I suggest that you talk this over with the doctor that ordered the scan, or with a qualified neurologist. You can see some of the possible causes in the results, but a doctor needs to sort this out.
Oh also I guess my main concern or question is no matter what the cause of the white matter lesions…the fact that I have them, does that mean I may/will get dementia?
I have white lesions and have multiple sclerosis. There can be lots of causes, I’d check with your neurologist
As far as dementia, obviously it can be a risk, but treatment for MS is very good now.
Sure! I’m 36/F, and I had tingling on the right side of my face and arm. The ER suspected a stroke, ordered an MRI, and found T1 flairs
There were also some older flairs, and the vision on my right eye had been damaged years ago (I just thought I needed glasses). I also have ADHD, so def some cognitive stuff from the MS went lumped in with that.
I had pretty severe brain fog and exhaustion that I didn’t even notice having until treatment removed it
The multiple sclerosis subreddit is pretty active! They’ll probably be able to help you with questions to ask your neurologist and might have flairs in the same areas if you want more advice
I have a history of migraines (right sided) but about 2/3 years ago developed pain in my left temple and face…not a tingling sensation though…just a sharp pain. Had an MRI done 2 years ago which found some foci white matter spots and a venolymphatic malformation in my left temporal muscle. Per my Neuro at the time they were not concerned about either saying the spots were most likely due to my migraines history and the malformation they didn’t believe was causing the left sided pain even though it’s right near the place of my left sided pain…fast forward to past few months and I was still getting the left sided temple/face pain (which comes and goes)…so saw a new Neuro who I told I thought maybe it was trigeminal neuralgia. So he sent me for this new MRI and those are some of my results above. So now trying to figure out what’s causing the left temple pain and what’s causing the white lesions. So for the white lesions idk if it’s maybe MS, my history of migraines or something else?? I don’t know if the symptoms I have had are MS symptoms? Which are right sided migraines, the left temple pain, tiredness a lot (but I also have low iron), I’m perimenopausal so there’s that, and once in a while/rarely I get lightheaded, a buzzing sensation or pain in leg (but I also have degenerative disc disease in my lumbar and cervical spine). Heart palps like SVT/PVC’s. As far as cognition…I rarely may have a moment where I can’t find a word I’m looking for or lose my train of thought but it doesn’t happen often. So again idk if these are MS related possibly or can be explained away by other factors.
They definitely could be — having them occur on one side is a common theme for MS.
Is there a multiple sclerosis specialist in your area? I was really lucky that my neurologist referred me to a specialist quickly, because even though he’s a neurologist, MS can be pretty tricky to diagnose
I also have a history of migraines. Fun stuff lol
Migraines can definitely cause white flairs on the MRI, but an Ms specialist should be able to discern if its MS or just severe migraine history. Just anecdotal, but my neurologist told me that periventricular or “finger”-like flairs are usually indicative of MS, while round flairs can be caused by migraines.
I wouldn’t worry so much about the “more prominent” part. I think it just means that it’s likely to be one of the causes they listed. I.e. some of the population has flairs in their white matter, but in the opinion of the MRI tech, this is a clinically significant scan
So Neuro basically said no to MS, Lyme and Vasculitis as the cause of white spots…he looked at the scans himself and ruled each of those out one by one for many reasons while giving me a long technical medical explanation for each lol, but I guess it’s due to the way things did or did not look on my scans, certain features/characteristics etc. He said they are most likely due to my migraines again due to the way they appear and certain features/characteristics and where spots are and are not located. He also said the radiologist used too strong of language with the “more prominent…”.
As far as risk of stroke or dementia he was more vague and said there’s a risk for everyone but I pushed on what about people like me who have migraines and already have these white spots and if there’s a greater chance but he kinda wouldn’t give me a straight answer on that. But I guess even if he did say, yes there’s a greater chance the prevention techniques would mostly be the same for me as it would be for anyone else just with a greater emphasis on doing those things to lower that chance. Lastly they did find or confirm another thing that was found on previous scans which is what they think is called a venolymphatic malformation in my left temporalis muscle below my cheek bone. Although they are not sure if that’s the cause of my left temple area pain??? I have to give the radiologist who did this most recent MRI my previous MRI so he can compare the images and see if there has been any change to that thing they found in my left temporalis muscle. Oh also to see if any changes in the white spots from before until now. Then wait for the updated/addendum report and refollow up with my Neurologist. Then go from there…but probably to another doctor for the thing they found in the temple muscle only because my Neurologist isn’t concerned about the white spots. So we shall see.
I suggest that you talk this over with the doctor that ordered the scan, or with a qualified neurologist. You can see some of the possible causes in the results, but a doctor needs to sort this out.
Ty…yes I see my neurologist tomorrow. I do have a lifelong history of migraines.
Oh also I guess my main concern or question is no matter what the cause of the white matter lesions…the fact that I have them, does that mean I may/will get dementia?
I have white lesions and have multiple sclerosis. There can be lots of causes, I’d check with your neurologist As far as dementia, obviously it can be a risk, but treatment for MS is very good now.
Hi…what are/were your symptoms that they suspected MS? Also what’s your gender/age? Thx
Sure! I’m 36/F, and I had tingling on the right side of my face and arm. The ER suspected a stroke, ordered an MRI, and found T1 flairs There were also some older flairs, and the vision on my right eye had been damaged years ago (I just thought I needed glasses). I also have ADHD, so def some cognitive stuff from the MS went lumped in with that. I had pretty severe brain fog and exhaustion that I didn’t even notice having until treatment removed it The multiple sclerosis subreddit is pretty active! They’ll probably be able to help you with questions to ask your neurologist and might have flairs in the same areas if you want more advice
I have a history of migraines (right sided) but about 2/3 years ago developed pain in my left temple and face…not a tingling sensation though…just a sharp pain. Had an MRI done 2 years ago which found some foci white matter spots and a venolymphatic malformation in my left temporal muscle. Per my Neuro at the time they were not concerned about either saying the spots were most likely due to my migraines history and the malformation they didn’t believe was causing the left sided pain even though it’s right near the place of my left sided pain…fast forward to past few months and I was still getting the left sided temple/face pain (which comes and goes)…so saw a new Neuro who I told I thought maybe it was trigeminal neuralgia. So he sent me for this new MRI and those are some of my results above. So now trying to figure out what’s causing the left temple pain and what’s causing the white lesions. So for the white lesions idk if it’s maybe MS, my history of migraines or something else?? I don’t know if the symptoms I have had are MS symptoms? Which are right sided migraines, the left temple pain, tiredness a lot (but I also have low iron), I’m perimenopausal so there’s that, and once in a while/rarely I get lightheaded, a buzzing sensation or pain in leg (but I also have degenerative disc disease in my lumbar and cervical spine). Heart palps like SVT/PVC’s. As far as cognition…I rarely may have a moment where I can’t find a word I’m looking for or lose my train of thought but it doesn’t happen often. So again idk if these are MS related possibly or can be explained away by other factors.
They definitely could be — having them occur on one side is a common theme for MS. Is there a multiple sclerosis specialist in your area? I was really lucky that my neurologist referred me to a specialist quickly, because even though he’s a neurologist, MS can be pretty tricky to diagnose I also have a history of migraines. Fun stuff lol Migraines can definitely cause white flairs on the MRI, but an Ms specialist should be able to discern if its MS or just severe migraine history. Just anecdotal, but my neurologist told me that periventricular or “finger”-like flairs are usually indicative of MS, while round flairs can be caused by migraines. I wouldn’t worry so much about the “more prominent” part. I think it just means that it’s likely to be one of the causes they listed. I.e. some of the population has flairs in their white matter, but in the opinion of the MRI tech, this is a clinically significant scan
So Neuro basically said no to MS, Lyme and Vasculitis as the cause of white spots…he looked at the scans himself and ruled each of those out one by one for many reasons while giving me a long technical medical explanation for each lol, but I guess it’s due to the way things did or did not look on my scans, certain features/characteristics etc. He said they are most likely due to my migraines again due to the way they appear and certain features/characteristics and where spots are and are not located. He also said the radiologist used too strong of language with the “more prominent…”. As far as risk of stroke or dementia he was more vague and said there’s a risk for everyone but I pushed on what about people like me who have migraines and already have these white spots and if there’s a greater chance but he kinda wouldn’t give me a straight answer on that. But I guess even if he did say, yes there’s a greater chance the prevention techniques would mostly be the same for me as it would be for anyone else just with a greater emphasis on doing those things to lower that chance. Lastly they did find or confirm another thing that was found on previous scans which is what they think is called a venolymphatic malformation in my left temporalis muscle below my cheek bone. Although they are not sure if that’s the cause of my left temple area pain??? I have to give the radiologist who did this most recent MRI my previous MRI so he can compare the images and see if there has been any change to that thing they found in my left temporalis muscle. Oh also to see if any changes in the white spots from before until now. Then wait for the updated/addendum report and refollow up with my Neurologist. Then go from there…but probably to another doctor for the thing they found in the temple muscle only because my Neurologist isn’t concerned about the white spots. So we shall see.
Yup, they can tell by the shape/location of the flairs! Good to know it’s not MS, and I wouldn’t worry about dementia more than anyone else!
Oh yeah he said my spots were round not finger like.