brain and orbit mri

[bethany_gurl72]

since 2012 I've had tingling numbness and electrical shooting pains down my leg, arms and loss of balance. a month ago I've been seeing bright spot lights and I kind of went blind for about a minute or two in one eye. I can see but very blurry. the pain down my leg has gotten worse, mostly from my knee down. but the fatigue right now its crazy.
I saw a neurologist and had a MRI done with no ccontrast and an EEG. they both came out normal so they had another orbit MRI done and to the brain as well with contrast and from the looks of it it looks normal as well. meanwhile the opthamologist neurologist told me I had optic neuritis, and was losing my color vision in one eye. how is it that she can tell me one thing but the MRI tells me another? my symptoms are only getting worse. is the doctor room or the MRI wrong?
what could be wrong with me? the doctor also said I could have multiple sclerosis because of my optic neuritis and my symptoms. so now what?

these are my findings on the MRI.

FINDINGS: Seen are few small FLAIR hyperintensities within the right and left frontal white matter. The ventricles are normal in size. There is interval mucosal thickening and fluid in the sphenoid sinus. The optic chiasm is unremarkable. The optic nerves demonstrate normal signal. Both globes are unremarkable in appearance. There is a rightward nasal septal spur. Postcontrast images show no abnormal enhancement of the optic nerves. Stable small lipoma in the left perimesencephalic cistern. There is some fluid filling a right inferior mastoid air cell.

IMPRESSION: No evidence of optic neuritis. Stable small nonspecific FLAIR hyperintensities within the bifrontal white matter. Interval development of acute sphenoid sinusitis.

[jenphilly]

You may also  ask for a cervical and thoracic spine Mri.  I had just brain and it was questionable, not definitive for ms, essentially normal few spots that could be from migraine, bump or hitting head (like a car accident, slip on ice or fall off horse, even normal aging).... but some months later when cervical and thoracic was done, pretty clear where ms had set up house.

I also have had eye episodes but testing showed optic nerve fat and healthy, literally neuro ophthalmologist description.

Consider a ms experienced doctor to help you get answers, Ms or otherwise. My first neuro was hell bent it was CNS lyme, he refused to take off the blinders.

Good luck and keep posting!

[SarahL2491]

I do know that you can have optic neuritis with things other than MS.
It can go away, like when you had your MRI.  I have had it, and could only see orange and green at traffic lights, which my eye doctor said was ON.  My ON never showed up on my MRIs and went away.

You may need to find another neurologist who specializes in MS.  I went thru 3-4 before I found the wonderful one I have now, who took the same MRI that radiologist and neuros said showed nothing and showed me all of the lesions.  Make sure you keep a copy of the MRIs; as the lesions attempt to heal themselves and become invisible sometimes.

It takes years sometimes.  I found my wonderful neuro in 2011 but he says I've probably had MS since 1981.  Go figure.  There are also many tests and other diseases that mimic MS that have to be ruled out.  So take a deep breath and find an MS specialist.