Hi Karen - soz to pester but…(I was always told using ‘but’ negates the previous comment!!)
…but…having read your comments on another post if MRI is done too soon without contrast does that render it useless? Subtle symptoms (tingly face, waxy scalp etc) started September but my major symptoms started Nov 10th and increased in severity until Christmas then gradually started getting better. The brain MRI was done early Dec without contrast. Jerkies started 23rd Nov and MRI of spine was 23rd Jan again without contrast. Were these scans too early? They were both clear. Can I safely assume my symptoms were not/are not due to MS? I’m still jerking my head, shoulders, arms, legs like a spazzy spazz with no obvious pattern at all and my muscles still twitch sporadically but most other symptoms have gone or reduced substantially, even the immense tiredness is not quite so immense this week (it is half term though!).
EEG and Evoked Potentials still to be done - 7th March. Would you ask for further scans later on or not?
Not so sure about “guru”, LOL! “In danger of getting out of date specialist who has moved into another area that she’s not qualified in” is probably closer to the truth!!!
In a nutshell, yes, it’s possible that the brain scan was done too early and that contrast would have shown things up. I can’t say the same of the spinal scan though as it was later, but spinal scans often miss lesions, so a clear spinal scan does not mean that there are no lesions anyway (actually you can say the same of brain scans too).
Even if you had contrast and there were no lesions, there is no guarantee that it’s not MS - some people with MS have clear scans. The fact that both your brain and spine were clear does suggest that it’s not MS, but it can’t rule it out.
Would I ask for further scans? I honestly don’t know. I guess I would see what the EP results were. If they are negative and my symptoms were better, I think I wouldn’t bother. If they were positive, I think I might challenge the neuro on the MRI timings and see what he/she said. I’d decide how hard to push it after that.