Wow! That is almost exactly what I am going through. Mine did start out with neck pain, which progressed to left bicep pain, and left hand numbness. I also had hperreflexia of the knees. At that point the doctor thought I had spinal cord compression at C5 and C6. An MRI of the cervical spine revealed that while I had arthritis, there was no direct compression on the cord. 3 days on steroids, and I felt better, but when I came off the steroids symptoms returned along with some new ones: facial numbness, right arm pins and needles, and pins and needles in my legs.
The neurologist sent me to a neurosurgeon, who noticed an abnormal reflex in my hand, too.
He then sent me to a different neuroloist, who said that I have clonus in both ankles.
Since then, I have had 2 MRIs of the brain (with and without contrast), an MRI of the thoracic spine, an SSEP study, and an EMG. The most the nerve study revealed was mild Carpal Tunnel.
Syndrome
They, also, are perplexed. Things certainly aren't adding up. They felt pretty certain that I had MS, or ALS, but now don't think I have either. So now I wait. I go back to Neurosurgeon in 3 months to see if things have progressed or gotten better.
I notice that we have a couple of things in common. 1) We both have the bulging or slipped discs. 2) We are both taking antidepressants. I take sertraline and amitriptiline for migraines.
I had read that the amitriptiline could cause similar symptoms, but my docs say my dose is too low. Also, the sertraline dose is low.
I just noticed how old your post was. I hope you are still around. If so, how are you doing?
Wow, you sound a lot like myself except for the fact that I have a hard time walking. The first onset of ankle clonus came on in my right ankle approx 20 years ago. At that time, it came on suddenly and the onset actually started in my right knee while walking my dog. My right knee appeared to buckle while walking as if a ligament was stretched. I had every test known to man and they could not find a thing. I also had mild bulging at L4-5 and neck problems. However, all of my MRI's etc... came back within normal range. Around 6 year ago, I noticed that the clonus appeared in my left ankle as well. I also have severe writers cramp in my right hand/wrist. Doctors diagnosed me with dystonia. I have been to so many neurologists, movement disorder specialists, chiropractors, ortho's including a top neurologist at the Mayo Clinic. All of my doctors honesty scratch their heads and have no idea what to say since they cannot find anything noticeable that links to an upper motor neuron problem. The only thing that really ever made made sense was a doctor in Florida. He said he felt as though these were seizures of some sort and ordered a PET scan. They did come back and said that I had a slight hypomotabolism in my left medial temporal lobe which could be causing a seizure disorder. There are many types of seizures. Severe anxiety runs in my family as I have found out over the years. We get tense very easily. I feel this is tied to the clonus. My ankle clonus has affected me physically as I cannot walk very well and can't keep up with my 2 daughters 7 & 10. I have tried to rack my brain as to what has happended in the past that might have caused this and can come up with several things, but nothing concrete. I have taken antidepressent medication since I was a young adult. I have noticed that taking these medications have made my clonus worse. I have done so much research on my own. When you mentioned that you just started Wellbutrin it touched a nerve going back to the possiblity that I have a seizure disorder of some sort. I recently decided that I wanted to taper off of Paxil and try Wellbutrin because a family member said it help her with her depression. I have been completely on Wellbutrin (the generic brand) for a month now and feel as though I'm going to jump out of my skin. I have noticed that the clonus definatley became worse while taking Wellbutrin. I looked up Wellbutrin side affects today and everything said DO NOT TAKE IF YOU HAVE A SEIZURE DISORDER.
I decided today that the problem isn't depression, but anxiety for me that is causing the depression. I am so sorry to hear about your Son, my hearto goes out to you. But, with the clonus symptoms, I think that it can be exasperated by anxiety more than anything. We need to learn to relax (as my first doctor ever told me when he couldn't find a cause) of course I thought he was nuts.
For your situation with the depression, I would suggest an antidepressent that also has an anti-anxiety agent. Talk with with doctor, but get off the Wellbutrin. I started tapering off today.
I have done sooooo much research on clonus on my owne since the doctors can't figure out. I would love to keep in touch with you if you would like and maybe we can share notes. I am 43 years old and have not been able to come across anyone with a similar problem. We will get thru this I have to believe. Please e-mail me at ***@****
Kristen Brenan