My friend has had dizzy spells roughly 4x per day for the last 4 weeks. Each of these last about 15 seconds and occur randomly. She is in her late 20s and otherwise does not have symptoms and healthy. Is this a possible early symptom of MS? (Or would dizziness be expected to be continual if it was MS-related.)
About 2 years ago she had an MRI for an unrelated event and the doctor told her the MRI was not normal and possibly consistent with MS (1 lesion). At that time she had no symptoms. However, as a result, her doctor recommended she get an MRI every 4-6 months. Her MRIs were unchanged until recently, there was another abnormality. (I do not know how significant the MRI change was, but i have the impression 1 potential new lesion that possibly coincided with the dizzy spells.)
From my perspective (with limited knowledge), i would think the dizziness could be caused by many things and it would be hard to say this is MS. I would also think that multple MRIs should not have been given (?). However, regardless of these past things, her doctor wants to put her on MS medicine to prevent "future" attacks.
Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
dizzy spells - 15 seconds - 4x per day - could this be MS?
Re: dizzy spells - 15 seconds - 4x per day - could this be M
That sounds like a best guess diagnosis. An actual MS diagnosis is more involved. It's a diagnosis of exclusion. In effect, other conditions that can produce MS-like symptoms need to be tested for and excluded as a possibility before an MS diagnosis can be made. It would be better to find out what's actually going on prior to starting any MS medications (most of which have pretty bad side effects, some of which include severe disability or death). It might be time for a new doctor.weather wrote:From my perspective (with limited knowledge), i would think the dizziness could be caused by many things and it would be hard to say this is MS. I would also think that multple MRIs should not have been given (?). However, regardless of these past things, her doctor wants to put her on MS medicine to prevent "future" attacks.
Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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lyndacarol
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Re: dizzy spells - 15 seconds - 4x per day - could this be M
Welcome to ThisIsMS, weather.weather wrote:My friend has had dizzy spells roughly 4x per day for the last 4 weeks. Each of these last about 15 seconds and occur randomly. She is in her late 20s and otherwise does not have symptoms and healthy. Is this a possible early symptom of MS? (Or would dizziness be expected to be continual if it was MS-related.)
About 2 years ago she had an MRI for an unrelated event and the doctor told her the MRI was not normal and possibly consistent with MS (1 lesion). At that time she had no symptoms. However, as a result, her doctor recommended she get an MRI every 4-6 months. Her MRIs were unchanged until recently, there was another abnormality. (I do not know how significant the MRI change was, but i have the impression 1 potential new lesion that possibly coincided with the dizzy spells.)
From my perspective (with limited knowledge), i would think the dizziness could be caused by many things and it would be hard to say this is MS. I would also think that multple MRIs should not have been given (?). However, regardless of these past things, her doctor wants to put her on MS medicine to prevent "future" attacks.
Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Dizziness is a nonspecific symptom; it is common to many conditions. Likewise, neurological lesions occur in many conditions. The other conditions that could be possible causes for your friend's symptoms must be excluded with testing before an MS diagnosis can be considered.
Testing for a possible vitamin B12 deficiency can easily be done. The blood test for a possible vitamin D deficiency (this is called the "25-hydroxy D test") is inexpensive and is the most requested specific test: (By the way, these blood tests are MUCH less expensive than MRIs! Does her doctor have a financial interest in the MRI business?) Over 1/2 of the world's population is deficient in vitamin D (70% of the US population). Has your friend had a 25-hydroxy D test? Do she have the actual number results? (She should request her own copy of any test results.) If so, compare them to the range recommended by GrassrootsHealth (http://www.GrassrootsHealth.net).