Mri results breakdown....help?

[cocobella]

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted on here for a while. I lost my job due to my health and am pretty low. It's a hard pill to swallow at 29! My symptoms still same, severe joint and bone pain, swelling of hands and feet, fatigue, neuralgia and pins and needles, sweating, shaking episodes, psychiatric symptoms, arthritis and nodules now in hands but its non specific and iv been tested for inflammatory arthritis. PTH and IGF1 are elevated. Tested for diabetes and was negative.

Anyway, I got a copy of my brain mri results f June this year and I don't understand it. Would be good to know if any of you can make sense of it.

The pituitary hasn't been mentioned and im wondering if it has even been imaged in this case? The only reason I wonder is that it has transpired I have high IGF1 hormone , have already had a total thyroidectomy for a compressive nodular goiter and also had parathyroidectomy too for hyperplasia and high PTH. That was two years ago. Now I still have high pth and high igf1 which points to acromegaly or a problem with the pituitary. I am having another blood test in january to confirm this. But I wondered if my mri this year which was requested by neurology which was for numbness and tingling of face and arms and legs (which I know this can be endocrine related). When you look at the symptoms of acromegaly I have 70% of them. However my hands and feet are still small.

Ok here goes with mri......

MRI HEAD WITH CONTRAST

Straightening of cervic lordotic curvature is noted. Some slight disc bulging in neck.

Parts I don't understand....T2 axial, T1 saggital and T2 medic axial. Subtle signal alteration frontal sub cortical white matter. Vascular loop next to right trigemnal nerve.

Since pituitary wasn't mentioned does this mean it was ok? It was noted I have sinus mucosal thickening and a nasal polyp.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Coco x

[tintinrob]

Hi Cocobella, I have a pituitary adenoma leading to raised igf1 and acromegaly. My symptoms are daily headaches. I also have Churg Strauss syndrome but don't think they're connected. Anyway, if your MRI saw your sinus area, then it would have also looked at the pituitary and noted any changes so if they're not in the report no worries. However, a raised igf1 isn't right and someone should follow it up. They only do if you nag via your own doc, I've found..

BTW your other symptoms are very, very much like my Churg Strauss when it was developing - the night sweats, the swelling, pins n needles, nodules (mine on elbows) ...my trigeminal nerve was affected and made me go cross eyed, unable to chew, sinuses and nasal changes just like yours... the list goes on. This could be a Churg Strauss vasculitis I think and this is deffo one to get sorted, if so you need to start treatment right away to get it under control. A blood test for raised eosinophils will help identify it so this should be a first step . Are you somewhere this is easy to get arranged/ it's urgent.

So sorry to learn you lost yr job. main thing is to get well again though!!!!

Rob x