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Hyperreflexia?
Hello,
I am a 23 year old healthy male. Was evaluated by a neurologist yesterday for an unrelated issue. Upon my neuro exam, he noted that I had hyperreflexia in both of my legs. He mentioned the possibility of myelopathy but also said there's a 90:10 chance that it's normal for my reflexes. He ordered a cervical/thoracic MRI which I am having done this upcoming Monday.
How severe does this sound? He mentioned the possibility of MS and ALS, so that got me a little worried. Any words to put my mind at ease are appreciated.
Thank you.
I am a 23 year old healthy male. Was evaluated by a neurologist yesterday for an unrelated issue. Upon my neuro exam, he noted that I had hyperreflexia in both of my legs. He mentioned the possibility of myelopathy but also said there's a 90:10 chance that it's normal for my reflexes. He ordered a cervical/thoracic MRI which I am having done this upcoming Monday.
How severe does this sound? He mentioned the possibility of MS and ALS, so that got me a little worried. Any words to put my mind at ease are appreciated.
Thank you.
Best Answer
Well, had my MRI this morning and patiently waiting on the results. Hoping for the best.
Sorry for the double response.. Wasn't showing up when I submitted it so I typed it again
1 Comments
sometimes there is a glitch and your post wont show up immediately, the duplicate should be deleted shortly...
Sorry for the confusion. She said she felt so,etching that kind of felt like clonus, but couldn't be sure. Not sure if this could be related, but I have naturally tight ankles and have always had foot problems. Wondering if a tight ankle could describe the catch she felt. Just an idea.
I've had severe depression and anxiety for the past year. I controllably shake a lot of the day due to so much nervous energy, so I'm wondering if that could be playing into this as well.
Had a neuro exam from his partner and a lumbar MRI in March, and she found nothing out of the ordinary. Only feel like that can point in my favor.
I've had severe depression and anxiety for the past year. I controllably shake a lot of the day due to so much nervous energy, so I'm wondering if that could be playing into this as well.
Had a neuro exam from his partner and a lumbar MRI in March, and she found nothing out of the ordinary. Only feel like that can point in my favor.
1 Comments
I'm not sure how the 'controlled shake' thing your doing would have anything to do with your reflexes.
Your reflexes are an unconscious action, if your highly anxious you can experience a visible tremor or a feeling of nervous energy but it's not caused by a physical abnormality and will typically disappear when your distracted and or no longer anxious.
Mental health doesn't cause 'sustained clonus', which is evident regardless of your psychological health or level of distraction, because it is a neurological clinical sign of a physical abnormality and will continue to show it's self.
I doubt the physical therapist found true clonus, when it's 'not sustained' it's typically mental health related, which would make sense considering your history of anxiety and depression and only just having a full neuro exam that was normal...I'd expect your reflexes are perfectly normal if you've always had foot and or ankle problems too...
Hope that helps......JJ
Your reflexes are an unconscious action, if your highly anxious you can experience a visible tremor or a feeling of nervous energy but it's not caused by a physical abnormality and will typically disappear when your distracted and or no longer anxious.
Mental health doesn't cause 'sustained clonus', which is evident regardless of your psychological health or level of distraction, because it is a neurological clinical sign of a physical abnormality and will continue to show it's self.
I doubt the physical therapist found true clonus, when it's 'not sustained' it's typically mental health related, which would make sense considering your history of anxiety and depression and only just having a full neuro exam that was normal...I'd expect your reflexes are perfectly normal if you've always had foot and or ankle problems too...
Hope that helps......JJ
COMMUNITY LEADER
Earlier you said " I work with a physical therapist and had her check my reflexes. She noticed a little bit of a "catch" in both my feet, but doesn't think the hyperactivity is anything severe." but now your saying "The physical therapist who checked my reflexes noticed mild bilateral clonus as well"......
The information you are providing is conflicting, you either have mild bilateral hyper reflexia or you have bilateral clonus....as i mention, 'hyperreflexia' scale 1-2 is normal, 3 can be normal or abnormal but 4 is 'clonus' and that is always abnormal, you can't actually have "mild clonus" it's either clonus or not.
Hope that helps...JJ
The information you are providing is conflicting, you either have mild bilateral hyper reflexia or you have bilateral clonus....as i mention, 'hyperreflexia' scale 1-2 is normal, 3 can be normal or abnormal but 4 is 'clonus' and that is always abnormal, you can't actually have "mild clonus" it's either clonus or not.
Hope that helps...JJ
Thanks for the responses guys. I'm also upset that he mentioned it. Is clonus labeled as hyperreflexia? The physical therapist who checked my reflexes noticed mild bilateral clonus as well, so I'm just wondering.
I am beyond shocked that a neurologist would even mention ALS or MS with a new patient showing only mild BILATERAL hyperreflexia. It make no sense to me that this would even come up in conversation.
That is all :P.
If that was the only thing that showed up on your neuro exam, you're likely in a good place.
That is all :P.
If that was the only thing that showed up on your neuro exam, you're likely in a good place.
Thanks again for the response. I have my degree in Human Biology, so my knowledge of disease and the body makes everything 10x worse.. haha
COMMUNITY LEADER
Unfortunately hypochondria, health anxiety etc can be a mental health situation that at times can take over your life, learning your triggers and learning how to control it is very important in take back control.....please don't research MS if you deal with hypochondria, researching medical issues will just more likely make your anxiety levels take flight and make a situation worse.
Understanding your mental health condition, utilizing cognitive behavioral tools like distraction, avoiding going on line, not giving your anxiety a voice on chat sites etc etc are all helpful tools to use when your dealing with hypochondria, so if you are not engaged in cognitive behavioral training please consider this additionally to any medications you may be using....
Good luck.......JJ
Understanding your mental health condition, utilizing cognitive behavioral tools like distraction, avoiding going on line, not giving your anxiety a voice on chat sites etc etc are all helpful tools to use when your dealing with hypochondria, so if you are not engaged in cognitive behavioral training please consider this additionally to any medications you may be using....
Good luck.......JJ
Thank you for the detailed response! I work with a physical therapist and had her check my reflexes. She noticed a little bit of a "catch" in both my feet, but doesn't think the hyperactivity is anything severe. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, so comments like this will definitely help until I get my MRI results back.
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Bilateral hyperreflexia is not particularly meaningful in regards to neurological conditions like MS, there are different levels 0-4 of hyperreflexia, basically 0 is an absent reflex so always abnormal, 1+2 are within normal, 3 could be normal or abnormal and 4 is Clonus which also always abnormal.
Bilateral or symmetrical hyperreflexia 1-3 can definitely be perfectly normal, it can even be mental health related eg anxiety, medical side effect if central nervous system delivered....IF normal is what your neuro suspects, it seems pretty daft to me that your neuro would even mention ALS or MS without anything else abnormal about your neurological exam.
It doesn't sound sever, out of all the neurological signs 'hyperreflexia' 1-3 alone is definitely 'not' a big clue there is something seriously abnormal going on....think of it as there being a remote possibility that there is something neurologically wrong and a more likely possibility that there isn't...
Your neuro may have mentioned MS and ALS as possible causes but you really shouldn't be concerned about either condition at this stage, the odds are that it has nothing to do with anything serious, so try not to worry!
I hope that helps.....JJ