I personally believe that a good MS Specialist can tell just by a clinical exam what Neurological disease you have. People have been diagnosed before MRI's, before LP's, before VEP's were used for testing. :)

They just use these tools to support their findings or for proof to our ins companies, so they will pay for drugs and treatments. JMO
Lady
**************************************************
You are not your MRI

Don't Feel Doomed

MRI applies only indirectly. You may benefit eventually from new research, but that's a slow process. More likely, your neurologist may use MRI to assess whether your treatment is helping you adequately. Accordingly, your neurologist may be motivated in part by your MRI to make changes in your treatment.

MS is a mysterious disease of frustrations and paradoxes. There are many blank spaces left in science's understanding of this disease. That's where hope may reside.

MRI doesn't tell your fortune. Lesions change over time, sometimes for the better Even when the actual nerve, not just its coating, has been damaged, brains can learn new tricks and so can you. Don't feel doomed by your MRI. It's simply a picture of how your brain was on one particular day. It might not be any more lastingly important than wearing mismatched socks for a formal portrait.


© 2002 Real Living with Multiple Sclerosis

http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/news/A...otYourMRI.html

Hi Frank,
 

I have a question of sorts... I have had constant headaches since I was 17. They came on suddenly after I had laser eye surgery. I was assured they were not related to the surgery.

The last time I was hospitalized for my ms my headaches were so bad I wished they would just put me out of my misery. I was told by neuro that ms does NOT cause headaches. Told by another neuro that ms CAN cause headaches.

So which is it... and how do you know????? Do you, Frank, or anyone, have any feedback on this?

Thanks.:grouphug:

nero the neuro told me the same and then in same breath said if its a spinal lesion they can cause those ON attacks and or the severe headache

I've never had a spinal MRI. I was just curious what you dr had said. It would be nice if they all had the same (correct) info.

My headaches have been such a mystery for over 30 years. Each doctor I went to would say something different. Meanwhile I still have them. But they do seem to get much worse when my ms symptoms are acting up.

Thanks.

have you poked your head in the ON forum http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum105.html

was just thinking maybe read some of the post and see if someone else describes what you are going through. they have an injection and 8 months ago I knew what it was called, its to help with the ON headaches, I do not get them a lot but when I do, ice is my best friend, my cousin lives with headaches 24/7, it isnt easy,


(sorry for the derailment of the thread, now back to our regularly scheduled program)

And yet...those of us who struggled for years with various sxs...lesions on the MRI...and still neg. lumbar puncture and neg evoked potentials...who get various dx thrown at them, along with medications that make us sick...
and then, when sxs start piling up, to be finally told it is MS, are somewhat relieved...
MS is an elusive disease process...so hard to definitively diagnose...should a neuro keep ignoring the mri lesions appearing, and the sxs, because all the ducks aren't in a row?

Seems he might have a bit of a GOD complex going on, doesn't it? I wonder how many people have gone to new Neurologists since he came to town. :eek:

However . . . I really do hope his new dx is correct, and that there are a lot of people in that area that are no longer living in fear of their future.

I wonder if he makes everyone go through all four tests? I bet even I wouldn't fail them all ... or at least I wouldn't have 5 or 6 yrs ago, and by that point I already had MS for 14 - 27 yrs. That obviously doesn't mean I don't have MS. :cool:

Not that one is necessary, but I wouldn't let him do a spinal tap anyway . . . so does that mean I could go back into denial? :)

Cherie

If you want my honest opinion, yes headache/migraine CAN be a part of MS. They can exist independently, however my MS is almost completely sensory, and when I'm in pain it's not below my neck. It's head pain.

I thought it was migraine or headache for so long, and then wondered why it was that taking huge amounts of OTC medications wasn't helping, and the pain would increase as the day dragged on.

Once I was diagnosed with MS, the 2 years of headache/migraine misery disappeared after the steroid treatments. Hrm, interesting.... my last relapse, the head pains returned.

I have head pains now again. I have to take Clonazepam to cut through the pain I have. It does help however, where OTC drugs (Tylenol and Advil for example) didn't do anything to help.

So yes, I do think that headache/migraine can be related to MS, and I'm walking breathing proof of it :(

Hi Laura,
Where on your head do you feel the head pain? Just curious. I get it on the very top at times, or sometimes in the back of the middle of my head, where the two low skull bones are (and glands under them). It may include the back of my neck (brainstem area) in the mix.

It worsens with a relapse and steroids help after a month. Clonazepam daily helps when it is not too bad.

I always have sinus headaches when they are bothered by infection and twice a year a Migraine that puts me to bed in the dark.

There are so many kinds. Which do you have if I might ask?:)
Lady

:)

Aren't there newer studies/reviews that say headaches are a part of MS for some people? I've always struggled with headaches and migraines. About 9 yrs ago, a neuro sent me for an MRI of my brain and it showed an "UBO" - unidentified bright object. He dx me with "pseudo-tumor" and told me to lose weight and he gave me meds. No idea if at all related or if onset of MS. Don't remember the name of neuro or where I had the MRI! Bummer, wish I could get my hands on it, just to see if anything else was actually there (well, besides for my brain that is).

~Keri