MS, White Spots, Fasciculations & Pain

[CT65]

I have a few questions related to "white spots" on a brain MRI and muscle twitching. I know this post is kind of long--if anyone has any experience/knowledge regarding any of my questions, I'd love to hear it!

Here's an extreme redaction of my history: Ten years ago I was diagnosed with "probable MS" due to two small brain lesions on MRI, loss of peripheral vision on the right side of both eyes, urgency and mild urinary incontinence, and numbness and pain in limbs (mainly on the right side) along with muscle twitching and spasms. Two years later, the brain lesions (or infarcts) hadn't changed size or position, lumbar puncture showed no demyelination, an EMG showed no muscle abnormalities, and all symptoms except for pain diminished, so my diagnosis was changed to "possible MS." Within a year my pain had gone. (There were many medications along the way, and Avonex as treatment, but I don't think listing them is relevant to my questions.)

Now I've had urinary incontinence issues for six months and muscle twitching for three months. I recently had a brain MRI that showed that the two "white spots" from ten years ago had diminished to almost nothing, and three new spots were present. A subsequent spine MRI showed a minor bulging disk at L5 S1 (looked to me like the size of a small pea on the MRI slide). The neurologist found no weakness in my limbs, and a slew of lab results all came back normal.

My biggest problem is with muscle twitching which, unless I change position or keep moving, often develops into spasms and then pain. Urgency and mild urinary incontinence persist as well. The twitching is non-stop; there has been no time in the past three-plus months that I have been without the twitching. I also have pain lasting from seconds to hours at a time in areas where there is no obvious muscle twitching/lack of movement/spasm progression, mainly in my legs, hands, and forearms. Although the twitching and pain is concentrated mainly on my right side, the twitching and pain are diffuse, occurring all over (trunk, shoulder, neck, back, stomach, almost everywhere). There's no mistaking the presence of twitching as it's visible.

I also feel like my muscles are often "vibrating" beneath my skin. My hands (especially my right hand) are always stiff; sometimes they feel stiff but not painful, other times there is tingling pain (an electrical feeling). I understand there are benign reasons for fasciculations, and that since I don't show any signs of weakness there's no indication of motor neuron disease.

I found these posts helpful re: fasciculations:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Neurology/Benign-Fasciculation-syndrome/show/294927
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Neurology/ALS-worry/show/999829

I have these questions to add based on my situation:

(1) Are diffuse fasciculations seen to any significant extent in MS patients?

(2) Can infarcts in the brain caused by strokes and/or migraines disappear between one MRI and another? If so, is there a usual period of time in which this can occur?

(3) I understand that MS is the typical cuases of "white spots" on brain MRIs that appear and disappear in different locations. Are there any other conditions or diseases that can cause such spots to come and go? If the spots were from small stroke or migraine, would they ever go away?

(4) Is diffuse muscle twitching and pain typically considered benign fasciculation syndrome (BFS)? Are there any other causes of diffuse muscle twitching?

(5) Is muscle twitching for many months considered within the realm of "normal" and "benign"? Or is it reasonable to look further for a specific cause?

(6) Are the symptoms I listed consistent with Parkinson's Disease?

(7) Are there any medications on the market today that are particularly good at curbing muscle twitching and related pain?

(8) I started taking amitriptyline one week ago. I understand that can help with pain. Is it also possible that it may affect (positively or negatively) the muscle twitching and spasms that seem to be underlying the pain?

[Spuk]

My dr just gave me a script of that Baclofen also so please let me know more about that medication also.
Best wishes to you
Spuk

[Lulu54]

hi CT and welcome to this forum.  Unfortunately I am absolutely so tired (just took baclofen for the first time a bit ago) that I can barely keep my eyes open.  hopefully someone else will jump in here and help to answer you.

Otherwise I will come back tomorrow to readyour post.

thanks for being patient,
Lulu