what are your experiences with hyperreflexia?

[Sammantha]

Okay i have been diagnosed with: hyperreflexia, babinski response, restrictive breathing disorder and foot and wrist drop.... i have not been diagnosed with any disease or illness.....that being said i wanted to know others experiences with this whole reflex thing... Mine are getting crazy..... I am reverting back to my old high school self, cussing up a storm with no inhibition! I call it my old N.Y. accent coming back...... The other day the stem part of a leaf hit my windshield and sounded so loud that i jumped in my seat while driving! My co worker keeps telling me how great my hearing is because i can hear car doors being shut in the parking lot to the office!!! Loud noise hurts my ears so much, especially my kids running wild. I remember when i was a preschool teacher and i could listen to noise all day, now i cannot handle it.... Its sooo loud... Here is the craziest part of all, my sens of smell is really strong.... I washed my blankets and i could smell the fabric softener so strong i could practically taste it, now i have never heard of anyone with a neurological disorder say that!! Anybody out there with the same experiences??? Merry Christmas to all, Sam

[olly]

i did have a odd sense when i first got ill for about a month.
i could not touch anything metal like taps,cutlery ect as it made me feel physically nausiated.
with hypereflexia it does make you jump more with loud noises,many with pls have said this.
happy holidays

[BethU]

Hi, Sam ... well there are two of us on this forum who have experienced the over-intense sense of smell. I had that for several months a year ago, but my reaction was to spices, especially cinnamon. My grocery had a display by the door wafting cinnamon in the air, and I had to take a deep breath and run past the display to the back of the store. I COULD NOT tolerate it! I finally e-mailed the store manager and said I would have to change markets if they didn't get rid of the display.

Apparently, the odor was not terribly intense ... only to me. My husband was unaware of it.

I believe that Pat also had this experience with various odors. She and I both thought we were the only ones.

That was one of the things that helped me believe I had MG, not ALS, because everything says "there are no sensory changes with ALS." In any case it went away, and now I'm on a cinnamon toast jag ... can't get enuf of it.

[planningguy]

Sammantha,

If I understand your post correctly, it seems like you are describing hyperacusis (extremely sensitive hearing), as opposed to an increased startle response. Hyperacusis can be caused for a variety of reasons, but among them are damage to the inner ear, damage to the auditory nerve, or damage to a branch the VII cranial nerve (or facial nerve).

There is a tiny muscle (the stapedius) that supports the tiny stirrup (or stapes) bone in your ear. The stapes is what transmits the sound to your inner ear. The strapedius muscle helps control the magnitude of sound that gets passed along by stabilizing the stapes bone. If something happens to that muscle, via direct damage or dennervation, you can experience hyperacusis. Ironically tinnitus, or ear ringing, is also common in people who suffer from hyperacusis.

I can't remember much about your history from previous threads, but have you had a viral infection, or tested positive for Lymes? Both of these are common culprits of auditory hearing damage of this type.

Have a happy holiday season,

Robert

[planningguy]

Beth,

I'm glad the smell issue resolved itself. Cinnamon is one of my favorite smells, especially early in the morning in toast form

Robert

[Al]

I've always had a good sense of smell. Joke used to be if I was stopped at a traffic light and someone farted on the sidewalk, I could tell you what they had for breakfast. I still have that. I'm always mentioning smells in the house that no one else seems to notice. I did it before so who knows if it's neuro related.

AL.

[ptich]

I was hypersensitive to noise and light for long time, many years before it occurred to me that I may have a neuro, or a neuro-muscular disorder. For example, I have been always setting brightness of my computer monitor so low that nobody else could work with it - of course I am subject of all kinds of jokes at work because of that

But I am not sure that this is directly related to hyperactive tendon reflexes. At least it started way before a neuro rated my reflexes as 3+ ( July 2008 ).

My feeling is that hypersensibility to light and noise just reflects high level of excitability of all kinds of neurons, which may be one of the symptoms of an MND. Hyperreflexia is another symptom of MND, caused by a deficient UMN control of LMNs. So my feeling is that both of them may be symptoms of an MND, but they are not the same thing.

But it may be the other way around: easily excitable neurons create all kinds of symptoms of an MND, including UMN deficiencies, while it is actually not an MND at all.

These are just my feelings, I don't have enough background to understand it. May be write can help.

[hopingforcure]

Hi Sam,
It is a UMN sign, and I experience it completely. I have a problem with cleaning products. I am a clean fanatic, and it ws one of my first symptoms, I have in the past heard others talk about it. I joke that I a mess, but I can hear and smell, with the best of the best. I definitely can tell you the jumpy thing is UMN, and I am completely onboard with that. Hyperreflexes are so crazy, they will also cause lack of inihabition. All stuff just more of the same.. Merry X-mas to my dear friends. Hi Olly, you dear girl.. All you guys are gifts from above..

[jennibf]

That is interesting. I have the hyperreflexia w/ babinski and all of the other stuff and my sense of smell is outrageous. I am down to only one laundry detergent I will use (Tide) and one fabric softener. It drives my husband crazy because of course it is the most expensive kind. Certain candles will only do and soap, hairspray, etc. I had to put a leather smell thing in my car because if anyone has any kind of bad breath, body odor, etc. it drives me to insanity.

My hearing is bad though. I can hardly hear a thing.

So anyway, I can relate to a lot of what you said.

[CindyM]

Hey Al- I guess you chose the right profession with that sense of smell!

Regarding a hyper startle reflex: I decided last night that some scary movies are not just worth watching. I was pealing myself off the ceiling with every scream from the screen.

[awieleba]

I have the hearing thing. I think for me it is more ear ringing. My husband gets mad at me because I have to have the TV or radio so loud that it drives him crazy! A year ago I got the ear pain and head issues, then went away. Then in the spring when I got out of hosp. my ear was ringing/hummimng so loud for weeks. It has gotten better, I am hoping it is viral or from meds.

What is the diff from hyperflexia and brisk reflexes? Why would a nuero say brisk reflexes VS hyperflexia?

[olly]

brisk reflexes are just that but is a neuro sign,hypereflexia is pathological reflexes when clonus is involved.
all the best to you and your family

[awieleba]

ahhhh, thank you soo much. I have been wondering all this time!!!

speaking of family, gotto go help organize all these new toys!

[planningguy]

April,

If it bothers you too much there are certain types of noise therapy that can help eleviate the symptoms of ringing by retraining the ears. I have had progressive hearing loss since I was a late teen, but a neuro component is suspected because of the tinnitus. If it turns out the damage is permanent, a good audiologist should be able to see if a hearing aid would be of any benefit.

Even with hearing aids, I have to help people understand that it is not just a problem of volume, but there is ringing and a delay in processing certain sounds as well. Its not just a matter of "turning up the hearing aid."

Best wishes... we're in a whiteout blizzard right now, so no after Christmas sales for us.

Robert

[awieleba]

Robert,

ok, what is tinnitus? Is that not ear ringing/humming? I would look it up but I have sworn off google.

thanks