need advice

i'm new to the boards and need some advice. in august, i pulled my back doing pilates. the next day my feet started tingling and over a couple days it moved up my legs to my hips.  i was numb from my hip to upper thigh, the rest of my legs were just tingly and odd-feeling. i went to a neuro and had an mri, which showed an inflammation on my thorastic spine.  the dr ordered more mris and they found two whitish spots on my cervical spine. the neuro told me i have ms.  is this enough to diagnose? my aunt was misdiagnosed years ago, having spots on her brain.  the numbness lasted about a month and a half, now my feet are just a little numb. i found out that "numbness" is something my mom and nana have (same side as the aunt) and they take massive amounts of B vitamins to keep the tingles away.  my nana even told me that she once lost a sock off her foot and didn't even notice it.  i told all this to a 2nd neuro but he is leaning towards ms as well.  since the first diagnosis in oct. i've been feeling all sorts of odd symptoms (being weary, electric-like tingles, back pain) but am not sure if it is because of all the research i've done and am simply freaking out.  sorry if this post is convoluted; i've been completely unable to deal with life since my appointment last week.  the 2nd dr. wants me to start treatment, but i am really unsure.

Hello,

I did have a lumbar puncture 10 years ago. From what I understand, the lumbar puncture (spinal) will not totally give you a final diagnoses. From what I understand, the lessions are more of a diagnoses and symptoms then the lumbar puncture.

http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/diagnosingms.html
Spinal Tap

A spinal tap (also known as a lumbar puncture) is a procedure whereby a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is taken from close to the spinal cord. At the same time a blood sample is taken usually from the arm and a quantity of blood serum is isolated. Both of these samples are then processed using a technique called electrophoresis. A positive spinal tap will produce oligoclonal bands in the CSF but not in the blood serum. These bands indicate a type of immune system activity. Although uncomfortable, the spinal tap itself is often not too painful, whereas in the period following the tap, the patient may experience dizziness, nausea, vomiting and severe headaches, occasionally for as much as a week. There are a few rare but serious side-effects of spinal taps. For more information about spinal taps and how to reduce the possibility of some of the more unpleasant side-effects follow this link: Spinal Tap.

95% of people with a definite diagnosis of MS exhibit oligoclonal bands on a spinal tap. This may sound impressive but so do 90% of people with Sub-Acute Sclerosing Panencephalitis and 100% of people with Herpes Simplex Encephalitis among other conditions. Positive spinal taps are indicative of an immunological response but they are not diagnostic for a particular condition. That 5% of PwMS do not exhibit oligoclonal banding means that spinal taps neither rule-in nor rule-out MS.

The primary purpose of CSF analysis should be to rule out other conditions than multiple sclerosis. Although they can be highly suggestive of MS, they do not, in themselves, provide definitive disgnosis. Indeed, I myself, was given a definite diagnosis based on medical history, clinical examination, MRI and evoked potential tests - I declined to have a spinal tap.

Before MRI, electrophoresis of spinal fluid played a major role in supporting diagnoses and underpinned the Poser criteria. Now, however, these criteria have become overshadowed by MRI and, if an MRI is positive, the new diagnostic criteria (2001) allow for a definitive diagnosis without laboratory support. The old "Laboratory supported Definite MS" has been dispensed with.

However, CSF analysis technology is still advancing and researchers continue to look for definitive molecular markers of MS. Should they find such a marker, spinal taps will reassume their importance. Other researchers are looking into urine and blood for markers and we can hope that they are successful and spinal taps become completely unnecessary to the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.