Your right, walking difficulty is often caused by lesions in the spine column extending through out the spine & into and through the brain. Where walking command originate & the complexity of muscle sequencing that needs to happen for walking. Did your doc think you should have lesions on the spine or did he say you probably had lesions on the spine? Lesions come & go. Some heal to the point that they are no longer measurable by an MRI, but even after they "heal" they leave damge to the tissue. Unmeasurable by MRI.

I've had a cervical and thoratic mir and it all was clear of lesions. But maybe they are so small the mri isn't detecting them, i've heard that too. And the brain lesions that i do have are really small but they are there. i have them in the front left/right frontal lobe, 1 in brainstem and three others in other places. My doctor says all my pain is coming from my brain, weird.

Generally but not 100% true in terms of locations. Think about it like an electrical cord that connects two ends of a circuit that responds to your internal voice which says "legs move". (note that below I use the word "partially" because you haven't indicated 100% loss of movement or sensation)

If the sending part of the circuit (in the brain) gets partially zapped by a lesion, no or bad signal. If the wiring in route (the spinal cord) gets partially zapped, again, no or bad signal. MS doesn't exist outside the CNS, so once the nerve leaves the spinal cord, in theory it's not affected, but for the sake of discussion, what if you did injure the nerve(s) to your legs. Again, no or bad signal.

Only the no or bad signal is probably applying just to little bits of your legs which is why you experience symptoms, not complete loss.

I have lesions only on the brain as well, yet
I have jelly legs...they buckle out from underneath from me sometimes. I have frontal
lesions that hurt balance. I think with MS
that anything is possible. I also agree with
DSlynn, the lesions can come and go...so it's always a guessing game. So your not alone.
MS is so weird and unpredictable. So, I wish you the very best in your journey with this
crazy disease.

thanks guys for your replies. I get better answers from here than my own doctors!.. Everyone have a great day! Peace :)

Haven't read the replies, so not sure if this was mentioned...

But lesions do not always correlate with sx's, since our immune system alone is out of whack and can cause sx's.

Also, there is a part of the brain (the cerebrum I believe) that dos cause leg weakness and paralysis.

My onset was complete left-sided paralysis from a 2.2cm lesion in that area.

You should find a neuro who will treat your sx's and not jsut your MRI's.

My Neuro says my MRI showed 20-30 lesions on my brain&one on my Spinal Cod;I have drop foot, bladder issues, chronic fatigue, numb R foot&leg, some cognitive probs., etc.

i'm just here to agree with the others. Lesions do not always correlate with symptoms. Additionally recent theories talk about axonal damage and loss being extremely important. This is not necessarily seen on MRI's. Also MRIs are not sensitive enough to show all the damage that occurs. I think you need a new neuro if yours actually said this to you.

hi
i also have several lessions in my brain and in my spine, i have so much trouble with my legs... they bother me so much, specially at night.

I have numbness and pain in my legs. I have difficulty walking and balance issues. I have one leision on my spine and about a dozen in the brain. My doc. says it's the brain that is causing my leg problems.

The size, number and location of the lesions do not conclusively correlate to the symptoms that affect any individuals MS.Some MRI's show almost no lesions but the person has many disablingsymptoms. Some have brain which look like swiss cheese but are doing well. Your DR should know this Hope your lfeeling stronger.

My lesions are on cerebellum/brainstem. I nearly choked to death with spasms (in the hospital) before they would admit--"Oh, yeah, brainstem stuff csn cause spasms!"

It was months later I got treatment with klonopin. Doctors don't know a lot about MS.
Nobody does.

Re: comment from Jacca in this discussion. Haven't come across the term 'sx's' before but guessing it means symptoms?? Used to have same problem when I saw ?'dx' but think I've worked that one out. Apologies for being British!

Ok, I know this is s 'hot button' issue with me. Unless a paper was published recently, There is NO DOCUMENTED relationship between size and location of lesions and disability.

I know it sounds difficult to believe BUT NONE. You could have a brain or spine choc full of lesions and be almost symptom free while you could have one, barely noticable lesion and be a physical WRECK.

Doctors would love it if they could identify the extent of your disability from an MRI.

You should definately take care of yourself. Beyond that, live healthy, Love generously and BE HAPPY.

Taking one of the ABCR drugs should reduce future damage (but only by a fairly small percentage). I also advocate using LDN (4.5 mg at bedtime) but no scientific evidence to back it up.

Good-luck and do the best to reduce your stress and fatigue.

Sorry about that Soller! Just a habit... but you are right sx = symptom, dx = diagnosis, tx = treatment...