NEWBEE

[hapbear]

My doc found 85 lesions on my MRI did spinal tap and all the other tests and found everything normal..I have no symptoms of MS yet he says I have MS. I disagree and he wants me to start on meds like now...I dont know what to do??? If I do have MS I dont want to not use the meds but if I dont have it why use meds I dont need so I am a total mess.....can anyone help Please

[opiegirl]

Welcome to the site...I hope you can find it to be a helpful resource for some of your questions.

I would definitely get a second opinion! What made you go the the neuro in the first place? What type of symptoms warranted you getting an MRI?

[jazzgirl]

I'm a little confused. You say he found "85 lesions on my MRI" and lots of other tests, including a spinal tap, but found "everything normal".

Why did you have the tests in the first place if you have no symptoms of MS?

I really am curious.....

[hapbear]

Why I went

Well it all started because I had severe migraines and I had eye problems. I had 2 different eye tests where I couldnt see things off to the sides. But this since cleared up but they still sent me to the Brain Dr who ran the tests...So here is where I am... So I dont know what to do

[KC]

Hi there!

I used to get frequest migraines and two neurologists told me that you can get lesions that look exactly like MS lesions from migraines. Just thought I'd throw that out there. You might want to ask about that.

I would definitely get a second opinion. Good luck!

[twisterred]

MS tricks us.

True, you do feel just fine.
That is because your nervous system has done some rewiring and the damage that has happened isn't too noticeable.

Over 20 years with patients taking the Disease Modifying Drugs (DMD) it has proven that the meds do help.
Please don't get thrown off by the "30%" effective" wording. The meds don't cure, but rather slow down the disease.

MS is progressive no matter what, so a great investment into your future is to begin taking one.

Get a second opinion to confirm this diagnosis.
Your doc shouldn't mind. It's very normal to do this and a good doc won't mind at all.
It can help you, too. I know how difficult is is to imagine life with a neurological disease.
It's not what anyone plans, but I have found that the injection I take each day has given me the ability to have a great life with 20+ years with MS.

I hope that helps some.

This is a great link to read:
http://www.mscenter.org/images/stori...er09lowres.pdf

Give yourself time to get over the shock, but I encourage you to begin attacking the disease with the meds that actually confront the disease, not just treat symptoms.

It'll be OK.

[KoKo]

Hello hapbear

Welcome!

Well it all started because I had severe migraines and I had eye problems. I had 2 different eye tests where I couldnt see things off to the sides. But this since cleared up but they still sent me to the Brain Dr who ran the tests...So here is where I am... So I dont know what to do

The fact that you had eye issues, and then they cleared up, sounds like an MS type symptom. It is not uncommon for MS symptoms to come and go.

In any case, it is wise to get a second opinion if you don't trust your diagnosis.

The neuro normally doesn't diagnose MS based on brain lesions alone. There are other criteria that usually needs to met also, such as history of symptoms, clinical findings upon a neurological exam, etc.

If interested, here is some info on the criteria used to diagnose MS:

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/abo...-ms/index.aspx

Let us know what you find out from your second opinion.

If you have any questions, just ask and we'll be glad to help if we can.

Take care,
KoKo

[hunterd]

WELCOME!!!!!! great to have you here! i agree, SECOND OPINION. not sure about the meds, either way you go, you could be wrong.

dave

[0485c10]

There is always a second way to deal with a new unexpected ms diagnosis & that is monitoring it until you feel comfortable that it is the correct disease to treat.

the third way of treating a new unexpected ms diagnosis is to ignore it...and that would be terribly wrong and stupid of you!

time is another is another diagnostic tool & ms is a 20 year disease, so there is time to be confident that this is the right thing to do.

i got a diagnosis unexpected too, and i refused treatment for 8 months until i knew i had to treat it to maintasin my quality of life---while i was doing that i found this article, the theory of "benign" has since been discredited because no ms is benign, there can be nenign symptoms of ms but all ms does damage, whether silent at the time ior visible..ms damage is additiv. damage builds on top of damage, so preventing the layer of invisible damage prevents thew visible damage happening as quickly.

but monitoring is an option, ask the doc if you can do that for a while until you are comfortable with treating it---as long as you understand not treating it is brain lost, but you have 40% of the brain to play with before the brain can no longer compensate for it....

here is the old article i used for myself as an excuse to myself(didn't tell the doc that i had this article) treat for 8 months.

its from 2005, so its old.


http://www.msneighborhood.com/conten...hive_2209.aspx