Can lyme cause your reflexes to be hyper? If so, how does it cause that?
thanks, Stacey
Posted by Allie (Member # 10778) on :
Hi Stacey, I have had hyper reflexes and my LLMD attributes it 100% to Lyme. This is what I remember him telling me (I hope I'm doing it justice).
Usually when someone taps your knee a signal is sent from the knee to the brain and the brain tries to stop it. If the signal does not reach your brain as fast then you knee fires quicker than normal.
Something like that. With 2.5 yrs of abx they are not as hyper. In fact, he said that they are almost quite normal.
Maybe someone else can provide a more coherent answer. I'm curious myself.
Take care, Allie
Posted by soonermom (Member # 14494) on :
Allie,
Thanks for your response. Do you also have white matter lesions & any muscle spasticity? I have all this and numbness/paresthesias. Even with a CDC positive IgM western blot, some doctors still think that I have MS. NO doctors here believe in lyme (oklahoma). Stacey
Posted by Allie (Member # 10778) on :
Hi Stacey,
I don't have white matter lesions (that I know of) or spasticity. I do have numbness, small fiber peripheral neuropathy, and in my brain I have hypoperfusion ("moderate to severe global cortical hypoperfusion with heterogenity" to be specific???). I think an MS diagnosis was not far away.
My LLMD was the first to notice the hyper reflexes (can we say quack quack). Neurologist confirmed them. My LLMD said he sees it all the time.
I wonder if they still act up because (especially when I herx) occasionally when I bump my knee it reflexes when I don't think it should.
I do hope they are getting better.
How do your hyper reflexes manifest themselves? Do you notice them yourself?
Allie
Posted by savebabe (Member # 9847) on :
My former llmd believed that hyper reflexes were due to a mag deficiency caused by lyme disease.
Posted by Dawnee (Member # 15089) on :
ME ME ME! I am not actually DXed yet..but my LLMD is absolutely sure I have Lyme. Still waiting on my blood test results.
I have extremely hyper reflexes, not just in my legs but my arms and wrists also. I have clonus in my ankles. I have spasticity that gets worse with anxiety and stress. I also have the numbness/para., muscle twitches that only recently started and have not gone away, internal vibrations, sound/light/touch sensitivity... lots and lots of symptoms. Most of them neurological. Apparently it's Lyme and co-infections related.
Not exactly sure what causes it... but my LLMD says I have had Lyme for 20 years.
Dawn
Posted by SouthernCO (Member # 11167) on :
soonermom:
Have had Lyme, etc., for about 15 years.
5 years ago, before diagnosis, a mainstream neurologist was so concerned about my hyper reflexes that he ordered a catscan of the brain. Of course he found nothing of interest.
I do know, from an EMG and a diskogram, that I have bilateral nerve damage of the L5 nerve.
Funny thing is that the L5 nerve is part of the peroneal nerve which feeds the outside of each lower leg including the knees.
The peroneal nerves travel down the legs separate from the sciatic nerve which is why in my case, I think, the thighs have no symptoms but the nerves feeding the knees and lower legs have been damaged. This is also why, I think, that the reflexes are hyper.
I think, in my case, the Lyme, etc., attacked the lower back at L5-S1, damaging the L5 nerve, which in turn causes the hyper reflexes. These are just my own theories which do, I think, make logical sense.
Best of luck, Dave
Posted by WildCondor (Member # 434) on :
Yes, Lyme can cause that hyper reflexes!!! Make sure you take magnesium and lots of it!