Saturday, October 20, 2012 Rebecca asks

Q: Is it possible to have MS with only one indiction of a brain lesion if symptoms occur?

I had sudden double vision four days ago. My opthamologist sent me to have an MRI and a brain lesion showed up in the results, a single bright spot on my brain. I have had migraines on and off for the past year, but not a lot of them; there's only been five or six. My neurologist is confident that the brain lesion is caused by my migraines. He has, however, ordered a spinal tap, which will occur in two weeks.

Should I be comfortable with the diagnosis? I mean, how often do brain lesions show up as a result of migraines? I know there's a connection from my research, but I haven't really had that many. And what about the double vision?

My main question is has anyone else had brain lesions as a result of migraines? Can MS be diagnosed from the symptom of double vision and a single brain lesion? I have had a constant feeling of upcoming migraine since the double visions incident with an actual full-blow migraine amongst this time.

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Answers (2)

Lisa Emrich, Health Guide

11/29/12 4:59pm

Hi Rebecca,

Do you have the results of your spinal tap yet? That should help your neurologist in determining a diagnosis.

But as you probably know from research, MS can be dx with only neurological attack if there is evidence of prior damage in another location of the central nervous sytem. Abnormal results from the cerebrospinal fluid analysis can help provide some evidence. Other tests such as visual evoked potentials can also be helpful.

Also, migraines can cause lesions which look very similar to the ones caused by MS. So can normal aging.

As I don't experience migraines personally, I can't speak to the double vision. But my understanding is that either MS or migraines can cause double vision and that you may have a migraine which affects vision but no pain.

So when you see your neurologist again and get more answers, please give us an update.

Lisa

Sheila

11/ 8/12 9:55am

Your spinal tap will be the definitive answer. I have had a lot of problems with double vision and headaches. My opthamologist thought the double vision was a result of migraines and not MS. Stress will bring on the symptoms for me.

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Q: Is it possible to have MS with only one indiction of a brain lesion if symptoms occur?

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