This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

uprightdoc wrote:Dania,
If you have no brain or cervical scans how was it determined that you have MS?

Sorry, I had a MRI 18 years ago. And with that the neurologist said I had MS.

Dania,
Based on our brief meeting, I can only say that I am amazed you don't have any basic x-rays of your spine or cervical and lumbar MRIs. It is important to understand the condition of the spine as a possible causative factor as well as to contend with co-morbidities brought on by weaknesses and immobility due to MS. I will PM you.

uprightdoc wrote:Dania,
Based on our brief meeting, I can only say that I am amazed you don't have any basic x-rays of your spine or cervical and lumbar MRIs. It is important to understand the condition of the spine as a possible causative factor as well as to contend with co-morbidities brought on by weaknesses and immobility due to MS. I will PM you.

Every time I mentioned having to tilt my head back in order to be stronger to any doctor they all just looked at me and shrugged their shoulders. When I was able to walk I would be looking at the ceiling and when I looked down I would freeze, unable to take a step and had to resume tilting my head up to continue walking.
I had cancer in 1992 and the neurologist said because of that I could not be given any of the CRAB drugs. So I rarely saw the neurologist.

An interesting case.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/10/healt ... tml?src=pm

Great story Dania. The patient's problems started with head trauma. Normal pressure hydrocephalus is central to my theory regarding the role of chronic ischemia, edema and normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) in neurodegenerative diseases. As I mention in my book my research into NPH started while I was studying hydrocephalus. I started looking into hydrocephalus after seeing the open joints of the skull called sutures in the artificially deformed crania from the indigenous people of Peru and Bolivia. That led to Adams and Hakim who were the first neurosurgeons to research NPH. The definition of hydrocephalus hasn't changed in seventy years. It needs to be updated. Hydrocephalus is edema of the brain. Among other things, it can be caused by venous drainage problems.

As far as your case is concerned, the long motor tracts that descend from the cerebral cortex down to the various spinal segments to stimulate the muscles of the arms and legs are located on the front (ventral) side of the cord. You most likely have spondylosis, such as bone spurs similar to Blossom that are effecting the ventral side of the cord. Spondylosis effects the epidural space between the spinal canal and cord. The epidural space contains the vertebral veins that drain the brain and cord. Tilting your head backwards relieves the pressure on the vertebral veins, which can cause hydraulic pressure problems on the cord. Many cases of MS are associated with Lhermitte's sign which is most likely due to tethering, traction and compression of the cord due to spondylosis.

I got your message Dania and I will get back to you.

Dania,
I sent you some information. Let me know if you get it. Also, can you tell me if you have any history of trauma?

Thanks for the PM Dania. I wish you had shared it though. Your history of trauma, like so many of your cohorts here, is incredible. You definitely need x-rays of the full spine. I can just imagine what your spine looks like.

uprightdoc wrote:Thanks for the PM Dania. I wish you had shared it though. Your history of trauma, like so many of your cohorts here, is incredible. You definitely need x-rays of the full spine. I can just imagine what your spine looks like.

You may share my story. the ladies who help me bath say I am so different than others with MS as I am never cold. Just the opposite. My head and neck are so overheated. I can take a gel cold pack from the freezer and stick it directly on my skin on the chest and I do not jump. It does not bother me at all. Feels good. I feel I am running a fever all the time. My face is always flushed.

Dania's history of trauma is, " I had my own horse for years and rode. Have been bucked off, fallen from, horse tripped and somersaulted once and semi landed on me, broke rib, elbow and 3 metatarsals on 3 separate times...

I sleep in a recliner. It has been 9 month since I was able to sleep in a bed. I cannot lie flat either face up or face down."

The cause your temperature dysregulation is most likely due to pressure in the third ventricle. My next website page will cover more on the critical structures that make up the third ventricle. Among other things, the third ventricle plays an important role in thermoregulation. I looked into the role of the hypothalamus in thermoregulation, torpor and hibernation decades ago. The cavernous and suboccipital cavernous sinus are also important to the counter-current cooling mechanism of the brain. Venous back pressure and inversion flows in the sinuses can decrease the effectiveness of the cooling system of the brain.

http://www.upright-health.com/third-ventricle.html

OMG! Things are finally making sense. So, maybe the diagnosis of MS (seeing as someone just lumped all these symptoms and called it MS) with me and others is incorrect? All due to trauma? I was diagnosed in 1988. No one ever thought "this" could possible be due to trauma.
I just stating taking Lisinopril because I read it helps some symptoms and with me it does. It is for high blood pressure which is what I thought I had in my brain. So, I was on the right track.

dania wrote:So, maybe the diagnosis of MS (seeing as someone just lumped all these symptoms and called it MS) with me and others is incorrect?...

The diagnosis of MS is probably correct in your case. Classic MS is more than just a bunch of symptoms lumped together. MS is associated with demyelination and scarring in the brain and cervical cord. Classically speaking, it is associated with supratentorial (above the posterior fossa), periventricular (around the lateral ventricles) and perivenular (around the veins) lesions. MS has been previously attributed to latent viruses. The medical association denied any connection to trauma. They were wrong. The evidence is mounting regarding the role of trauma in neurodegenerative conditions such as AD, PD and MS.

uprightdoc wrote:

dania wrote:So, maybe the diagnosis of MS (seeing as someone just lumped all these symptoms and called it MS) with me and others is incorrect?...

The diagnosis of MS is probably correct in your case. Classic MS is more than just a bunch of symptoms lumped together. MS is associated with demyelination and scarring in the brain and cervical cord. Classically speaking, it is associated with supratentorial (above the posterior fossa), periventricular (around the lateral ventricles) and perivenular (around the veins) lesions. MS has been previously attributed to latent viruses. The medical association denied any connection to trauma. They were wrong. The evidence is mounting regarding the role of trauma in neurodegenerative conditions such as AD, PD and MS.

Is it possible to have scarring from trauma?

It is definitely possible to have scarring from trauma. The outcome of traumatic brain injuries is well known. The problem is physicians don't recognize the many different types of trauma that can injure the brain, such as those associated with contact sports and whiplash injuries. The woman in the story obviously hit her head which is enough to cause traumatic brain injury by itself, but she also rolled down a flight of stairs which more than likely damaged her spine. Injuries of the spine can damage the brain. Your numerous falls from horses more than likely is the cause of damage to your spine and nervous system. Among other things, whiplash and similar types of trauma can cause venous and CSF inversion flows that reach up into the supratentorial compartment, and the periventricular and perivenular spaces, which can injure surrounding tissues.

Another thing that is also different with me is that I have never had any vision problems. Plus never suffer from fatigue. So if scarring can be caused from trauma how can my plaques/ scarring be determined if it is MS?