Another MRI, what next?

Jenny R. said...
I am undiagnosed, been having symptoms for 6 years, brain and cervical MRI, normal.  The only symptoms that I have is migrating parathesia.  I feel cold water feelings in my veins, bug crawling sensations, and cold flushes.  I have NO weakness, numbness, vision problems, heat doesn't make things worse, in fact it helps, and bowel and bladder is fine.  My doc says its "anxiety".  I don't know how anxiety can be present everyday of my life, or for that matter, how it can do this, everywhere.  I had a lumbar MRI done today, the x-ray tech said that the spinal cord ends in the thoracic region, I didn't know that.  Does that mean that you don't get lesions in the lumbar/sacral region?  If the lesion has heale, would you still have symptoms?  Where would a lesion be to have all these weird symptoms everywhere?  Thanks, so confused, and scared!!   Jen

Lesions do not appear in the lumbar sacral region. 

If indeed you ever DID have lesions, and they healed, you might...or might not..have symptoms, depending on where the lesion occurred, and how much damage it created.

"Migrating parathesia" and the sensory things you describe, while common in MS, are usually accompanied by all those other things you DON'T have.  After 6 years of normal MRIs, with no weakness, loss of balance, numbness, vision problems, no bowel or bladder problems ... it really doesn't sound like you have MS.

Anxiety is a catch-all phrase, to be sure.  Anxiety CAN affect all kinds of body functions. And anxiety can affect you 24/7.  But what other kinds of testing have you had done? You only talk about having MRIs...

have you had blood tests to look for thyroid problems, or diabetes, or been tested for allergies; or seen a rheumatologist to be tested for other metabolic disorders?  If the only doctor you've seen is a neurologist, and, in 6 years, all the neurological tests are coming back "normal" , or "negative" -- its a real possiblity that whatever it is that is ailing you ISN'T neurological in nature, isn't MS.

 

Jenny R. said...
Thanks Uppity, your always there to comfort me.  I had all kinds of bloodwork done, from Lyme, thyroid, sed rate, allergies, everything is normal.  Is it true that lesions usually show in brain first before the spine? Maybe I'm going through perimenopause, thats my next step when I see my gyn in Dec. I never had a thoracic MRI, just brain, c-spine, and now lumbar.  No LP, doc didn't feel that it was necessary, keep telling me it my nerves.  Thanks so much for your quick response, take care, and thanks again!!!!

Here is a mantra for you: "I've had all these tests, including sophisticated MRI's. EVERYTHING IS NORMAL."  Repeat 10 times, whenever necessary.

Spinal lesions, particularly spinal lesions that appear before lesions show up in the brain, are usually significantly disabling.  Generally everything that is BELOW the lesion on the spine is affected -- like what happened with me: bowels, bladder, paralyzed legs, loss of feeling from mid-torso to toe, etc. 

When lesions appear on the brain, particularly in the early stages of MS, sometimes (not always) the nervous system is able to re-route around the damaged area, and there is little or no disability.  But when lesions appear on the spine, because it is a narrow space, there isn't room to re-route, so the damage is significant.

Think about it this way:  if you have a road on a flat level area, there is room for lots of other side roads to turn off it, or go around obstructions in the road.  And if there doesn't happen to BE a road, you can go on to the ground around the road (remember, "flat...level") and get back on the road farther ahead, around the obstruction.  But if the road runs through a tunnel, there isn't any way to go around the obstruction. You're stuck.  That's what happens when there's a lesion on the spinal cord.

The fact that -- as you describe it -- you have no paralysis, weakness, balance problems, bowel or bladder problems -- suggests to me (and remember, I'm NOT a doctor!) that you indeed don't have any lesions on your spine.

As for perimenopause: I don't know how old you are.  Hormone problems can indeed cause all of the symptoms you do describe, including anxiety.  And of course perimenopause is a time when your hormones are usually fluctuating all over the place.  There are blood tests that can be run to determine whether you're entering menopause (and women can enter menopause as early as their late '30's..) but they're not always accurate.  After 6 years, though -- you should be through menopause.  But that's why I asked if you had blood tests to look for hormone problems -- if they're out of whack they could indeed be the root of your problems.  When you see your gynecologist, be sure to ask about that, and describe your symptoms to her/him.

Well, today I woke up to vibrating sensation in my chest.  I have had that before on occasions but I have really noticed them alot since starting the Prozac.  Now that I have been taking theProzac the xanax is useless, I used to be able to take a 1/2 of one and it would take the edge off.  I am going to make another apointment today at another neurologist, maybe they can do the evoked testing, which I never had done.  I never had my metabolic panel tested.  I have heard that the EVP are good at finding hidden lesions, maybe thats what I have, who knows. 

Uppitycats, the reason why I started taking the med was because of these strange feelings, its just now that have gotten worse, which might mean that maybe it is anxiety, because they say sometimes anxiety gets worse when starting an AD.  The vibration thing is awful.  The other night I was sleeping, and all of a sudden, my left side of my face got real cold, it was weird, it woke me up, it only lasted for about 30-40 seconds.  I had cold feelings before the Prozac, but this is worse.  Maybe your right, maybe just go back to my regular doc and see what he says, he was supposed to call me tonight, because I left a message, but I haven't heard from him yet.  I thought maybe he would have my MRI results too.  I'll call back tomorrow. He feels that all these weird feelings are from migraines, even though I'm not having the migraines all the time, I guess you can still have symptom, but not the headache.  They run in my family also.  I started getting them about 8 years ago, but since July, I've been going to PT for my neck (bulging disk), I have only had 3 migraines, thats good for me, because usually I would have them 10-12 a month, awful.  Thanks uppitycat, your a real comfort.  I have been so scared.  I really think maybe I need counseling, or a therapist, maybe even a shrink, LOL.  Talk soon!!!   Jen

Uppitycats, thanks very much for the nice responses, I think I need to try to calm down, and relax a little, LOL, Hope to talk again soon, take care!!!

Well today isn't a good day either, I have buzzing sensations everywhere.  The newest one is on my scalp.  Could all these sensations be silent migraines?  Or just plain anxiety?  I am really concerned also because I could barely get out of bed today, I am so tired.  I am truly a nervous wreck, and am going to make an appointment at a neurologist today.  Everyone in my family tells me that I have to get used to these sensations, that they get these feelings also, and they don't have MS.  I'm sorry but I can't agree with that, these feelings are here for a reason, please just go away!!!!

Rhondab, do you have MS?  You mentioned something about negative tests.  What are your symptoms?  How long have you had them?  Thanks!!

Hey Jenny

No, i'm not dx'd with ms. I've been wondering what this is since Feb...have an anniversary coming up soon! ;) My symptoms pretty much run the gamut. It started with numbness in my face and hands along with a feeling my hands were wet and from there went to migrating numbness all over my body. I guess the the real beginning was the fatigue tho. I had a hysterectomy in Jan of '05 and in Feb of '06 i still hadn't recovered completely. Couldn't get back to myself. Was overwhelmingly tired..well not tired so much as just weak and unable to function. Resting tired me out...no energy and way to overcome it. I simply just had to sit. I'd do something and before i was done i had to rest. Not anything strenuous...things like washing clothes. I'd put a load on and rest. Put them in the dryer and rest. The rest periods were long. Longer than the work periods. I got soooo sleepy all the time. I slept late every morn...about mid morn i'd take a nap. POWER naps...2-3 hours long. In the evening i'd take another nap. By bedtime i was exhausted and ready for bed. I saw my ob-gyn because i thought it was related to my surg and because that was the only doc i'd seen in a long time. I've never been someone to really care for myself. Not because i don't feel i'm worth it, but because i've always either handled it myself, or as i said in another post, i either thought it was normal to feel the way i felt (symptoms i now see being not too big) or i couldn't really explain it anyway. Fast forward to the beginning of my overt symptoms...things too big and in my face to ignore. I started out with the numbness and wet feeling i mentioned above. From there the numbness grew to the point i was numb inside my throat and began to find myself waking up choking. That scared me. about that same time i found myself walking as if i'd been drinking. I don't drink..so it wasn't that. I also lost my sense of balance and placement. I couldn't stand up straight. I'd stand still and had to keep catching myself. It felt like i was falling, but i wasn't...except that with that prob i'd tip over. All that started to clear up in about a month. I've had my hand tighten so much that it was hard to hold things. Once i was trying to make dinner and couldn't even hold onto a potato! My hand hurt and was stiff. I buzz and vibrate pretty regularly now. That didn't begin right away, but once it started it's been kinda regular. Not all the time, but on and off. It's usually in my right side, as are most of my symptoms. My eye gets blurry and hurts. I can't close my eyes without getting nauseated which goes over very poorly when children are peeking to see who's eyes are closed and their Sunday School teacher isn't closing her eyes! Recently i found my right arm trembling. It's done it several times now, but only recently started. I can't remember ANYTHING. Those who know me personally know that's not an exageration. Tell me something and in mins...not 20...not 10..not even 5...it's gone. Sometimes this isn't as bad as other times, but over time it's gotten more bad than good. I guess i could keep going, but i think u get the point. I've had pretty much all the tests except the lumbar puncture. All my results are clear. I have no idea what's causing this, but with all other things difinitively ruled out, all that's left is ms. So i'm in limbo. Either for ms or for something else, but no matter the final dx the wait is no fun. It's impossible to explain to others what's wrong. U see how long this has taken u to read...imagine trying to tell someone about this and needing to tell them enuf to make it all make sense to them. It's best for now to just say 'we don't know'. I hope i didn't go on too long and bore u to death, but such is the way an answer like this goes. I hope it helps u somehow to determine where u are and to see that u'r not alone nor should u just accept these symptoms as normal or everyday. Be proactive and continue to look for answers.

rhonda

Hi Jenny,

Have you ever visited an internist or rheumatologist to discuss your symptoms? MS is what most people think of when young females have neurological problems. However, the symptoms can be caused by a whole slew of conditions such as thyroid problems, infectious diseases (ie lyme), collagen vascular disease (lupus, Sjogren's, anti-phospholipid), migraines, and vitamin deficiencies just to name a few. If you haven't seen a rheumatologist yet, perhaps you should because they may be able find things going on that a neurologist wouldn't think of. Finally, anxiety can cause neurological problems but that should only be considered after everything else has been ruled out. Good luck and I hope you get to feeling better.