Still in Limbo..grrr

[tinkernurse]

So I got the call that someone had cancelled their appt. and got to see my neuro a week earlier...and still have no answers.

I know I failed the neuro exam (parts) miserably....I could tell by the way he would repeat certain parts a few times when something was amiss....By the time I left I felt like I'd been through a rapid fire assault and my symptoms were AMPED! (Ive been through a lot of these over the years and have NEVER felt like this, even by this particular doctor.)

Does anyone else feel like they're on sensory overload after a neuro exam?

Anyway...I was fully expecting that he would tell me that it was definite...even though my MRIs don't have a ton to go on (but some of the right areas) and I definitely have dissemination of time...I expected he would tell me the med options yadda yadda...but no (I really don't know which one to use.

He has ordered MRI of C and T spine with contrast and also blood work for Lyme and sarcoidosis (suprisingly I've been tested for neither)...He also rxed me Flexerill (I told him I didn't want to go back on Baclofen because of having to take it ALL the time)

Soooo I'll see what the new med and the new tests show...until then..still in limbo (oh joy)

~Tinker

[tinkernurse]

So I decided to add some of the stuff I know showed in the clinical neuro exam..

I had unilateral hyperreflexia in my left knee/leg when tested

There was so sort of oddity in the upper extremities since he redid them multiple times and seemed semi frustrated when they weren't doing what he expected (maybe hyporeflexia?)

I had zero response in my left foot when he did the "scrape thing" (I think that's the medical name for it) for Babinski....not sure about the right foot.

When he initially asked me to follow his finger with my eyes my right eye didn't cooperate (it went some place else..not quite sure where but had to repeat it for it to cooperate)

When doing the "touch my finger, touch your nose" part I got "stuck" and couldn't seem to will my finger back to my nose....Odd...it moved fine when it decided to but initially it just didn't seem to be listening to my plea for it to move....he said "Okay, your nose.....(no movement)...Your nose......" (Me) "I'm trying."

My barefoot parade across the floor was TOTALLY off balance.

I fell forward during the Romberg test.

The entire time my speech was TERRIBLE

I had almost no ability to push him away with my left foot (and yet after the Babinksi test I still felt the need to show him that none of my toes on the left move)

Those are the high lights anyway

~Tinker

[22cyclist]

So I decided to add some of the stuff I know showed in the clinical neuro exam..

I had unilateral hyperreflexia in my left knee/leg when tested

There was so sort of oddity in the upper extremities since he redid them multiple times and seemed semi frustrated when they weren't doing what he expected (maybe hyporeflexia?)

I had zero response in my left foot when he did the "scrape thing" (I think that's the medical name for it) for Babinski....not sure about the right foot.

When he initially asked me to follow his finger with my eyes my right eye didn't cooperate (it went some place else..not quite sure where but had to repeat it for it to cooperate)

When doing the "touch my finger, touch your nose" part I got "stuck" and couldn't seem to will my finger back to my nose....Odd...it moved fine when it decided to but initially it just didn't seem to be listening to my plea for it to move....he said "Okay, your nose.....(no movement)...Your nose......" (Me) "I'm trying."

My barefoot parade across the floor was TOTALLY off balance.

I fell forward during the Romberg test.

The entire time my speech was TERRIBLE

I had almost no ability to push him away with my left foot (and yet after the Babinksi test I still felt the need to show him that none of my toes on the left move)

Those are the high lights anyway

~Tinker

For your Romberg test, you usually fall to the left or right depending on which side of the brain the lesion is on (hemisphere).

Babinski, as you know the big toe has to go up, and the rest have to spread out.

I have no idea why you couldn't move your finger back to your nose. In MS, most people miss their nose, and their finger shakes badly (intention tremor).

Your hyporeflexia probably perplexed him as you complained of stiffness/spasticity. The left leg has some weakness with spasticity. Hence the hyperreflexia.

Good luck with your spinal MRIs
Lisa

[tinkernurse]

Lisa,

Typically as of late when I have done the Romberg at home, waiting for the 30 seconds, I end up sorta going back and forth left to right..It doesn't generally start until a few moments in....yesterday it didn't take him too long...so I don't know what I was doing before he said it was done...that's when I fell forward (I do however have a couple of frontal lobe lesions)...not sure what the ticking side to side means.

I know that Babinkski was absent...but it was also noted that no matter how noxious he tried to make the stimuli that left foot did not react in anyway.

I do have intention tremors...mostly on the left side...if I hold paper etc I shake...this comes and goes..(sometimes becomes very jerky with spastic movements)..not sure if it was noted yesterday on exam or not.

The finger to nose thing with getting stuck..It seems to me like it would be coming from the same place as when I just let go of something and drop it...Like the signals are not getting to the place they need to to do the action my mind is telling it to do...This happened just the other night while laying on the couch with my left arm over my chest....I wanted to move it...it was capable of movement..but took some moments before it would actually listen to me and move.....This is different than the complete lack of movement in my left foot...the toes just do not seem capable on any level...but maybe they too just aren't getting the message.

Would you mind explaining the hyperreflexia? I am a bit confused as to the extra movement in the weakest extremity...not quite sure how that works with the reflex arc and all.

Thanks in advance....and thanks for the luck and well wishes.

~Tinker

[22cyclist]

Hey Tinkernurse:

When a limb is weak, it tends to get spastic in order to hold itself up. Reaction of the CNS and PNS. Spastic muscles tend to be hyperreflexive. You hit a tight muscle with a hammer and it will swing out further.

As for the romberg: Even lesions in frontal lobes will cause you to fall to left or right, depending on the hemisphere. That was probably just a loss of balance, not a true romberg positive test. You may have been leaning forward a bit.

Good luck
Lisa