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@Jodiemae 

Last reply

Jodiemae

Newly diagnosed- don’t have a clue!

Hi all 😌 I am fairly Newly diagnosed, with ON in may leading me to MRI & lumber puncture. I’m on tysabri & have had 3 dosages. I’ve been trying so hard to understand MS but just don’t have a clue. I have a few questions about lesion location. I briefly saw my MRI results and looking at the screen at a glimpse it looked like I had a lot on the right hand side at the front- I think it’s the right hand side, I assume when we look at the screen we’re looking as the right on the right (so sorry that doesn’t make sense!) & my MS nurse said most of my relapses will be cognitive. Now I believe I do experience more cognitive symptoms but I want to talk anger and depression. Do lesions on a certain area of the brain cause these two? Because I struggle with those a lot! Thank you!
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@Robs79
@Robs79
 

Hey Jodie, if you ever fancy a chat feel free to DM me x

@NeedMoreSleep
@NeedMoreSleep
 

Hi @Jodiemae, As weird as it sounds, those MRI pics look 'through' your brain. So, what you're seeing could be on the left side or the right side. Adding one more point of view (generally the coronal view) will let you localize them in three dimensions. It's confusing as hell. You are right, there have been many studies that correlate lesion location with symptoms. The most obvious is the physical effects of spinal cord lesions, and the visual defects associated with lesions on the brain stem and optic nerve. What's less obvious, however is how lesion location affects things like fatigue and mood. Intuitively, it's easy to say that if you have a lesion in the area of the brain that most influences anger (your amygdala) your reaction to anger could be affected. I don't know if that idea has ever been studied, but it would appear a solid hypothesis to me. I think your MS nurse may have been generalizing. If your lesions aren't on your spine, optic nerve, or brain stem, then you won't be subject to issues with vision, movement, or balance. That kinda leaves cognitive issues and fatigue as the primary stuff you'll experience during relapses. I guess that's good news, kinda sorta, in the sense that "iT cOUld bE WuRse". Eww, I have to go wash my hands. Dispensing that platitude has made me feel unclean. ;-) Be well, Jodie.

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