Humira and Brain Lesions

[Audi]

I’ve been having sleep paralysis for around 3 months consecutively, so I told my doctor about it and he wanted me to do a MRI on my brain. Today my mom said she got the results back and I have a brain lesion, and I’m extremely confused on what that even is. Does anybody else have this problem and is it due to my medicine? I’m not too stressed about it, but I would like to know what’s up. (And sorry if this isn’t in the right catagory! I’ve been on here since I was 13 and I still don’t know how to work this)

 

[valleysangel92]

Hello,

A brain lesion is any type of abnormal tissue in/on the brain, which is picked up on an MRI or CT scan. They can be caused by lots of things, including infections and changes in the blood vessels. They can sometimes be harmless or can be caused by something more serious that will need treatment.

I can't find any information that says Humira definitely causes brain lesions when I do a quick search, but there are a couple of things popping up which suggest that IBD can actually result in some brain changes in rare cases, but these aren't necessarily reliable.

I would suggest having a chat with your mum and asking her if your doctor gave her any other information, I don't know how old you are but in the UK we have a right to know whats going on even when under 16, provided we have the capacity to understand.

I would suggest also writing down any questions you have and asking your doctor when you next see him. In the mean time hopefully someone will be along soon who will know a little more about this, try not to google it though as it'll come up with all sorts of unlikely but scary possibilities.

 

[Sophabulous]

Hi Audi

I know this isn’t much help as I’m not on Humira nor do I have any brain issues that I’m aware of, but I do suffer from sleep paralysis fairly frequently. I also used to sleepwalk and sometimes carry out quite complex things while fast asleep, and it was almost every night.

I was referred to a sleep clinic at the hospital at one point it was so bad, and it just turned out to be my lack of routine with sleep causing the problem. After a couple of months making sure I slept a few solid hours at night (no naps even if I was exhausted) the problem righted itself.

I still get sleep paralysis, but very rarely these days. Maybe once or twice a year at most?

It all started for me at around age 17, I was referred to the sleep clinic at age 21 if that’s any help, I don’t know if age has much bearing on these issues but there we go [emoji4]

Hope you get sorted soon x