Reflexes Decreasing in Some Areas but Increasing in Others. Anyone else?

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Slick24

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Joined
Aug 28, 2016
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Reason
Friend was DX
Diagnosis
7/2015
Country
US
State
GA
City
Atlanta
When my best friend was diagnosed and even some prior her reflexes were VERY jumpy. They don't seem to be as jumpy in certain places as much now but are now developing in new areas. She is 3 years since diagnosis. Is this normal for them to decrease over time and appear more in other areas?
 
Typically reflexes tend to increase over time with ALS, but they definitely can change in unpredictable ways. Also, if a brisk reflex suddenly becomes absent, one has to wonder about a slipped disc. Usually that would also be accompanied by sensory symptoms.
 
My reflexes have always been brisk, even long before ALS. They have increased, especially during the past six months. Interestingly, I have an absent reflex in my lower left ankle. Not sure when it started but it was noted in my initial neuro workup at Mayo in December 2014. For some weird reason, everyone who examines me tries and tries.
 
The mix of UMN signs (of which brisk reflexes is one) and LMN signs varies by PALS, and shifts throughout the course of the disease. For instance, muscles may go from being spastic to floppy to weak.
 
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