Brain lesions on MRI - have you had this?

[clemetteattlee]

In May last year I was floored by an intense attack of dizziness. I was off work for a month and although it has subsided I have had mild dizziness ever since. I have fatigue, muscle aches, and numbness/pins and needles as well as horrendous migraines. GP referred me to ENT who sent me for an MRI. I have since been for a further MRI and finally got some results today. The first one showed no tumour but did show white matter lesions ("more consistent with those in the elderly" according to the consultant's secretary who gave me the results). I am back at the hospital on Tuesday to get the results of the second MRI and hopefully some idea of a diagnosis.
I am trying not to panic and know that speculation is essentially pointless but I have read that migraines can cause these lesions so I wondered if anyone out there had these lesions and didn't have MS??

I don't know if this is any help, but I have been waking up with pins and needles in my hands for a while, and I was tested (electric shocks and needles) for carpal tunnel syndrome. Dr says I have a mild version of this.

Thanks wentshopping. I did consider that but it is my whole hand rather than radial nerve distribution...

I know it is hard but try to stop obsessing. Trying to pin symptoms to diagnoses, particularly with the brain, is like nailing jelly to a wall so trying to self diagnose is rife with difficulties.

I know, I know. Because I am in training to be a medic I have lots of general bits of knowledge and lots of half formed ideas but it is very clear at the moment that there is so much I don't know!!!

No demylenation is good clem. There are lots of things that cause pins and needles too. Have you been tested for VitB deficiency. Also, could you have a disc problem (guess this would show up on a neck scan, but you just had head didn't you?)

Anyway, keep your chin up. Even though I got THE diagnosis, and felt crap for about six months, I do feel pretty ok at the moment. Pins and needles still there but much milder, and to be honest, not that big a deal. Achey shoulder and arm a bit annoying, but again, I think there are lots of worse things, like a bad back or arthritis. Try to stay positive whatever happens. Even if they do find an underlying condition/disease, being as positive as you can will go a long way to keeping you as well as possible, so it's worth trying to adopt a good attitude. Focus on how much you can do, rather than how bad you feel.

Hope that doesn't sound preachy.

Not at all preachy. I am generally a pretty positive person, but also a bit lacking in patience. I can cope with it if I can understand what is happening but that time is not yet. I am looking forward to meeting the neurologist and hopefully he will be able to answer all the many questions that occur to me each day.
Thanks again for replying, I really appreciate people taking the time.

I have ms. Pins and needles do come and go; sometimes for less than half an hour at a time but on/off all day. This has happened to me, but not for quite a while. MS manifests itself differently in different people, so my symptoms will be different from yours, as they are different from my friend's, and so on.

Try not to panic or worry too much (oh that's so easy to say, isn't it?). Most things are worse when you're worried or stressed or tired. Can you rest much? When are you seeing the neuro?

Only cancerous lesions though and luckily mine aren't cancerous.

Have been in A&E tonight with sudden left arm weakness. I am falling apart!

clem, sorry to hear you've been in hospital. Hope you are ok.

Thank you - I feel well in myself but my body just wont co-operate/stop tingling in odd places!

Have you ben able to speak to someone about it yet?

Hi - I have the neurologist appointment tomorrow. I have a week of oth arms beng weak and tingly and horrible dizziness today. The appointment can't come soon enough!! Thank you for asking x

Sorry to hijack your thread but wanted to to LargeGlassofRed and say am glad to hear you are sounding so well! Hope you had a great Christmas back home.

And Clem - if you are training to be a medic it will be hard as you know too much, if you know what I mean, but one thing I have learnt in 4 years of a neurological problem is that neurology is a slow guessing game, so don't expect an instant diagnosis - often all neurologists can do is watch and evaluate and treat where possible as they go and try to work out what the cause of something is.

Sending you best wishes for the appointment today and hope they have some answers and most importantly some suggestions for treatment.

Thanks to everyone who has held my hand through this. Went to the neurologist today and he confirmed that I have periventircular AND juxtacortical lesions. They are inflammatory (not migraine related) and he said "the most common cause of inflammatory lesions in a woman your age is MS. If I had to bet on it I would say it is MS but we need to do some more tests to confirm it."

So sorry to hear this clemetteattlee, glad you've got some answers and hopefully start on some treatment soon.

Workingitoutasigo, thanks I'm alot better than I was just waiting to go back next week to see what treatment course I'm starting.
Hope you had a good Christmas too x

Sorry to hear that but yeah, at least you have some answers

Thank you again.

clem, one of the possible causes of inflammation in the brain is gluten, you could try gf diet and your symptoms might improve. If you search for gluten in the context of neurology you will find a lot of publications where gf has helped before severe perm damage built up. I happen to know the author of this paper thanks to whom my ds has recovered.

Worth trying?

Thanks nightcat. They did do my coeliac blood tests that reveal no gluten-evoked inflammation but it's worth thinking about. Thank you.

Oh Clem...how worrying for you. But as you say, more tests to do before they can be definitive - presumably a lumbar puncture/blood tests/more scans? Are you getting those scheduled? And are they giving you some treatment while they work on a diagnosis? Some steroids would be a good idea to work on the immediate inflammation. In the meantime rest well.

And LGOR - so so so pleased to hear - incredible recovery! Hope they have a good treatment plan for you.

clem, coeliac test only tests for gut antibodies, not brain, so too gut specific and not brain relevant

more here

Thank you nightcat. It's interesting but the gliadin testing was done by my original ENT referral to look for possible causes of inflammation in the inner ear (my initial presentation was dizziness) so they did the full range of antigens, and as the article says "Untreated patients typically have circulating antibodies to gliadin and to one or more type of transglutaminase" and I just don't.
I do appreciate the link. There are positives and negatives about being a medic when you are ill yourself, but the positives are its often straightforward to work out what isn't wrong because the doctors tend to give you all your results.
I'm glad it has been the answer for your son.

Workingit, thank you. Yes I have the enhanced MRI of my head and spine in two weeks time, followed by the LP. We did discuss steroids but he said that they can interfere with the gadolinium so could make the MRI less accurate, so we are going to talk about it again after my tests.
I now have to make a decision about whether to request a scribe for my exams in three weeks time!!