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So my brain has plenty of lesions on it and I had plenty of symptoms but I have somehow almost returned back to normal.......

I am going for a spinal mri soon and my doctor said to not be surprised to see lesions or w/e based on one of my symptoms being a painful then limp leg. I had "drop foot" but it has come back to almost 100 percent now. I am only 25, and a male. I had optic neuritis at 19 with no other lesions or signs of ms. Then a few months ago I went through an episode which included the leg issue.

Is it a bad sign that I have already had spinal problems along with the brain issues? aka am I freaking wheelchair bound?

My brain stem was clear of lesions so its hard to see how my spine will be clear. Is it "standard" in the early stages to have spinal issues already as well?

Either way, I will stick with copaxone, an anti inflammatory diet, lifting/exercising, and my nutrition goals to slow the progression.

Thanks for any input,

Chris

The only thing I can suggest you have to examine the environment and try to eliminate toxins. My problem was with the root canals and amalgam fillings I had in my mouth but I can never be sure. The one thing for sure is when I did a detox program all my symptoms went away. Anything toxic to the body is suspect. If you are living in an industrial area which is putting pollution in the air that could be a problem. Things like fluoride, heavy metals, antibiotics, GMO food, vaccines and drugs are toxic to the body. One thing for sure if you are not getting better you have to try something different. Did you try Dr. Bergman's treatment. He claims you will get better in 60 days. Why not give it a try.

Ohh, I have gotten better for now at least. I am almost back to 100 percent health. but for how long, we don't know.

you need to go to a book store, and read the first few chapters of a book called mind over medicine. Based on the title, I would never read it. But it totally changed my view of disease, what it is, and how the mind controls it. If you expect to decline, you probably will. My doc flat out told me that I should NOT expect to get worse.

Hi, youarethecure,
I'm sorry none of the more down-to-Earth members of this forum decided to answer your question, Youarethecure. I could tell you my opinion, but being new to MS myself I'm not sure I can give you a correct answer. As you probably know, MS is an extremely versatile disease, but I'd say having spinal lesions is not a good sign. I have a few myself, and I was diagnosed only a year ago.
Still, no need to panic, I know of several people with numerous spinal and brain lesions who, 20 years after their diagnosis, still have no disability. Luck of the draw.
I hope it turns out you are one of those people.

Youarethecure wrote:So my brain has plenty of lesions on it and I had plenty of symptoms but I have somehow almost returned back to normal.......

I am going for a spinal mri soon and my doctor said to not be surprised to see lesions or w/e based on one of my symptoms being a painful then limp leg. I had "drop foot" but it has come back to almost 100 percent now. I am only 25, and a male. I had optic neuritis at 19 with no other lesions or signs of ms. Then a few months ago I went through an episode which included the leg issue.

Is it a bad sign that I have already had spinal problems along with the brain issues? aka am I freaking wheelchair bound?

My brain stem was clear of lesions so its hard to see how my spine will be clear. Is it "standard" in the early stages to have spinal issues already as well?

Chris, the reason you have been sent to specifically go for a Spine MRI is because your previous scans do not guarantee any specific result from the spine MRI; otherwise it would of been redundant and not requested.

The thing that would make me personally comfortable is that your function returned pretty well. I would personally keep up what you are doing (and really extend your work-outs [my personal view]). I have read so many times about "normal's" and controls having lesions, its function that I personally care about.

Thanks to the good replies lol.

I do know exactly why I need to get the mri. I was just curious on the situation of already having spinal lesions.

I lift and exercise for a minimum of 45 minutes to close to 1.5 hours if I do cardio as well. I have been doing that for over 5 years now. I do not get heat exhaustion or too much fatigue so I can still do it all with no issues.

I am comfortable in all of this, I am young and back to normal just waiting for them to be able to repair our myelin. Time is on my side with this crap. ..... I hope lol.

heya i would think that as long as you ensure your macro and micro nutrient as well as hydration requirements are optimized as you continue to exercise, that you'll be setting yourself up for a best case scenario - and if you feel any suspicious symptoms (*including* a change in attitude about the future), get the bloodwork done and adjust your intakes as needed. you can do it

melko321, apparently you have never read the book I referenced. If reading makes me not sensible, then well, I guess I'm guilty. I'd rather be informed than ignorant. The author, by the way, is no quack. She is an MD and bases her book in published, reputable studies. The book is eye opening about the role of expectation on disease. For example, when they tell patients that the medicine they are taking causes nausea, over half report nausea, even though the medicine is sugar water. When they tell them that it will cause vomiting, many throw up. When they tell patients that they are taking a cancer drug and it could cause hair loss, 30 percent of patients in the placebo group lost their hair. Yes, 30 percent lost their hair from saline injections, simply because they expected to. The placebo and nocebo effects are intriguing and poorly understood areas of healing and the question of disease.

You're right, jerrygallow, I didn't, but that's beside the point. When someone asks a concrete question(are spinal lesions normally found early in the MS disease process) and the only responses they get do not answer that question, then that person might avoid a site that is full of excellent information and knowleagable people. That's what I did for a long time with this forum before I decided to check it again.

As for the book you mention, who's to say that there isn't something to it. Perhaps I'll read it myself one day.

Youarethecure wrote:I am going for a spinal mri soon and my doctor said to not be surprised to see lesions or w/e based on one of my symptoms being a painful then limp leg. I had "drop foot" but it has come back to almost 100 percent now.

Sorry to break it to you, but you almost certainly had transverse myelitis, and your spine MRI will most likely reveal at least one lesion.

Don't let it get you down. A lot of people do very well with multiple sclerosis. Take the disease seriously and make sure you are treating your body well, but enjoy life and be optimistic. A lot of people with MS do well in the long run, and our knowledge and ability to treat the disease will only improve with time.

Need some inspiration? This guy completed an ironman after being diagnosed with ALS!

http://www.waronals.com/about_jon.php

The spinal mri of my cervical spine came back with 0 lesions.

I do have a herniated disk in my c4-5 though. I don't know when or how that happened.... and nothing changed with contrast.

I am hopefully speaking to my doctor tomorrow about it all, I have only read the radiologist's report.

Is it possible for that type of herniated disk could have led to my leg pain and then "drop foot" nerve damage? Or can that happen without a lesion being seen? ...... Or now will I most likely have to get the rest of my spine checked out?

Thanks for any input.... esp if I don't get in contact with my doctor tomorrow.

check this site out www.chirogeek.com
i really like its info on spine nutrition and hydration (although the site is being getting updated and some of the pages aren't working the way they used to)

this is a good page on how to look after the discs
http://www.chirogeek.com/000_Disc_Anatomy.htm#nu

and this is one of the newer pages on herniation
http://www.chirogeek.com/Herniation/Her ... -page.html

we've had a bit of conversation on tims re hydration cofactors that might be something to think about too.

I had many of the same things as you. Diagnosed at 19 with Optic Neuritis.

Don't worry about the lesions/plaques. There is only a 30% correlation between plaques and symptoms.

Avoid stress...studying was the worst for me.

GL

Pming you if you don't mind answering some questions!