Clear lumber puncture results
Hello
I was diagnosed June 2023. I had an MRI which showed some lesions. But I also had a lumber puncture which was normal. Although I have many ms symptoms (overactive bladder, weak legs , fatigue) I think I have always struggled with the ‘what if it’s not?’ Because my lumber puncture was normal. Has anyone else had this? I’m on kesimpta and every month I go to take it I sit for hours stressing about wether or not I truly have it 🙈🙈
Not sure. Mine was abnormal. But I do believe in US being our own advocate. If you are concerned, I would highly recommend a second opinion. Not sure if you have had separate periods of new lesions, but I do know there are lots of things that can cause lesions. Perhaps they know from the location/arrangement of your lesions? But I woudl seek a second opinion. (Or explanation as to why the lumbar screen was clear). It may not be that you want to be UN-Diagnosed. Perhaps this qualifies as a MS diagnosis but could also be caused by something else? I am not a doctor but you just want to make sure you are treating the right cause of your condition.
This is normal. Well, it’s a normal variant. 5-10% MS pts don’t have oligoclonal bands in their CSF. The National MS Society has a page on their website called CSF and MS that might reassure you. MS used to be wrongly diagnosed a lot. But nowadays… you must have met the McDonald criteria for diagnosis or you wouldn’t qualify for a DMD like kesimpta. You should ask your MS nurse or neurologist to confirm the above and hopefully this will help with your anxiety. There’s a lot of US posters on shift and I don’t think they understand that second opinions aren’t so easy to come by in the NHS! But management is thankfully quite protocolised and this is to your advantage.