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Hi I had an MRI done in July but I just received the disc today. My PCP read the report and referred me to the MS Center for Excellence with OMRF but when I read the report I question if what it found is more stroke like than MS. I am obviously not trained in this and my appointment w/ OMRF isn't until December. I was hoping someone on here could help explain what the impression notes of my MRI means.

"There are a few minimal non enhancing foci of altered T2 signal intensity within the frontal lobe white matter. This likely reflects minimal small-vessel ischemic change, and may be related to vascular headache. Early demyelinating disease is not entirely excluded."


In March I began having symptoms of: joint pain, random rashes (I think it's a food allergy), left arm jerking, left hand tremor, severe fatigue, brain fog, difficulty finding desired words, and dizziness. Since then I have had muscle weakness, it feels like someone punched me in my arm really hard and lasts for hours. I went to stand up after an hour long movie and my legs wouldn't work, I fell forward. No they were not asleep. Muscle spasms in my legs that are so fast and intense they've caused me to bump into walls. Muscle cramps that last for 15-20 minutes at a time and are so painful I can't move and my toes will bend at horrible angles. Heel and arm numbness and tingling. After my Doctor ruled out other causes she sent me for the MRI. She also did this thing in the office where she used her fingers to kind of scratch areas of my body equally on each side. When she did this to my forearms I could barely feel it on the left arm. The symptoms started in March and worsened through July. They have improved greatly since but I have had another episode of vision loss in the last week (description below). I started thinking back and in 2007 I had three episodes where I would have a floater in my field of vision (one eye) that would grow in size until it consumed that eye's entire site. It would then go gray and I couldn't see my hand right in front of my face. They would last up to an hour. No headache during or after these episodes. I saw my eye Doctor the same day of each episode and he ran every test except for an MRI, everything optic came back normal. I have had 3-4 more of those episodes since 2007, the most recent was a week ago. I also have night sweats which started in 2007.

I am a 33 YOF 5'7 140lbs. I have never smoked or done drugs. I have worked as a Vet Tech, EMT, and I am now a medical scribe for my PCP.

Labs:

Lupus- Neg
RA- Neg
Lyme- Neg
Sjogrens- Neg

ESR- 30 (June) 25 (July)
CRP- 0.2
High Sensitivity CRP- 5
CCP- Neg
ANA- Neg
Vitamin D- 44
Magnesium- 2.0
B12- 412
TSH- 1.49


Thank you for taking the time to read my post and any input you have.

Hi,

The one I would query with your doctors is the high sensitivity CRP level of 5. Just CRP seems ok.

CRP is an indicator of inflammation. It is elevated in ischemic conditions. In that setting ATP breaks down to the purines,ADP, AMP, adenosine, inosine and hypoxanthine and struggles to recycle from ADP back to ATP and just breaks down. It is more likely to be effluxed from the cell if this is happening. Normally it would be rephosphorylated upstream back to ATP.
I would not rely just on a GP or neurologist but see a cardiologist who can check how well your heart is functioning. A test of your purine levels would be a uric acid test (not urea).
The high sensitivity CRP level should be investigated as should the ESR level. Obviously, you have been tested for some things but it is not an exhaustive list. There are many other infections.

If you want to just play around with supplements, pick a really good brand of CoQ10 and aceylt-l-carnitine and read a book called "The Sinatra solution" by Stephen Sinatra.

Regards,

aprilg4223 wrote:"There are a few minimal non enhancing foci of altered T2 signal intensity within the frontal lobe white matter. This likely reflects minimal small-vessel ischemic change, and may be related to vascular headache. Early demyelinating disease is not entirely excluded."

Your symptoms would not be due to a vascular headache, but it will take more MRIs to help diagnose MS if that is what you have.
As Scott1 says, your high sens CRP and ESR are not normal and clues to what you have going on.
The frontal lobe is one area that is attacked by MS.
At your age and weight it is unlikely to be a stroke unless there is something else out of the ordinary going on.
I would keep seeing doctors until you get some sort of good explanation for your symptoms.
Good luck and keep fighting.

I have an appointment with the MS Center for Excellence with OMRF on December 22, 2016. Scott, what other inflammatory diseases should we test for? We r/o RA, Lupus, Lyme, and Sjrogrens. I also had labs drawn on Thursday to check for NMO. I asked my PCP if I should see a cardiologist but she didn't seemed concerned given my age. However, my Dad had his first MI at the age of 42 his second was shortly after while he was still in the hospital. They placed a pacemaker/Defib at that time. He had his first CVA at the age of 49. He is a smoker though and has for most of his life. My Grandfather had his first MI at 44 and eventually needee a CABG. My Great Grandfather's first MI was at the age of 46 and he was dead by his 60's.

Hi,

Look for mycoplasmas and rickettsias, particulary if you have a veterinarian background. Look also for the cat scratch bug (bartonella) and babesia. Those two can be Lyme coinfections so they may have been done already.

Check your uric acid level (not urea) to look at how you are metabolising purines. In particular, you should check if you have a number below the reference range.

Regards,

aprilg4223 wrote: I asked my PCP if I should see a cardiologist but she didn't seemed concerned given my age. However, my Dad had his first MI at the age of 42 his second was shortly after while he was still in the hospital. They placed a pacemaker/Defib at that time. He had his first CVA at the age of 49. He is a smoker though and has for most of his life. My Grandfather had his first MI at 44 and eventually needee a CABG. My Great Grandfather's first MI was at the age of 46 and he was dead by his 60's.

Hi April,
It might be a good idea to check your homocysteine levels. It's a cardiotoxic amino acid that can build up when either vitamin B12, B6 or folate is low. I would recommend a full B12 panel which includes B12, homocysteine, red blood cell folate and methylmalonic acid. Problems with B12 and folate metabolism can be inherited. The standard laboratory range for homocysteine is 4-12 µmol/L and one medical group in my area wants to see it less than 9 µmol/L due to its cardiotoxicity. B12 should be between 500 and 1000 pg/mL though the standard laboratory range often goes as low as 180-200 pg/mL which is much too low.

Please see the following discussion topic for more information. http://www.thisisms.com/forum/natural-a ... 24857.html