help me with a question about my most recent mri. I haven't yet received the report but my ms nurse has seen it and says it shows no change since my mri in 2011.
I have had constant sensory symptoms (some quite disturbing!) so I'm a bit confused as to how the mri is unchanged. My lesions are on the brain and I don't know whether I have any c-spine lesions since my spine was not checked in 2011 so I have nothing to compare it with (and of course am still waiting on results)
Does the unchanged mri mean I have not had any relapses? Are all my sensory sx due to past relapses?
I feel like I'm making too much oout of the sx I get & I'm still registered partially sighted despite my last bout of ON being over a year ago.
I thought I would know when I was having a bona fide relapse but it now seems I don't!
Any advice would be great.
Thanks guys!
I have had constant sensory symptoms (some quite disturbing!) so I'm a bit confused as to how the mri is unchanged. My lesions are on the brain and I don't know whether I have any c-spine lesions since my spine was not checked in 2011 so I have nothing to compare it with (and of course am still waiting on results)
Does the unchanged mri mean I have not had any relapses? Are all my sensory sx due to past relapses?
I feel like I'm making too much oout of the sx I get & I'm still registered partially sighted despite my last bout of ON being over a year ago.
I thought I would know when I was having a bona fide relapse but it now seems I don't!
Any advice would be great.
Thanks guys!
Hi Zoe, I have only had one relapse so far and it was similar to my original attack so my neuro told me that it would be based on my old lesions. He mentioned some of the sensory things I was experiencing (twitching, itching, etc.) were what was called transient neurological events. I hope things get squared away for you soon.
Hugs,
Corrie
Hugs,
Corrie
Hi Zoe, sorry I missed your question until niw. My sensory symptoms are all paraesthesias... numbness, tingling and reduced sensation in various places, my feet burning or freezing to the point of pain only they feel normal to touch... all stuff I interpret as my brain misinterpreting the signal from the nerves in my skin.
I have had very definite relapses including a bout of ON (easy to recognise as a relapse as they can see the pupil change) I was surprised that didn't show as a new lesion?! I then had a month or so of numb feet & some new embarrassing sensory stuff but that was after the last mri. My last neuro told me not to place too much on mri's as they don't always correspond to the sx a person has but even so...? One good thing from this latest mri is I had doubts about my dx last time but they have said there is no doubt whatsoever so thats helped.
What sort of sensory sx do you get? I assumed sensory meant milder sx but seems I was wrong!
What sort of sensory sx do you get? I assumed sensory meant milder sx but seems I was wrong!
Hi Zoe, I also have a lot of sensory symptoms and had no change between one MRI and the next.
My sensory sx are fairly constant but I knew I was having a relapse when one of my legs suddenly felt like it weighed a ton and I was off balance 24/7 for weeks. Both of those were new symptoms for me and a third MRI taken while it was happening showed a new enhancing lesion.
Cheers, Footsie xoxo
My sensory sx are fairly constant but I knew I was having a relapse when one of my legs suddenly felt like it weighed a ton and I was off balance 24/7 for weeks. Both of those were new symptoms for me and a third MRI taken while it was happening showed a new enhancing lesion.
Cheers, Footsie xoxo
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Optic neuritis is not simple either. Sometimes an ophthalmologist can examine your eye and see evidence in your optic disk that you have or have had optic neuritis. Sometimes not. A brain MRI doesn't necessarily show this either. A positive outcome from an evoked potentials test tends to mean (though this is not universally agreed on) that there is a lesion somewhere on the optic nerve, even if it doesn't show, and even if the patient has no eye complaints. I'm in this last category.
Sensory symptoms are not categorically milder, and can cause considerable loss of quality of life. It's just that motor symptoms are more obvious.
So yes, old lesions can cause true relapses. If the symptoms have gone completely away and then return, that can count as a relapse, or if they suddenly get a lot worse, same thing. We have lots of entries about lesions and symptoms in our Health Pages which would explain these things in more detail.
Please listen to the neuro who told you not to spend time analyzing lesions and symptoms. He or she is right.
Relapses are not always clear events, and sometimes the terminology and distinctions used in discussing MS can be confusing and a little arbitrary .If you are having symptoms, most of them can be treated, regardless of MRIs. Just do your best to manage this disease. I'm glad you're going back on Copaxone.
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