Is my solitary UBO unlikely to be MS?
 

Hi all. :)

So, very long story short, I'm 23 years old and have been progressively been developing more and more strange neurological symptoms since I was about 14. I avoided them for many years at first because they were alarming and annoying but not interfering with my daily functioning too much. Since I've started developing more cognitive-type problems, however, it's become impossible to ignore. I don't really know how to hide the fact that I stumble all over my words all of the time and constantly have to stop mid-sentence when trying to have a conversation because I can't think of the word I'm trying to use. Or why I can't comment on a movie I just watched because I wasn't able to follow the plotline or even discern which character was which.

I've been to a whole slew of doctors who have pretty much told me a whole lot of nothing. Mostly, they just dismiss me as hypochondriacal due to my age. It's tempting to give up, but I also don't know how I would manage to live like this.

I just recently started seeing a new neurologist after my first one essentially told me "You're too young for me to put you on any medications, so come back to me in 5 months if you still feel like you have a problem."

He said that a UBO (unidentified bright object) showed up in my frontal lobe on my MRI, but he said it was too small to warrant a diagnosis of MS, so he's just going to look at it again in 6 months.

In the meantime, I guess I just sit around and continue to hate everything about my life for half a year, probably only to be told that there's nothing wrong with me once again.

Is there any chance that that single finding is an indication of MS, or do MS patients typically have larger and more than one lesion/UBO/whatever?

I'm not saying I WANT a diagnosis of MS. I'm not one to diagnose myself. I just want to know if this means I can pretty much rule it out as a possibility. Thanks!

It might be too early to say either way; so you may be in for even more tests to rule out yet more possibilities. Along with those that you've probably already been tested for, you might need to be tested for things like small vessel disease, endocrine (hormone) imbalances and nutritional deficiencies; as these can all produce the symptoms that you describe...but so can MS.

It's frustrating, I know...as do most of those here. The main thing is to keep going back to the doctors and specialists until you get some answers; no matter what your age.
The earlier you get a diagnosis, the sooner appropriate treatments and therapy can be initiated.

One of the common denominators with neuro-immune and auto-immune disorders is the appearance of those who suffer them; we are often told that we 'look healthy' or 'look so good' especially early on in the course of our diseases.
If you hear that from others, don't be put off; those who say things like that probably mean well, but know little about these types of diseases.
But if you hear things like that from a medical practitioner, please find another one who is more educated.

Good luck and please keep us posted on your journey.

With love, Erika

Welcome MM, nice to meet you.:)

If this is MS and you are anything like me, I had my first noticable MS symptoms at 23/24 and was not DXed until 36. Then just had slight symptoms until 53, reDXed and and now 72.:eek:

MS is not easy to DX. Your old Neuro sounds like a dingbat, however, so glad you have a new one. Try to be patient for your DX, because, if it's MS, it won't go completely away and with a knowledgable Neuro working with you a DX will come sooner, hopefully.

In the meantime, take a deep breath and live your life to the fullest, as able. Ask your Doc or Neuro to treat your troubling symptoms , such as pain, fatigue..etc..

Good wishes..:hug:

Welcome to the forum...

MS can take a long time to diagnose; keep a symptom journal-dates of onset and remission of symptoms. Also keep a record of all tests run, and get copies of reports if you can.
Was your MRI with contrast? was it a T3 machine? these two things can help show more specifically what's going on in the brain and spinal cord. Did you have an MRI of the spinal cord?

Try to be patient, I know that this is difficult because you want to know what is wrong and you want to treat it asap. Many of us have taken this journey, being told it's migraines, psychological, etc.

Do some research based on symptoms, but try hard not to become obsessed...life will pass you by and you'll waste time thinking of what could be wrong and not trying to live the best life possible even with symptoms.

Keep us up to date; any questions, or just venting, is welcome here...:hug:

Thank you for the warm welcomes and responses, everybody!

I went to the imaging center and requested a disc with my MRI images on it, and my neuro is right that the spot is very small. I wouldn't have even noticed it was there if there weren't a yellow arrow pointing to it. So I suppose it's most likely not MS if my scan was clear other than that.

http://i46.tinypic.com/2vnqlnl.jpg

The MRI was done both with and without contrast, but I don't know if the machine was T3. I only see T1 and T2 written on the images, so I guess not. I don't believe I had an MRI of my spinal cord. I did have some x-rays of my spine done by a chiropractor a few weeks ago, however, and they showed a lot of curvature. He didn't seem to think that was the cause of all of my neurological issues, but I have my first adjustment scheduled with him this coming Tuesday. I told him I wanted to wait until my MRI results were in before trying chiropractics, but since they came back mostly clear, I guess I'll give his stuff a try. He also doubles as a nutritionist and said he could test my hormone levels and such, so that would be nice.

The thing is, even if I can't get a diagnosis now since this stuff is hard to put a label on, I wish I could find a doctor willing to at least try medications with me or something to help with the symptoms. I know there are medicines out there that help with concentration and brain fog-type issues, but they just keep saying I'm too young to be put on anything. MEH.

HI medicalmystery7,

You might try checking out LDN.
http://www.ldnscience.org/

That works for my cognitive issues and takes the edge off of neurological suymptoms and spasticity.
Apparently it also has an impact in controlling symptoms from other neuro-immune/auto-immune diseases.

With love, Erika

Thank you; I'll keep that in mind as something to ask about at my next doctor's visit! If I can get a doctor to take me seriously enough to try it on me haha.