My opinion, for what it's worth

I have MS and the first place affected was my vision. I first noticed n
1994 that the sun reflecting off objects, like grass, looked
different--somehow shinier than usual. The shine popped out at me. After
a long process of going to opticians and being over-prescribed etc. etc.
I made it to a neurologist, an ophthalmologist and a
neuro-ophthalmologist because I started to lose my central vision.
Everything in the center of my vision appeared gray--I could only see in
the peripheries. The gray center got larger and larger until I was
almost blind. I was diagnosed with optic neuritis, even though my optic
nerve wasn't visibly swollen. I had an MRI done at the time, it showed
no abnormalities. I had big areas of empty in my visual fields tests,
esp. when I first came into the office. I failed that other test with
the little ballerinas and beach balls in a 3D box (what was that???) and
my evoked potentials showed abnormalities. I also had color perception
problems with the color red. The optic neuritis resolved itself without
any intervention after about 4 months and has come back twice since. At
the time, I was told that I had a 10% chance of developing MS, but that
it was really unlikely. Besides optic neuritis, I was diagnosed with
Uthoff's Phenomenon, which I still suffer from when over heated--or even
after moderate exercise like walking to the store.My vision becomes
somewhat blurry and contrast is affected, as if I'm seeing twilight.
Right now it only affects my right eye. I was RXed with MS in 2001. I
had lesions on my spine. I took MS medications only for a few years but
I stopped due to the side effects. My most recent MRIs show improvements
and lesions completely healing in some cases even though I haven't taken
the standard MS meds in about 4 years.

My first question to you is--what would you do if something was "found"
on your MRI?

We have all this advanced diagnostic abilities now and doctors are so
quick to offer medications now (ie. I've been told that if MS meds
existed in 1994 when I had my first symptoms I would have been
prescribed them even before an MS diagnosis in order to ward off my
first big relapse which came 7 years later--all that makes me think of
is the 7 years of side effect hell I would have undergone with no
guarantee of 1. developing MS or 2. preventing any relapses). Because of
this diagnostic ability today, many things are "found" that are not
causing symptoms, yet patients and doctors lock onto them and then feel
obliged to "treat" them. Or alternatively, as so often happens, a person
gets labeled as their disease and then everything that happens to them
becomes a symptom of the disease and may not be treated correctly. For
example, numbness in my hand is dismissed as an MS symptom rather than
the doctor looking into a pinched nerve or a blood clot, carpel tunnel
or something else. Unfortunately MS doesn't preclude having other
diseases (too bad--don't you think MS sufferers should at least be
exempt from cancer?)

So, basically the information an MRI can provide works both ways. You
need to ask yourself why you need it done, and if something was found,
what would you do about it? Are you prepared to "treat" something that
you may not have or doesn't actually cause symptoms?  Because, trust me,
sometimes the cure IS worse than the disease.

BTW: Demyleination isn't only a symptom of MS but can happen with other
conditions as well. Furthermore, with regards to MS, there are  other
markers, such as spinal taps etc. that would pinpoint an MS diagnosis,
not simply brain lesions alone. MS is a diagnosis reached after
everything else is ruled out.

I thought yours disappeared with a pinhole? If it disappears thru a pinhole,
it's optical, not neurological.

Corneal diplopia disappears with a gas-perm contact, lenticular does not.

-MT