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Hello Nigel,

My projects are challenging to say the least but going well. Who knew I would be mixing my research with commercial kitchen and restaurant design, not too mention menu planning. The temporary website for the restaurant goes live next week. It's called "Saving the Merrill-Magee." The restaurant project will blend nicely with future plans for seminars.

What signs or symptoms do you notice that are progressing? Are you still doing the antibiotic protocol and research project? Keep me posted on the neuro check-up and MRI updates if any.

If this amazes you, "It's amazing to me that such highly educated doctors and esteemed experts still don't see the obvious connection", imagine how much it frustrates PwMS etc and puts people in suffering!

I hear your explanation and can picture it as the basic problems we have. I also wonder if the C5/C6 region and the commonality of disc bulges there is some of the problem as well.

Two reasons, one that my doppler of neck showed flow restrictions when upright and improved when lying (RH), which I assume is opposite to general CCSVI findings and secondly that the disc bulges I have on is at C5/C6 and could that be a junction point of nerves that maybe are exiting or more susceptible to impingements of nerve or fluid flows?

The congestion and importance of/at C5/C6 seems to be a commonality, particularly when injury is involved, such as whiplash or over stretching through injury/impacts and the infection riskes.

The other aspect of the eye vascular flows reminds me of how the eye is often a place where we feel that there is pressure occurring in many situations from injury to air travel and water sports as well. The risk to temp regulation and flows in the HPA axis is an interesting link to symptoms of MS and so many diseases.

Again another fragile or at risk area for symptoms stemming from this HPA region?


Nigel

C5/6 is in the lower cervical spine. The lower cervical canal contains the cervical enlargement of the cord for the brachial plexus of nerves that go to the arms. It also contains descending tracts to the legs, hence the enlargement. There is llittle room for spondylosis and stenosis in the tight space of the lower canal. Although less than the upper and middle cervical spine, degeneration of the lower cervical spine can still affect blood and CSF flow between the cranial vault and spinal canal. More importantly, I suspect that spondylosis and stenosis of the cervical spine can cause venous hypertension and subsequent ischemic degeneration of the cord due to decreased perfusion pressure. I further suspect that it can affect the tracts of the cord without contacting the cord due to fautly craniospinal hydrodynamics (hydraulics). Spondylosis and stenosis alter the interior design of the spinal canal and thus affect blood and CSF flow passing through it. It's basic physics. Again, Blossom is a good case in point for a cervical myelopathy due to spondylosis spurs that don't quite touch the cord but significantly compress the epidural space. Her degeneration is in the middle cervical spine. The most common herniations and degeneration of the spine are found in the lower cervical and lower lumbar discs. The lower cervical spine bears the weight of the head and neck above it. It also takes the brunt of whiplash injuries.

Imagine if a Neuro was able to comprehend this!

The cross over of medical specialities leaves huge blind spots in knowledge and guess who suffers!!

;)

Not only blossom, doc

You are right Robert. You are a perfect example of spondylosis causing degeneration of the cord and signs and symptoms similar to myelopathy. Soccer like football, hockey and boxing is associated with a significant amount of head and neck trauma that can lead to degenerative conditions of the spine, brain and cord.

dania wrote:I improved after wearing a neck collar. Keeping my head from flopping backwards and to the right.

Hi Dania: I'm delighted to hear from you. Do you believe it is the neck collar which turned things around for you? I was sorry to hear you were in such a crisis and will look forward to knowing more of your solutions as you begin to feel better. Do keep us posted. Amicalement, Vesta

vesta wrote:

dania wrote:I improved after wearing a neck collar. Keeping my head from flopping backwards and to the right.

Hi Dania: I'm delighted to hear from you. Do you believe it is the neck collar which turned things around for you? I was sorry to hear you were in such a crisis and will look forward to knowing more of your solutions as you begin to feel better. Do keep us posted. Amicalement, Vesta

Yes. It was the neck collar. Not lying in bed. That was the worse thing I could of done. Was more disabled after 1 week in bed.Muscles more contracted.

I misunderstood you. I thought you said you just got back into the WC and were feeling much better. I thought you were referring to getting up from being bedridden in the hospital for a month and then at home due to tailbone pain, leg weakness and constipation. Lying in bed takes the pressure off of the tailbone compared to sitting in a WC. Staying in bed however is not healthy.

Dr F. I am going to see the orthopedic MD who put a rod down a MS patient's spine this coming Wednesday. I am now unable to sit on my bum. Weighing about 75 pounds. My spine, pelvis skeleton is so twisted. Imagine holding a folded towel and twisting both hands in opposite directions. That twisted towel is my spine. Just having someone pulling my left leg, pushing one side of my pelvis and opposite shoulder (opening/ straightening my spine) helps. Feeling/sensation in legs and arms return to normal seconds after it is done. Unfortunately does not last too long. Saliva is going into my lungs.Unless this doctor helps me I probably will not be here very much longer.
Looking back, my problem started when I fell on my coccyx 50 years ago, at age 10. Over the years I went to my family doctor about swollen feet, face tongue, pain in my pelvis on the left side near my coccyx, hot brain/head, contracted sphincter muscle with difficulty urinating and defecating.ETC. My family doctor NEVER look at or touched my body just said have you seen your neurologist? The neurologist would then tell me this is NOT MS, talk to your family doctor.
I had a MRI in Nov on my spine. Would the upright MRI that was done on me with Dr Rosa be of any help?

Dania,
The twisted towel analogy is a good one. I used it to explain to patients how the muscles in the back react to counterstrains of the pelvic and shoulder girdles. You could definitely benefit from need stretching and decompression of your spine, as well as counterstrain maneuvers to relieve the strain from the misaligned pelvis.

Hard falls on the coccyx send a joit through the entire spine. They can easily cause misalignments, disc injuries and compression fractures of the vertebra. I have an ex-paratrooper from the UK who had bad sit down landing that landed him in the hospital. He is now in his sixties and has Parkinson's. His lower spine and discs are a mess and the pelvis is misaligned. He also has an upper cervical misalignment with an acquired Chiari 1. I suspect it is secondary not primary PD.

I don't think that Dr. Rosa's upright and cine brain and cervical MRI would be that helpful as surgical correction focuses on the lower spine. Keep me posted about your consultation and let me know if you have any questions. If you wish, I will be happy to take a look at your spine MRI.

Hi Dr. Flanagan and all.

I thought this might be of interest to you and would like to hear any comments on it that you may have:
CCSVI: could dehydration be a possible confounding variable?
http://multiple-sclerosis-research.blog ... sible.html

Thanks
THX1138

Hello THX1138,
The finding is interesting and certainly should be taken into consideration when contemplating surgery but it most likely isn't a significant confounding variable in meeting CCSVI protocols. That said, venoplasty works and it's a terrific option for blood and CSF drainage insufficiency. What is confounding the problem in my opinion is the the theory behind CCSVI. I don't think that most cases of neurodegenerative diseases such as MS are due to jugular venous insufficiency. There are other more common causes of venous insufficiency, such as the dural sinuses and the vertebral veins. In any case, blockage and insufficiency of venous flow also affects CSF flow. Malformations, misalignments and degeneration of the cervical spine can affect blood and CSF flow in the brain, which can be seen on brain scans. Manual medicine, shunts, venoplasty and surgery should be options for patients with neurodegenerative diseases associated with venous insufficiency and blockage of CSF flow. It's important to understand the hydraulics involved in making decisions about which approach to take.

Thanks Dr. Flanagan

Since we last communicated I have had a MRA and an MRV. Below is the abnormal result that the MRV showed. The vascular Dr., that I saw later, speculated that I had probably always been this way What are you thoughts on the below MRV results?
Findings:

Diminished flow in the left transverse sinus, sigmoid sinus, and cavernous sinus compared with the right. This is suspicious for partial venous sinus thrombosis. The findings can be seen in patients with intracranial hypertension and chronic pulsatile tinnitus. The remainder of the exam is unremarkable.

THX1138