20 brain lesions

[CourtneySeattle]

My husband was diagnosed with MS in 2011 as he has paralysis from the waist down. MRI showed 2 lesions on the front left side of the brain. He has been on copaxane for 3-4 years now, and the past year hasn't been taking it as faithfully, missing at total of about 3-6 days a month.

Today, 8/26/14, showed 20+ lesions.

We are considering a new medicine, but what should I as his wife be prepared for?

[essdipity]

Hello Courtney. Welcome to our group.

Are you saying that your husband's MRIs show progress from 2 lesions to 20 in the brain, over several years? That's a lot, no getting around that. Though it's not good that he's skipped injections here and there, I really doubt that that is the cause of the disease progression. (Disclaimer here, I'm a patient, not a doctor. Just reporting based on my fairly long experience, interaction with other MSers, and extensive reading.)

So in my view, it's time to get more aggressive. Has his doctor suggested Tysabri or another infusion kind of med? With these there are more risks, but there are also better results for many patients. You need to read up to make a really informed decision. But if your husband has already experienced paralysis, perhaps it's time to get really aggressive.

Best of luck,
ess

[Joiedecour]

Sorry to hear that your husband's mri seems to show progression. You mention the brain mri but not spinal mris - were those repeated? I might be completely wrong here, but I think paralysis from the waist down would be related to spinal lesions??????
The other point which is made on here often is that the lesion load doesn't necessarily correspond to disability, so a person could have many lesions and not a lot of symptoms, or a few lesions and lots of symptoms.
Wishing you both well, and hoping your husband can start a new DMD soon.

[jensequitur]

What was the strength of the first MRI in 2011? And what was the strength of the MRI just done recently? The reason I ask is because a higher-resolution MRI can show more lesions than the lower-resolution ones. My first MRIs showed one prominent lesion in my cerebellum, and none in my spine or neck. I finally had some 3T MRIs done, which show quite a few more lesions in my brain, neck and spine.

It turns out that those people that have more white matter lesions have a more progressive form of the disease.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/About-the-Society/News/New-Study-Yields-Clues-to-How-Nervous-System-Damag

MS patients, no matter their disease type, have a equal amount of gray matter lesions, and the progressive patients tend to have more white matter lesions.

[CourtneySeattle]

Yes there was a spine mri where they diagnosised transverse myelitis.

[CourtneySeattle]

Yeah he started with 2 November 2010, a third showed up April 2011 and all seemed to stay the same until last monday, august 2014.

[HVAC]

You need to see what the neurologist recommends for treatment. Each case of MS is different. Even a Neurologist can't predict how a case of MS will progress. There is Gilenya, Tecfidera, Tysabri, Aubagio, and Rituxan. Each has side effects that is the reason they start with drugs like Copaxone.

Alex