Like Paster Dan, my knee reflexes are hyper and intermittent and have also wondered the same q's. When i had my neuro exam, my left leg was hard to control (not now yeah), intention tremor in left arm and leg but it was the continual movement of my right leg that was really unexpected, i'd not seen it, felt it but not seen it. I cant imagine anyone being able to 'fake' what i see my legs do, i even have trouble with the idea that someone with a psychological issue could manifest this type of thing but it wasnt hard for my neuro to dismiss it when the MRI didn't show enough for him.
I have researched this thought but i havent found anything that confirms what some neuro's seem to think possible, its not written in neuro or psych papers, a plethra on 'invisible' sx but not visible. I also think you'll find the elbow and wrist are independent of of the lower limbs but i'm always happy to be corrected ;-)
Cheers......JJ
Well, with Q's straightforward description of foot drop, it's plain to me that I have had it frequently but intermittently all through this saga.
While we're on this question, I'll ask a few related. I've had what I consider to be hyper knee reflexes for quite some time, but the neuros doing the exams don't seem to think anything about it. How subjective are the criteria and/or application of them when determining what kind of reflex response is heightened, lessed, or just the way Goldilocks likes her porridge? I've wondered, is this something that could be well faked, and are the docs I've seen possibly disinterested in this aspect of the neuro exam because of that?
Also, if the reflexes in the knees are increased, will those in the elbow and wrist be also, or do they vary independent of one another?
hi
well it all started about six years ago with the odd strange symptom.
very tired,numbness, and pins and needles,
but my doc said stress or depression, typicle excuses you know the drill.
he put me on anti depressants but i stopped taking them due to them making me worse.and no effect on the original symptom.
so i just ignored them and tried to get on with my life. but still had problems including forgetting basic things and blurred vission so i went back and he said its all in my mind get a grip!!!!!!!! .
i changed my doctor cos i had what he called paresthesia in my hand very bad i could bite it !! and not feel it very scary!!!.
he said have i ever been tested for ms !! and sent me to the neuro who gave me a full exam and said i had deffinitive weakness on my left side and odd reflex issues.
so i had an mri of my brain without contrast i now know cos nothing was injected in me during the scan.
i went back for the results and was told two white spots but not conclusive enough for a dx and to see how my symtoms went on and to go back to my gp.
a few months later i went back to my gp again with pain and stiffness feeling like a seventy year old .
he tested me for fibromyalgia and was negative he said its one of those mysterys see how you go on.
so i have not been for ages and just battled on with numbness on my legs like being wraped in tubigrip bandage back pain,electric shock pains,funny eyes jumping.and stiffness. i finally went back cos of what my chiro said and you know the rest
any thoughts would be interesting??
regards
bairdy
Hi, and another welcome to the forum! We would like to hear more about what kind of symptoms you have been having such that you had an MRI 18 months ago.
In MS it is unusual, but not impossible to have a reduced tendon reflex. They are almost always increased. There is a condition that is called the MS of the peripheral nervous system called CIDP (Chronic Immune/Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy) that has decreased or absent tendon reflexes.
Foot drop is be due to a loss of signal to the muscle that pulls the forefoot up toward the knees (the tibialis anterior). It can happen from a lesion anywhere along the nerve to that muscle from the peripheral nervous system to the spinal cord to the brain.
I'm not sure that you need to change neuros. It would depend on what basis he had for wanting to just watch and wait. 2 lesions is not enough to diagnose everyone with MS.
I do agree that you need to see the/a neuro and have the MRI repeated. That should be the next thing on your agenda. But, do tell us what your other symptoms have been.
Meg - Drop Foot is when the person can't bring the toes up (toward the knee). It interferes with walking. As we take a stride forward we pull our toes and forefoot upwards to clear the floor. If we can't pull them up, they point downward and drag on the floor. A drop foot does not let us place the heel down first in a step forward. We tend to lift the leg and the foot goes down in front of us with a "slap".
Quix
Yes, foot drop can be due to a lesion in the CNS. You must get in to see a neuro ASAP. You need to have MRIs more frequently than every 18 months if you're experiencing symptoms. I hope your not going back to the same neuro.
I am afraid I have not answers for you, just a question..........what is foot drop? Have always wanted to ask but just got around to it...
thanks, meg