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son dx'd with on from cat scratch disease? no mri!

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    son dx'd with on from cat scratch disease? no mri!

    My 24 yr old son was just diagnosed with optic neuritis. The first eye dr sent him to a neuro ophthalmologist at dean mcgee eye institute. They're suppose to be the best in our area. The dr he saw examined him, did more testing and concluded it was from car scratch disease.

    Optic neuritis is the only symptom he's had. Also night sweats fo 2 wks. Don't know if that's related. ON is a rare symptom of cat scratch. Not any common symptoms. He has about 40 percent vision loss in his right eye due to a blind spot since last Sunday.

    He was given a z-pac and low dose steroids and come back in a month. And ordered labs for cat scratch and 3 syphyllis tests. No mri or anything else! He's been in a relationship with the same person for 2 yrs. And just had a perfectly healthy boy. The first eye dr kept bringing up ms and the specialist pretty much dismissed it.

    If his lab work is neg I feel like he needs an mri and the drs need to jump on this to figure out what's causing it. No improvement since starting meds on friday.

    Any advice is greatly appreciated! I'm just a worried mom!

    #2
    Hi colpay1925,
    The ON should settle once the antibiotics have infection under control if its a result of cat scratch fever. Has he been around a cat?
    Some ms patients do experience sweats as a result of their ms but it can also often be attributed to other things. Is he actually feverish?

    If his lab work is neg I feel like he needs an mri and the drs need to jump on this to figure out what's causing it.
    I think your right with this. But if he is on steroids at the moment thats about all that docs would do for an ms attache anyway so there panicing isn't necessary.Wait for lab results.

    No improvement since starting meds on friday.
    Give it a bit longer.

    It's a Moms job to worry but try and breath and then persue things when you have more results.
    All the best and keep us posted.

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      #3
      Hi colpay1925,

      I think there is some confusion. There is cat scratch disease/fever and it can cause swelling of the optic nerve and is a bacterial cause. This can be helped with antibiotics.

      This is different from Optic Neuritis that is experienced in Multiple Sclerosis. Antibiotics are not helpful or used for Optic Neuritis related to Multiple Sclerosis.
      Diagnosed 1984
      “Lightworkers aren’t here to avoid the darkness…they are here to transform the darkness through the illuminating power of love.” Muses from a mystic

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        #4
        Thank you all for your advice and replies! I guess the thing that keeps playing in my head is the first ophthalmologist saying there was a 50 percent lifetime risk of developing ms after an occurrence of optic neuritis. He showed us the pics of his optic nerve and called it optic neuritis. The neuro ophthalmologist called it the same.

        And although I don't have ms thank God I'm not unfamiliar with it. My neurologist thought I might have ms after having what we know now are small strokes in 2 different areas in my brain and partial epilepsy. Only answer for the strokes was high blood pressure. Had every blood, heart and neuro test known to man! He said no lesions in my brain so no ms. I was so relieved. Meds for both and I'm blessed to have only minor issues left over. I read all I could about ms when my dr was testing me for it. So I know how serious and debilitating it can be.

        My son's labs should be in on Wednesday. And I'm praying the cat scratch test is positive! If it's not I'm sure his dr will order an mri and we'll go from there. He's been very healthy all his life and is now until this.

        He does have 2 cats. Doesn't remember getting scratched but could've come into contact with saliva.

        No fever daytime or night. The night sweats were bothering him so bad when they started he ckd his temp a couple of times. He's still having that mostly every night.

        I'm going to just chill and wait for lab results! I'm way more worried than he is!

        Thanks again! I'll post again when his lab results are in.

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          #5
          Yes! keep us posted on the lab results! One note about the night sweats - steroid use can commonly cause these night sweats along with anxiety, insomnia and rapid heart beat. They have always effected me that way.

          Hope you both can find answers soon!
          1st sx '89 Dx '99 w/RRMS - SP since 2010
          Administrator Message Boards/Moderator

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            #6
            Ideally the Bartonella test will be positive and the antibiotics will have worked however what will be tricky is that if it was MS the eye symptoms could resolve from the steroids or spontaneously in the same time frame also.

            It is very rare for optic neuritis to result from CSD 1-2% of cases according to this article although hopefully this will be what he has and life can return to normal. Although hopefully your MomSpideySenses are just in high gear but I think you are wise to question the diagnosis and if things aren't adding up when the labs are returned I would push for a more comprehensive exam.

            Please keep us posted.

            http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama...article/802010
            He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
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