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Who else has had a MRI SCAN? was it normal?

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
, I can not balance in complete darkness or with my eyes closed. I have concluded that my brain has learned a new way of keeping my balance which is mainly by visual input, and when visual input is removed, I will certainly fall down if I am not holding on to something. I just keep night lights on here and there in the house and I don't have any trouble getting around the house in the 'dark'.

You'd have a postive Romberg's test. (A Romberg's test is a kind of neurological test.. where they see if you can mantain balance when eyes are shut.. as ones with certain neuro issues need to use their sight to help them balance due to faulty systems). I have Rombergism too. I had two neurologists, (when i was ambulanced to hospital due to a bad CFS relapse, severe neuro issues), have me do the Romberg's test to which I instantly hit the floor on shutting my eyes, I went down so instantly that they both missed grabbing me to stop the fall. Just the act of blinking was nearly making me fall.

This is indicative of CFS and also other illnesses as it's an nonsuspific (sorry im tired and my language is starting to go, i forget how to spell) sign. I think this is mentioned in the Canadian Consensus Document (for CFIDS) along with other tests they recommend for CFS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romberg_test
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I've had two or three MRI's over the years due to the CFS tremors and ataxia... all of them have been classified as normal. I've also had a SPECT scan done which too was said to be normal, thou when another looked at it he said it showed hypoperfusion in certain areas.

Ive also had two EEG's a couple of years apart on my brain and both those were classified as normal thou they showed up abnormalities...so i strongly suggest people to get copies of their actual results as with these they are mainly interested in if you have epilespy or not and are not interested in abnormal non specific (means they dont point to a specific illness) abnormal findings.

The abnormal findings i have in my EEG's are a common finding in those with CFS!!! (which i only found out with researching).

my EEG from 2006 says "The background record has virtually no normal alpha activity and is predominately faster beta rhythems throughout"

my EEG from 2008 says "poorly developed alpha rhythm at rate of 9Hz with a diffuse excess of beta activity throughout the record."
Then not even checking to see if their assessment of the results were true they put down "The beta activity may be medication related if the patient has been on benzodiazepines for example." I thou hadnt been on any of that kind of drugs at that point and in fact was on no drugs at all.

* note..i'd been told they were completely normal, so didnt know it said all this till i asked for copies of my tests
 

Enid

Senior Member
Messages
3,309
Location
UK
Way back in 2002 whilst under investigation my Neurologist reported "patchy high signal changes" in the brain MRI scan along with weak anti-smooth muscle antibodies whilst experiencing all the problems you've had. I gathered to do with some de-myelisation. But no explanation/diagnosis given (as usual).
 

August59

Daughters High School Graduation
Messages
1,617
Location
Upstate SC, USA
Not sure if this was answered from 1st page, but I think blood flow can somewhat be checked if they use "IV contrast dye". I've had 2 MRI's of the brain (1 with dye and 1 without), but both were normal. The comment about an MRI being science instead of an art form is definitely true. You can give the MRI to 5 different radiologist and you'll get 5 different results. They may or may not be major differences, but enough to make you wonder. My neurosurgeon caught my small but very pronouced disc protrusion and the radiologist didn't even mention it.
 

Mya Symons

Mya Symons
Messages
1,029
Location
Washington
My MRI came back normal. One doctor said my son's scan showed some plaque. Another said all teenagers have plaque. I had one doctor tell me my son also had some brain swelling that this doc thought was from a fever he had at the time. My son was also having seizures and this doctor claimed the seizures were from the brain swelling caused by the fever. However, my son started havng the seizures two weeks before he had the fever and ended up in the hospital. He had been in and out of the doctors office--no fever.

FOR the people whose MRI's came OUT NORMAL--Is there anyone who had a normal MRI who is positive for XMRV??
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
FOR the people whose MRI's came OUT NORMAL--Is there anyone who had a normal MRI who is positive for XMRV??

I am subscribed to this thread, I might find out my XMRV test within the next week, or it could be another 2 weeks, not sure at this point when i will get the results for XMRV.

My MRI was "normal", whatever that means, Perhaps another Dr would think otherwise?

PS PM me if you have not heard from me within a couple of weeks!
 

biophile

Places I'd rather be.
Messages
8,977
Interpreting MRI sounds like a bit of art. How hard do they look globally at the scan if they are only asked to look for something specific like a pituitary tumour? I had an MRI for that and it came back normal. I do trust though that they didn't find any obvious problems. Looking at the scan myself it appears like one half of my brain is bigger than the other!

According to this source only 6% of ME patients in a sample were positive for the Romberg sign: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2429637/pdf/postmedj00163-0031.pdf
 

markmc20001

Guest
Messages
877
spine and brain

i had an mri, with contrast about a year ago, my L1 tru L5 were pretty much shot, and i had several bright spots on the brain, they said they were nothing to worry about.
but couldnt tell me what they were.

I too was told my MRI's were normal, the reports didn;t say anything. But after a nuerologist looked at it he told me I had 5 to 10 punchate lesions on my brain. I guess that's normal???
 

daisybell

Senior Member
Messages
1,613
Location
New Zealand
I had an MRI of my brain last week, which I am expecting to come back as 'normal'.... If they can find anything in there at all!!!
But I wanted to ask those people who've had one whether they noticed any change in symptoms afterwards?
I noticed immediate dull widespread toothache - not severe, but it hasn't really gone away either. I have also been in a crash since, but there are other factors that could be impacting on that.
 

Snookum96

Senior Member
Messages
290
Location
Ontario, Canada
Mine wasn't completely normal but it still hasn't been properly explained to me. it was done to rule out MS and the neurologist just told me my problems weren't neurological and I didn't have ms. There were areas of hyperintensity. I'm hoping the next doctor that sees it can explain it to me.