@Angela_Armstrong_1 

Last reply

Angela_Armstrong_1

Ms and mri

Hi reasonably new to site, have had various symptoms left arm and hand buzzing sensation and numb last 2 fingers, right side which is my dominant side is weaker with issues of grip and dexterity, both arms feel fatigued after doing minor things like filing my nails. Wanting to pee all the time and dropping off to sleep on sofa. Was seen by physio who ordered a mri full spine, waiting for MDT meeting for outcome, spinal surgeons or neurologist, x2 areas of spine lumbar and cervical showed some degeneration but no intrinsic lesions as far as the physio is concerned, does this all sound more Like ms or orthopaedic. Feel like I’m going mad as get different sensations daily, uncomfortable ribs cannot really explain the exact sensation, feels as if I need to take bra off to release tightness.
@ItsMewithMS

MS is a hard disease to diagnose and if you put the various tags you see at the end of your entry into the magnifying glass in the upper left you will see past conversations of the topic. For some people it took years to be diagnosed after their initial symptoms and only after diagnosis some people recognize the symptoms they have been experiencing are indeed MS. That is how it happened for me. We headed out for a good walk at a big state park one summer day. We had a 2 year old with us so we picked a paved trail with a good good view and playground at the end. The whole way one of my feet was sticking out a 30 degree angle. I was walking like a penguin. It didn't hurt but I couldn't make my foot stick straight forward. I was referred to a neurologist at the U of M with a strength in MS studies and through MRI and examination he confirmed MS. Then I asked him if some of the things I had experienced in the past (being able to lift my leg in and out of a car, bit of vision issues, etc) had really been MS and yes, they had probably been MS related but passed off as a pinched nerve, optical migraine, etc. While most MS lesions are in the brain many people also get them on their spine. Whenever I have symptoms I go in for an MRI (4 times this year now) and they look for lesion activity. They used to just do brain MRIs but one time I was obviously having issues and there was no bright spots in the brain MRI so I was ordered in again and they did a spine and found the activity there. Now they most often do them both right away, with and without contrast, as they are both likely needed anyways. There are some newer machines where they don't need to use the contrast. Some people have issues with the Gadolinium dye/contrast. I do not but yesterday when I had an MRI they sent me out with a bottle of water and told me due to the dye I was to drink extra water to flush it. I don't remember them doing that before so maybe a new red flag has been raised due to it's usage. Apparently if they use a 3T MRI machine it may be sensitive enough they don't need the dye which results in less time in the MRI machine and no contrast risk. https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com/2019/03/12/need-to-know-do-i-need-contrast-dye-gadolinium-mri/ Good luck on your appointments. Ask lots of questions. To help me know what to ask check a lot of sites and this one is a good one to understand what symptoms people have and now they manage them with and without DMTs. Welcome- there are a lot of people from the English isles on this sit it seems but if you use the searches/map you can see there are people here from all over the world so it is a good resource.

@Stumbler

@ angela_armstrong_1 , as @itsmewithMS states, the answer is yes and no to your question. We wouldn't begin to attempt a diagnosis for you. This is the domain of your medical professionals. Just be patient. It's why we're called patients (patients)........ 😉