Hi Louise, Thank you for putting it so clearly. This is also the way I understood the diagnosis of tm and then a later diagnosis of ms.
Lynn (in Rhode Island) ----- Original Message ----- From: Louise Croyden To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; tmic-list@eskimo.com Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 10:43 AM Subject: Re: [TMIC] Re: Who's got what? Hi Everyone, I have been reading all the e-mails about TM and MS, etc., and I have also been confused about it since I was struck by TM in October 2005. According to what I've been told and have read since my TM episode, TM isn't a disease but is a condition caused by an inflammatory response to an underlying disease such as MS, Lupus, an infection.... As I understand it, some of us will later be diagnosed with MS but TM doesn't turn into MS. The TM episode was actually the first demylinating hit of relapsing-remitting MS but there was not enough evidence to diagnose MS at the time. That is why they continue to do tests such as Evoked Potentials and further MRI's in order to rule out or confirm the MS diagnosis. If there is evidence that we actually have MS, then they would start the proper treatment. My Opthamologist told me not to be surprised if they diagnosed me with MS sometime in the future. On the website of the John's Hopkins Transverse Myelitis Centre at http://www.hopkinsneuro.org/tm/disease_and_condition_detail.cfm?condition_id=8 they say that "Several diseases may lead to transverse myelitis, and should be investigated at the time TM presents itself". Click on Diseases & conditions on the home page for the three sections of information: Transverse Myelitis; Transverse Myelitis Care and Transverse Myelitis Associated Diseases. Under the list of underlying diseases that cause TM, they include some possible infectious diseases such as hepatitis A,B or C, Lyme disease or Mycoplasma pnuemonia. There are also separate headings for Lupus, MS and Vascular Disease. If anyone hasn't yet checked out the information from the John's Hopkins TM Center or hasn't looked at it for a long time, it has been updated with more information since I first read it in early 2006 and has answered more of my questions. I hope this helps. I just keep hoping for a minor miracle to help all of us whose lives have been changed so dramatically by whatever disease caused our TM and keep looking for ways to cope in the meantime. Regards to everyone, Louise ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; tmic-list@eskimo.com Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 10:22 PM Subject: Re: [TMIC] Re: Who's got what? Patti, My doctors told me that someone with TM will only have a re-occurrence if they had underlying illness such as, MS, Sarcoidosis or some other autoimmune disease. I can't imagine going back through what I went through(total paralysis from neck down). It was hard enough to survive the first time. I would just give up the second time. Naomi C-4 quad since July 2, 2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- See what's free at AOL.com.
