Weakness in arms and legs

[golfore]

I've had MS for 15+ years. Luckily I've only had fatigue and some numbness.

I started to have trouble walking and weakness in my arms several months ago. My Dr. only did brain MRI's. He finally a did spinal cord MRI and found problems there.

My question is,,, Can lower body problems come from brain lesions? Seams like he should have done spine MRI's as soon as I showed NEW sx's.

[22cyclist]

Yes, lower body problems can come from brain lesions, especially brain stem lesions. It depends on how severe your symptoms were and your neurological exam if you needed a spinal MRI sooner. Sometimes Dr's do them at diagnosis, sometimes they do not. It is all about the neuro exam and symptoms. You obviously now presented with some increased symptoms and a neuro exam that warranted a spinal MRI, should it have been sooner? Only your neurologist knows at this point.

Best of luck to you.

Lisa
Moderation Team

[golfore]

22cyclist,

Thanks for some good info.

[Thinkimjob]

Hello. I've never had a spinal MRI. I've had MS for what seems like forever (15 years, like you).
Symptoms were always sensory, until three years ago. Now nothing works properly. Feet, hands, legs, neck, arms - one big disaster area.

One thing I worked out, in retrospect, those tingly pseudo exacerbations that went away after rest or a cold shower, are here to stay, in exactly the same places.

I don't know what the point would be of having a spinal MRI. It's not like there's anything that can be done about lesions, be they in your brain or down your spinal cord.

Maybe a different dmd might help.

[bwmorris]

I don't know what the point would be of having a spinal MRI. It's not like there's anything that can be done about lesions, be they in your brain or down your spinal cord.

Maybe a different dmd might help.

Thinkimjob, I'm no expert, but my guess is that the point of having a spinal MRI would be to allow for progression-checking, whether for better or worse.

Since not all lesions lead immediately (or ever) to a change in symptoms you can observe, you may have increased lesions without knowing—unless you're getting MRIs to monitor the situation.

It's kind of like playing the game "Battleship", where you and your opponent have your respective ships of different sizes laid out on a number/letter grid. Getting a lesion is like your opponent sending a torpedo to a location, like "C-3".

The locations of your ships in Battleship are like locations where lesions (torpedoes!) would cause symptoms. Whether you get a symptom from a lesion (torpedo) depends on whether you have a ship at, for instance, C-3.

But you probably want to know when your opponent is sending out torpedoes that possibly will sink your ships, even if they're just hitting the water.

Getting MRIs, spinal and otherwise, theoretically allows you to see when any "torpedoes are sent", rather than just waiting around for your ships to get sunk. Since (I think) there's only a rough correlation between symptom presentation and lesion incidence, judging based on symptoms alone isn't so useful. You know, it matters not how many lesions strike, but where.

But if a DMD is supposed to work by decreasing the incidence of lesions, rather than merely by decreasing the incidence of symptom-causing lesions, then…if you know you can monitor lesion incidence and you're still getting just as many lesions while trying that DMD, maybe that's a reason to try another DMD. (Maybe?)

Here's an article abstract that seems to go along with this:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23743084

"Our findings indicate that the effect of a treatment on relapses can be accurately predicted by the effect of that therapy on MRI lesions,". (see "INTERPRETATION")

Then again, except for big-picture stuff with long-lasting lesions, MRIs may provide too much information. I really don't know, but I can't help but think of the time-lapse 12-month series of MRIs that rdmc likes to post (helpfully!). The lesions come and go, with a report of no change in symptoms from the patient!

http://www.msdiscovery.org/news/news...more-meets-eye

[golfore]

My NEW sx's were either partially, or totally due to spinal stenosis.

Spinal fusion surgery, resolved most of my sx's at least partially. Did I have an exerbation?

With continued therapy, I think most problems will either partially to totally resolve themselves.

Regretfully, I was not agressive enough, soon enough.

If you have MS, there can be other medical issues that can cause MS appearing symptoms.

If you are still reading, and this sounds confusing,,,,,,,,, It is because it is confusing.

"Spinal stenosis" is not easily dx'd by an MS specialist. To them, every twitch you have is because of Multiple Sclerosis.

[Windwalker]

Thinkimjob...I'm really surprised you never had Spinal MRI's.
This should be standard as part of the diagnostic process. It's so important, and this is only my opinion, that you should feel upset over this substandard care.

Don't understand at all why only Brain MRI would be ordered, especially after a patient was diagnosed with MS. There can be world's of difference between the condition of these two areas. In my case, the Brain is unscathed...few small lesions but the Spine is a "train wreck".

[Thinkimjob]

Do you know, maybe I did have a spinal MRI all those years ago when I was first MRIed. I don't know, and I've never asked. I have seen plenty of my brain scans, but never a spinal scan.
Doctor said the left leg limp was probably due to a lesion on the C3 vertebrae. I can live with that, don't need another trip in the tube.
I don't really know what's standard here in Australia.

[suziq38]

My NEW sx's were either partially, or totally due to spinal stenosis.

Spinal fusion surgery, resolved most of my sx's at least partially. Did I have an exerbation?

With continued therapy, I think most problems will either partially to totally resolve themselves.

Regretfully, I was not agressive enough, soon enough.

If you have MS, there can be other medical issues that can cause MS appearing symptoms.

If you are still reading, and this sounds confusing,,,,,,,,, It is because it is confusing.

"Spinal stenosis" is not easily dx'd by an MS specialist. To them, every twitch you have is because of Multiple Sclerosis.

I agree. I finally asked mine to prove to me that I had MS. Almost all of my tests were negative.
I did have one light spot in my cspine, along with some compression on the bone areas of my c-4 to c-7 spine. I also had a very narrow cord.

I did not get the MS diagnosis, but they did say that I might have Transverse Myelitis due to a virus (shingles) that may have entered my spinal cord.

I went ahead and took the Zostavax shot. I am not sure it will help me after the fact. I am only hoping to be protected for another attack from the virus.
I am thinking of going to see an infectious disease expert as well.