Aa
MS or Depression
I am a 50 yr old female. I have suffered from depression most of my life, as well as chronic migraines with aura. I starting having a slight stuttering and memory fog about 2 yrs ago, in June of last year I really started having issues, getting up from my desk I had to hold on, I had to wait to walk or I'd fall. I was losing words, calling things the wrong words, mixing words up.
I have urine backing up in both kidneys, so then I get sudden need to use the bathroom, which I had but now it's worse.
My hands have lost their ability to grip much, it's a struggle to open a cap on soda or milk. Or they may shake when I point or write, I've gotten to not using big sharp knives as I've now cut myself twice.
I get this weird humming/buzzing/vibration in my belly area.
I get exhausted sweeping and mopping my kitchen, I have to go sit down, if I push to much I have to lay down, every day!
I have balance issues, a constant ache in my left ear with ringing, buzzing or 'the ocean' sound. Noises bother me, smells bother me, sometimes my food tastes sour.
I don't get the zap tipping my neck, I feel like is pulling really hard.
I was positive for Romberg sign (ataxia)
My CNP sent me for an MRI of neurological and cognitive impairment. the MRI said white matter foci at the T2 and something FLAIR in the frontal lobes, that MS needed to be investigated even if the 'spots' seemed inconsistent with MS.
She sent me to a neurologist (2 month wait)...the first visit he said I probably had dementia, push on my arms, about pulled me off the table by my legs, he ordered an EEG.
Second visit to neurologist (3 week wait) he did the EEG, said I had dementia, prescribed Aricept and depakote, referred me to psychological evaluation.
I went to the evaluation(after 7 weeks), did the tests, waited 8 weeks for the results.
Third visit to the neurologist, he flipped the report to the last page, he looks up says you are just depressed. I am sending you back to your CNP, I don't need to see you again, I don't deal with depression, only memory and headaches, I gave you meds for those.
The neuro psyche eval says I am depressed, panic disorder and probably mild vascular neurocognitive disease (based on the MRI). I tested in 'normal' range for most of it, but the whole report is inconsistent, as it says I have some sort of visual memory impairment, which dropped my scores down low. I scored lower on some memory recall...etc.
To make it more annoying, I worked in a law office for 5 years, the last two years I got worse, back in May a repairman came in, I showed him the electric/Phone box in the back room, he said u mm, well what is being done about all this black mold, I said what? He said this stuff is toxic, it's every where. I took pictures, it was coming out of the walls, ceilings, door frames of the entire building. My bosses (father and son) pretty much said it was all in my head when I asked for testing of the mold itself and the air.
I finally tested the mold myself, it is stachybotrus!
In August I quit.
The doctors here said it has nothing to do with anything.......
Do I give up even trying to get a MS diagnosis? mold poisoning? After all I'm just depressed with white matter disease (dementia), right?
Thanks for reading and any thoughts.
I have urine backing up in both kidneys, so then I get sudden need to use the bathroom, which I had but now it's worse.
My hands have lost their ability to grip much, it's a struggle to open a cap on soda or milk. Or they may shake when I point or write, I've gotten to not using big sharp knives as I've now cut myself twice.
I get this weird humming/buzzing/vibration in my belly area.
I get exhausted sweeping and mopping my kitchen, I have to go sit down, if I push to much I have to lay down, every day!
I have balance issues, a constant ache in my left ear with ringing, buzzing or 'the ocean' sound. Noises bother me, smells bother me, sometimes my food tastes sour.
I don't get the zap tipping my neck, I feel like is pulling really hard.
I was positive for Romberg sign (ataxia)
My CNP sent me for an MRI of neurological and cognitive impairment. the MRI said white matter foci at the T2 and something FLAIR in the frontal lobes, that MS needed to be investigated even if the 'spots' seemed inconsistent with MS.
She sent me to a neurologist (2 month wait)...the first visit he said I probably had dementia, push on my arms, about pulled me off the table by my legs, he ordered an EEG.
Second visit to neurologist (3 week wait) he did the EEG, said I had dementia, prescribed Aricept and depakote, referred me to psychological evaluation.
I went to the evaluation(after 7 weeks), did the tests, waited 8 weeks for the results.
Third visit to the neurologist, he flipped the report to the last page, he looks up says you are just depressed. I am sending you back to your CNP, I don't need to see you again, I don't deal with depression, only memory and headaches, I gave you meds for those.
The neuro psyche eval says I am depressed, panic disorder and probably mild vascular neurocognitive disease (based on the MRI). I tested in 'normal' range for most of it, but the whole report is inconsistent, as it says I have some sort of visual memory impairment, which dropped my scores down low. I scored lower on some memory recall...etc.
To make it more annoying, I worked in a law office for 5 years, the last two years I got worse, back in May a repairman came in, I showed him the electric/Phone box in the back room, he said u mm, well what is being done about all this black mold, I said what? He said this stuff is toxic, it's every where. I took pictures, it was coming out of the walls, ceilings, door frames of the entire building. My bosses (father and son) pretty much said it was all in my head when I asked for testing of the mold itself and the air.
I finally tested the mold myself, it is stachybotrus!
In August I quit.
The doctors here said it has nothing to do with anything.......
Do I give up even trying to get a MS diagnosis? mold poisoning? After all I'm just depressed with white matter disease (dementia), right?
Thanks for reading and any thoughts.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi and welcome,
Whilst i definitively think that neuro was as helpful to you as watching pain dry, it probably wasn't a complete waste of your time and money because you do have some test evidence that something is abnormal for your age group, even if the answer's you got is questionable.....Dementia wouldn't really be a common diagnosis in your age group, or explain all your issues if it's only 'mild' as your neuro-psych tests indicate, that alone warrants a second opinion!
Depression and anxiety can be behind a lot of cognitive as well as many other issues but the test results wouldn't usually be abnormal...
"Dementias with predominantly frontal pathology show much less EEG abnormality, and in these conditions the EEG is often normal despite obvious clinical dementia. Also, alcohol dementias often show normal EEG patterns. At an early stage of clinical evaluation, EEG may be useful in the discrimination of organic dementia from pseudodementia, because EEG is usually normal in depression, confusion, agitation and other psychiatric conditions. In pseudodementia due to intoxication with sedatives the EEG is usually dominated by diffuse beta activity." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9065324
So from what you've mentioned, despite your known medical diagnosis of mental health issues (depression and anxiety) it sounds like you do have 'something' else going on because you do have an abnormal EEG, neuro-psych eval indicating lower than average visual spatial and recall memory, neuro clinical assessment of a positive Romberg's (Romberg's sign is said to be positive in patients with sensory ataxia and negative in cerebellar ataxia) and you probably still need to have auditory and bladder issues assessed too.
Unfortunately it's very common for MRI reports to mention MS in the differentials and or give the impression MS needs to be investigated even when an MRI isn't suggestive or consistent with MS, so don't get mislead into thinking what your dealing with is either dementia or MS because that's not generally the case. Bilateral frontal lobe ischemic micro vascular lesions are the most common type of lesions discovered on an MRI, you haven't mentioned anything more specific from your MRI report that would put MS on the list of possible causes......in regards to MS there isn't enough information (altogether) to even speculate if MS is the most likely explanation or not but in all honestly, there are so many different causes of symptoms that it's likely not MS.
I'm sorry i haven't addressed your mold questions, i do not know enough about mold to make any type of comment...
Hope that helps......JJ
Whilst i definitively think that neuro was as helpful to you as watching pain dry, it probably wasn't a complete waste of your time and money because you do have some test evidence that something is abnormal for your age group, even if the answer's you got is questionable.....Dementia wouldn't really be a common diagnosis in your age group, or explain all your issues if it's only 'mild' as your neuro-psych tests indicate, that alone warrants a second opinion!
Depression and anxiety can be behind a lot of cognitive as well as many other issues but the test results wouldn't usually be abnormal...
"Dementias with predominantly frontal pathology show much less EEG abnormality, and in these conditions the EEG is often normal despite obvious clinical dementia. Also, alcohol dementias often show normal EEG patterns. At an early stage of clinical evaluation, EEG may be useful in the discrimination of organic dementia from pseudodementia, because EEG is usually normal in depression, confusion, agitation and other psychiatric conditions. In pseudodementia due to intoxication with sedatives the EEG is usually dominated by diffuse beta activity." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9065324
So from what you've mentioned, despite your known medical diagnosis of mental health issues (depression and anxiety) it sounds like you do have 'something' else going on because you do have an abnormal EEG, neuro-psych eval indicating lower than average visual spatial and recall memory, neuro clinical assessment of a positive Romberg's (Romberg's sign is said to be positive in patients with sensory ataxia and negative in cerebellar ataxia) and you probably still need to have auditory and bladder issues assessed too.
Unfortunately it's very common for MRI reports to mention MS in the differentials and or give the impression MS needs to be investigated even when an MRI isn't suggestive or consistent with MS, so don't get mislead into thinking what your dealing with is either dementia or MS because that's not generally the case. Bilateral frontal lobe ischemic micro vascular lesions are the most common type of lesions discovered on an MRI, you haven't mentioned anything more specific from your MRI report that would put MS on the list of possible causes......in regards to MS there isn't enough information (altogether) to even speculate if MS is the most likely explanation or not but in all honestly, there are so many different causes of symptoms that it's likely not MS.
I'm sorry i haven't addressed your mold questions, i do not know enough about mold to make any type of comment...
Hope that helps......JJ
I failed to put on there...I have alopecia aerata, chronic shingles, gluten and lactose intolerant.
2 years ago I had to go the er for my belly pain. They did several tests...it is noted on there I had cervical and paraspinal spasms, the diagnosis then was h pylori and acute gastritis.
2 years ago I had to go the er for my belly pain. They did several tests...it is noted on there I had cervical and paraspinal spasms, the diagnosis then was h pylori and acute gastritis.
1 Comments
oops sorry just noticed you'd added some things....
*Alopecia areata, is an autoimmune disease but not associated with MS
*chronic shingles, is caused by the varicella zoster virus, shingles can cause damage to the peripheral nervous system but shingles it's not associated with MS
*gluten and lactose intolerant, is associated with autoimmune problems eg Celiac, hypothyroid, colitis but it's not associated with MS
*h pylori and acute gastritis, H. pylori is the most common cause of gastric ulcers and gastritis but its not associated with MS
hope that helps...JJ
*Alopecia areata, is an autoimmune disease but not associated with MS
*chronic shingles, is caused by the varicella zoster virus, shingles can cause damage to the peripheral nervous system but shingles it's not associated with MS
*gluten and lactose intolerant, is associated with autoimmune problems eg Celiac, hypothyroid, colitis but it's not associated with MS
*h pylori and acute gastritis, H. pylori is the most common cause of gastric ulcers and gastritis but its not associated with MS
hope that helps...JJ
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