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20899284 tn?1595678523

Could it be MS?

Hi! I was diagnosed with optic neuritis in my left eye in April (lasted 5 weeks & the pain was awful). My left optic nerve is slightly damaged from the episode therfore, I'm still having slightly blurry vision as well as a bit of diluted color in my left eye. Since the O.N., if I get too hot, my vision gets even more blurry.  My primary physician ordered an MRI of my brain to check to see if there were any lesions since O.N. can be one of the first symptoms of MS not to mention I do experience face/hand/arm/foot tingling at times as well as other symptoms.  I also have Raynauds and my Dr thinks it could possibly be secondary to something else.

I had the MRI in June, no lesions were found but both of my optic nerves were swollen. My right more so than my left surprisingly. I have an appointment with a neurologist in late August.

With no lesions appearing on the MRI, is there still a possibility of MS? Could the lesions appear later?

The possibility of MS has been weighing so heavy on my mind ever since I was diagnosed with O.N. in April.
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987762 tn?1671273328
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi and welcome,

From my understanding ON and its association with MS is generally that if you have some brain lesions on your brain MRI as well as being dx with ON you have an increased odds of developing MS at some stage within the next 5 years.....if you dont have any brain lesions your odds of developing MS in that time frame are quite low.

Unfortunately no one can definitively tell you if you will develop MS or not if your MRI's weren't abnormal or more suggestive of a neurological condition like MS, it is possible for lesions to develop for various medical reasons, most lesions are not demyelinating MS lesions though, and ON could still be a stand alone situation.

Honestly the only thing anyone can do under the circumstances would be to get fully assessed by an MS specialising neurologist and proactively do regular 6-12 month neurological assessments and update brain and spinal MRI's.

Sorry i couldn't give you a more black and white answer, there isn't enough diagnostic information to point in any specific direction if all you have so far is Bilateral ON, try to be open minded and not worry too much about a medical condition that you might never be diagnosed with.

Hope that helps a little.........JJ
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