who got MS after an accident?

Drury · Post by **Drury** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:59 am

Has anyone been diagnosed with MS after head or neck injury or the like?
I am curious as my daughter was diagnosed after major brain trauma and I am convinced it was the trigger for her MS even though her neuro said it was proven otherwise. She had absolutely no prior symptoms. If anyone has any info on this I would really appreciate it. I am not very good at navigating this website for back info as not very computer literate.
Thanks
Drury?

dlb · Post by **dlb** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:25 am

Hi Drury,
This was posted today as well, maybe you saw it?

http://www.thisisms.com/ftopicp-116161.html

LR1234 · Post by **LR1234** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:36 am

I got my MS after an operation. Whiplash made it much worse.

Drury · Post by **Drury** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:13 pm

Thanks dlb that was really interesting and I hope more people come forward with their stories.

LR1234 your surgery and whiplash certainly make you wonder.....

My daughter was hit by a taxi in NYC suffering major brain trauma, neck and back injury, etc. Its too much of a coincidence that she started having problems with her leg giving way 6 weeks or so later. No other family member on any side has MS or any history of it so I am convinced its to do with some kind of trauma to the body especially the head/neck area. When we saw a neurologist a week after her accident he said that brain trauma is unpredictable and she could suffer from something like Parkinson's disease later in life.

Here's my point. If a person suffers from any severe kind of head, neck, shoulder, back injury would'nt it make sense for them to be tested to see if they have any damage to the veins in those regions in the hope that they can be treated with CCSVI or the like and perhaps prevent the possibility of getting MS? I know none of this is proven yet but I am hoping that more and more doctors will start to see the connection and in time possibly turn things around.

Of course I am not suggesting that injury is the only cause of MS.

Drury

L · Post by L » Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:08 pm

LR1234 wrote:I got my MS after an operation. Whiplash made it much worse.

I too got MS after an operation (and near death from a rare allergy to anaesthesia.)

dlb · Post by **dlb** » Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:13 pm

My sx & subsequent dx came after a winter of very unusual things, starting with a very bad cold (like I had never had before), then a whole bunch of weird skin issues on my face that was treated first as eczema, then as an infection & finally a doc thought it was rosacea & he prescribed minocycline, which finally cleared it up.I don't think I have rosacea because nothing more in the past 5 years??? Then some sensory issues a couple times, an MRI & dx in July 2005. After hearing my story & thoughts that I felt the MS had to do with this viral or bacterial??? attack & the skin stuff & the dose of minocycline, he was actually excited by the fact that I had been talking the mino. Unbeknown to me, they had just started a study involving the use of minocycline.

I too feel that there is more than one thing at play in the development of MS and those series of things are maybe different for us all, but I think we need to trust our gut feelings. Interestingly, my next door neighbor had MS for years before me, slowly getting worse & then she had a car accident with serious head trauma. This accident really exacerbated her MS & she was very disabled after that. Sometimes I wonder about something environmental because of the 2 of us next door to one another! I think the different triggers and reasons are what is keeping the scientists from getting to the root, but mostly because they got stalled out by labeling MS as auto-immune.

LR1234 · Post by **LR1234** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 1:13 am

L, I woke up out of the operation gasping for air, plus the needless epidural they had given me whilst under GA did not wear off for 3 days. (I and the nurses were all panicking a bit). I never recovered from that operation, and was diagnosed with M.E (even though it was MS all along)

I have a family relative though with MS as well so I am must have been already suseptiable to MS. I do wonder though if I hadn't had that operation would I have got ill?

gymbuff · Post by **gymbuff** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 2:08 am

My syymptoms appeared after an accident with the diagnosis about 5 years later. I remember a survey being done in Belgium or Holland(I think) where the author was trying to gather information for some thesis. I am not sure axactly where or when but it did happen. I sent my details. I know of a number of people diagnosed after a serious trauma and some didn't involve physical injury.

Drury · Post by **Drury** » Wed Jun 09, 2010 8:02 am

When I spoke to my daughter's first MS neurologist about her accident and possible connection to MS he said anything is possible. We have recently changed doctors and I asked again and he said absolutely no connection whatsoever and that it has been proven otherwise.
I just do not believe that there is no connection. If they do not know the cause of MS how can there be any proof that trauma of any kind is not one of the causes?
I am not suggesting that everyone who has an accident or surgical procedure will be diagnosed with MS but we cannot rule it out as a possible cause and that coupled with viral infections seems to make sense to me - not to mention the vascular issues.
With head injuries its so difficult to predict the outcome and who knows what happens to the brain when under anesthetic or spine with an epdirual? In my daughter's case she was allowed home the next day after serious brain trauma and told to rest (she could not do much else thats for sure) and her brain was never looked at again until she developed MS. Bottom line is doctors just do not know and to say that there is no connection just does not make sense.
Drury