Quote:
Originally Posted by glenntaj
--while there are certainly cases of neuropathy that involve more than the extremities, and these are certainly more common with acute autoimmune and/or toxic neuropathies, that degree of bodily involvement would also suggest an attempt to test for disorders of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), particularly for demyelinating conditions such as multiple sclerosis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM).
Have you had contrast MRI's of brain and cervical spine?
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A week ago I had c-spine and thoracic MRIs (with and without contrast) because at about the same time as this neuropathy, I started experiencing thoracic back and neck pain. My back is extremely point tender on my spine, it's painful just to lay down on my bed at night, even to sit against the back of a chair. I've been doing physical therapy and tried chiropractic care, but nothing has helped. My neuro doc agreed that these MRIs would be useful both for my unexplainable upper/mid back pain (in a 24 y/o otherwise healthy female) AND for this unexplained neuropathy. The only thing my MRI said was "approximately 3 mm of cerebellar tonsillar ectopia, which is not definitely low-lying. No crowding of the foramen magnum or posterior fossa." but the conclusion on the report was "normal MRI". Even such a mild displacement like that would probably be asymptomatic I think? I think >5mm is considered Chiari. I just have the report online, didn't have a follow up with my doc yet.
As I mentioned, I had diplopia on my visual fields exam, but is making me concerned about the possibility of MS. My friend said that you can have MS for years before lesions show up on MRI, but I don't know if that's true. I just get this feeling that there's more to what's going on than just a peripheral neuropathy. I'm worried it's only getting worse.
No MRI of brain done, 1 of my doc's said it was not indicated and my other doc never mentioned the idea of it.