Have your MRI scans been consistent with your symptom level?

[ElliotB]

I am scheduled to have a MRI in the next few weeks and have not had one since I was diagnosed over 4 years ago. I have been feeling pretty good overall and am obviously hoping for good results but I am also aware that you can be symptom free and have plaques showing in your MRI and that you can have a clean MRI and symptoms. Just wondering what others here have experienced.

[David1949]

In my case I think the MRI results were consistent with my symptoms. I was diagnosed 21 years ago. The earliest symptoms were very minor, just numbness and tingling in my left thumb and forefinger. The MRI of the brain showed several spots which the doc sad were consistent with my symptoms. The second MRI was of the spine. It came many years later and it showed spots on the cervical spine which the doctor said were consistent with my deficits. By that time we knew that it was PPMS. Spots on the cervical spine are more common in PPMS and are associated with walking difficulty. So I'd say the MRI fit pretty well with my symptoms.

[Snoopy]

My MRIs have not been consistent with symptoms, for the most part I was diagnosed 32 years ago without MRI evidence. The exacerbation at that time was quite severe and my Neurologist said based on my presentation the disease was affecting the spinal cord. In the early years I wasn't good at follow up appointments or MRIs. I would go in when I had an exacerbation. I was young, "doing okay," and too busy with life to see my Neurologist. To be young and naïve I had/have double vision in 2014 but to date my MRIs have not indicated MS as the cause although my Neurologist and Neuro-Ophthalmologist say it is. Last year a Thoracic lesion was found which did explain some new symptoms in my left leg.

David1949:
Spots on the cervical spine are more common in PPMS and are associated with walking difficulty.

I have always fit into and was diagnosed with RRMS, but to this day the disease affects my spinal cord much more than the brain. My mobility has been my biggest struggle through all of these years.