What does this mean?

I recently went to a spinal consultant about problems with my back. While looking at the mri scans the consultant said there was a white spot or something in my spinal cord and was going to refer me to see a neurologist. After I got home I googled it and said something about Ms. Could anyone give me any information on what this white spot could be.

Hi, thought I would reply as am new to this and need to post three times to be verified. I was diagnosed after I was sent for an MRI Scan on my back which unlike you found nothing but my walking was bad and had been suffering for years with a bad back and having spent lots of money on Osteopaths and countless visits to the Doctors. It was only when I moved to the Isle of Wight I was sent for an MRI and then referred to a Neurologist who sent me for a Brain and Neck Scan which resulted in being diagnosed with ppms. It was a shock but in some way a big relief to have a proper diagnosis

Good Luck Polly

Hi,

The only person who can give you a definite answer to your concerns to the white spot Is a M.S Neurologist who can look over your MRI scan. And give you a professional opinion. Important you see the Neuro so he can rule out MS so you can carry on without worrying MS. Fingers crossed for you.

I always remember having an MRI scan back in 1989 and they found a tiny white dot on my brain, and the neuroligist who wasnt experienced in MS said its nothing and sent me on my way. Five years later I had MS symptoms and the second MRI and it showed four lesions on my brain which they said you have MS.

Whether or not my first scan that showed a white dot was the cause of my MS I don’t know.

Kielyn x

Hi MrsK.

I take it you haven’t had a definite diagnosis yet?

All I can do is let you know what was found on my MRIs and what the neurologist said to me.

I was first admitted to hospital in 2005 for MRI, llumber puncture etc following a bout of blurred vision. It was explained to me that there were several white spots on my brain. It was explained as lesions and the diagnosis came of MS.

I had a recent MRI which showed white spots in my spinal cord which was explained to me as progression of the disease.

There may be other reasons for the white spots that you have experienced. Best to wait til you see the neurologist and he/she will explain more. It may not be MS but something else.

I hope you find out soon what is happening and that you get some sort of diagnosis as it is horrible being in limbo.

Good luck.

Shazzie xx

Keep in your mind that while one white spot may be a lesion of the kind that people with MS have, one lesion is not MS. There has to be more than one and more than one episode of a relapse before a neurologist can call it MS. Also, there are plenty of other things that can cause a white mark on your brain. You need to wait for the neurologist to examine the scan and decode it.

Sue

Thank you all for your comments guess it’s just a waiting game for my appointment now with the neurologist. I have no idea about Ms it was just I typed it into Google and all it kept coming up with was could be ms. My back is very troublesome and in the last 7 months I can hardly walk to the top of my street after being quite fit, in the mri scans the consultant said I have kyphosis and no water between some discs and to try swimming but I’m so tired and in pain that swimming is the last thing I wanna do but I’ll persist. Thanks once again and fingers crossed.

Wow, I can so relate to this Kielyn!

I had an MRI in 2008, I was told that the area of white matter was not a significant abnormality and was sent away with ‘exersion induced migraine’ as a diagnosis.

Just seen an MS neuro last week, she reviewed those scans and has told me that it was without doubt the onset of the disease!

Nikki

Hindsight’s a wonderful thing! It’s easy to look back and see something must have been the onset, but not so easy at the time to say with confidence it was the onset of anything. It’s only obvious when you already know.

I could say the same about symptoms.

Went to the doc’s with a sore leg. Must have caught her on a particularly bad day, as we usually got on, but instead got a bit of a ticking-off for wasting her time.

At least two or three years later, I get a diagnosis of MS.

She is horror-struck, and gasps: “Oh, but you had that thing with your leg!”, as the penny drops with both of us that it must have been a mild sensory relapse.

I never blamed her, though. Short of being psychic, who would think “a bit of a sore leg”, would in fact turn out to be MS? We both know NOW what it was, but that’s the easy bit.

Tina

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I’m sure I read somewhere that many many people have ‘white spots’ in their brain/spinal column without presenting with any abnormal symptoms.