please help

[carissa12]

Hi:
I am 53 years old and was told by my ortho dr that I very likely have ms.
How he based his opinion is off a exam and my symptoms. To make a long story short, I have been having tingling, nurabness is right arm, have been dropping things, been very clumsy. When walking, and it is more so at the end of the day, I feel like my legs are dranging( they are not, they just feel heavy), I have cramping in my left thigh and burning sensation on both legs. My reflexes are the main concern, I have hper brisk reflexes, ankle clonus 4-5 beat bilateraly, hoffman sign, both hanRAB and jaw jerk. I also have weak hanRAB both left and right. He also test my reflexes and muscle strenght and said that i have very pronouce weakness and hyper reflexes.
I had both a mri of the c-spine and the brain. The brain was with and without contrast. The mri of the nec k was normal.
My question is, can I have a normal mri and still have ms, and also, are the reflexes a concern and do the lean towarRAB ms. I am just having a hard time with this, because I am not sure why my dr is suspecting ms and he seem quite sure this is what is going on with me.
Thank you so much for any help.

 

[jennybyc]

Problems with the neck and MS are very close in symptoms but since you neck MRI was okay, you need to see a neurologist. I had similar symptoms but it was my neck.

See a neurologist who specializes in MS. They will be the best ones to decide of this is MS or something else. Your ortho should be able to make a recommendation as to who to see. The sooner you start treatment, the better. My best friend has had MS for over 30 years and is still walking, raising her grandchildren. Just finished her college degree. She's 56. It's not a death sentence.

But get it confirmed and get into treatment.

good luck and hugs.........Jenny

 

[shisslak]

carissa

I had very similiar symptoms and my primary care originally referred me to a neurologist. She ordered an MRI with and without contrast of the brain along with a vision invoke study.
While the Brain MRI came back as showing MS lesions my visual invoke study came back negative. It turns out the the radiologist who read my MRI was not familiar with what MS lesions looked like and it turns out that I did not have MS lesions, I have what is termed small vessal disease.
My neurologist actually conferred with her associate who runs the MS clinic in the hospital that I went to and this MS neurologist requested that my MRI be read again by the radiologist who specializes in reading the MS related radiology studies.

In diagnosing MS, you really need a doctor who specializes in MS, because MS symptoms do mimic other diseases or problems. It turns out that my problem was a cervical disk that had herniated and was sitting in the spinal canal.
Like you, I was experiencing tingling and my legs felt like lead. The bottom of my feet even hurt.
My primary care's first thought was that I either had a blood clot (very low probability) or I was having circulation problems. I had a vascular ultasound performed which proved negative. It was then decided to try the neurology route.
My neurologist was convinced that I had MS and she just had to prove it.
So once it was proven that I did not have MS, my neurologist decided to order a cervical spine MRI with and without contrast. She also already had me book to see a neurosurgeon. I had my MRI on a Tuesday, saw the Neurosurgeon on Thursday and was in surgery the following Tuesday. When I got out of bed Wednsday morning, I felt great, there was only a small amount of tingling, my legs felt wonderful and the pain at the bottom of my feet was gone.
There are many test that are done to confirm MS and not all the test come back positive which is why you need a neurologist who is proficient in diagnosing and treating MS.
You may want to check out the MS board, there are some great people who will support you through this very confusing time. They have some great ideas on how to handle some of your symptoms and they also know all the medications that have worked for them.
Good luck and I hope you get some answers..let me know how you are doing.