Hi Onebeed,

I had an MRI of my entire spine and brain. We started with brain and with and without gadolinium contrast. I had a terrible allergic reaction, both my eyes went completely red and were immensely itchy as soon as the gadolinium was in me. I kept my cool and let them finish their scan, since I didn't want to mess with that. I was taken to emergency at the same hospital and was given Benadryl and steroids IV to bring down the swelling. It helped immediately and one eye had some more swelling that went down by nighttime. I then went home. That same day or the next (I can't remember now) both my arms from elbow to hand went almost completely numb. It happened suddenly and was not part of the SFN symptoms I had. I went to emergency and they couldn't find anything. The next day the numbness was completely gone. The rest of the scans were done without contrast, given this reaction, even though they were originally to be done with and without.

The brain scan was clean. I would do it again, since they suspected MS. I didn't even know about SFN back then. I read quite a bit on gadolinium before the scan. It's toxic, and there have been cases of renal failure, but mostly in patients with renal issues to begin with. The presumption is that the kidneys will filter it out through the urine, but I read about cases of patients who years later still had elevated serum levels, if I recall correctly. But I believe these reports were anecdotal.

Would I get another one if I really needed it? Likely yes. But considering, I didn't have the worst reaction. It went away in a day or two, though it was intense and scary. It's going to load your body with a toxin, and that's not what we want to be going with SFN, especially if the cause is some sort of toxicity. I would say it's a risk, and no one can tell you what will happen, and that if it were me, I'd likely weigh the options. With nerve issues, some would say a scan of the brain with contrast is necessary, and I'm glad I got one. I hope this helps. And good luck whatever you decide.