posted
I can hear and follow someone talking, but add music in the background and I can't. I can read in large print for 45 minutes but brain goes to migraine after that.
Would neuropsych testing measure those sorts of challenges?
Are there other tests that would be better?
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
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- Q: Would neuropysch testing measure sensory processing difficulty?
No. Not at all, considering hearing or vestibular function.
I had thought it would, myself, and was shocked in their lack of interest in vestibular processing (although, at that time, I'd never heard of that term and never knew the inner ear could hamper concentration, etc.).
The neuro part was nearly absent and the psych part was paramount in the test (in my experience). I had hoped they would tell me how my brain processed best so that I could compensate. But, no help whatsoever. Like they didn't want to really figure it out.
My neuropsych screening (not a full test) was a waste of time. They just did not understand my reaction to the wavy wall paper pattern on the wall (apparently no one had ever been bothered by that before so they said I was being difficult).
However, soon after that - through the ear doctor - balance tests were absolutely remarkable and found "severe sensory dysfunction" and other dx as well.
Hopefully, whatever is bothering you can change but you'll need to first see an expert in all matters of the EARS.
First order of business will be a hearing test. You may have some hearing loss in some registers. Symptoms can actually be very confusing. Hopefully, you don't have hearing loss and the addition of background music is just too much added stimuli for person with lyme.
Adrenal function may also be stressed as that causes problems with sensory processing. Be sure you have good adrenal support.
Toxicity will also cause the eyes to spasm. Be sure you've got good liver support. Nystagmus can decrease dramatically with magnesium supplementation. More about that in the Tinnitus thread below.
The ear specialists should check for nystagmus (spasms of the eyes). Then, after you get all your hearing and inner ear results, see an eye doctor for routine check if you've not done so in the past year or so.
For the ear specialist, see a neurotologist or an otoneurologist (one has more training in ears than brain and visa versa). Ask your LLMD for a referral to one who is lyme literate. And don't let them talk you into steroids as steroids can make it all much worse.
A simple hearing test should be done first. That will tell you a lot but then there are more advanced tests for sensory processing.
Also keep in mind that our ears affect the way our eyes work, too. This is also why the ear doctors look at your eyes.
The vestibular system (inner and middle ear) is often assaulted by lyme and other tick-borne infections.
If you are taking aspirin, you probably should stop as that can be ototoxic. So can acetaminophen. More about that in the thread below - and your audiologist will go over all that with you.
What kind of neuropsych evaluation did you have? I hear that typicalselects some of 25 tests that test brain functioning from iq, to memory, to processing.
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Keebler
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- My neuropsych screening (not the full test) was very long ago but I recall the disappointment in the questioning and called it a "Mickey Mouse Test" - it did not have the depth necessary to find out why I was falling all the time or got lost so often or took the wrong bus even on my way to the test, etc.
I went there to find out why neurologically, I was a disaster and they kept asking me about depression and if I could remember what color the White House was.
Because background sound/noise makes it hard for you to hear conversation, I would start with a hearing test. I can't emphasize how important it is to start there. Then on to balance tests.
If the ears are messed up at all, the brain can't process. Start with the ears. Anyone who has trouble hearing or concentrating when background noise is added to the mix can have some hearing loss at certain frequencies and/or other inner/middle ear dysfunction.
If the ears are stressed at all, the brain simply cannot process information. Even if it's not the hearing part of your ears, but the balance center, that can make brain function very difficult.
The eyes, too, are connected to the entire ear system.
It's best to always start with vestibular evaluation. But, FIRST, talk to your LLMD. What you are experiencing is very common to lyme and may clear with treatment.
It take take a huge physical toll to do vestibular tests, waste money and time. A hearing test is always good, but you might just wait unless your LLMD thinks you need that right now. Give treatment a chance and see if the brain function clears up. Ask your LLMD for support suggestions.
Be sure to address liver support, mercury detox and adrenal support. Toxicity can cause all sorts of processing difficulties and so can adrenal dysfunction.
You can do some vestibular training exercises on your own. Get the DVD "Yoga for your Eyes" - maybe learn Tai Chi or Qi Gong (easier as there is not so much turning of the head). -
[ 05-24-2010, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
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Hoosiers51
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I don't think it will measure things like that.
I had about as exhaustive of neuro-psych testing as you can get (I would imagine, because it lasted either all day or two days), and I did pretty well on it, like as well as a normal person.
The thing is, it utterly exhausted me, and I was wiped out for days afterwards, just by all that mental stimulation.
What happens to me, is when I'm in new situations, my adrenaline starts pumping, so I do pretty well, better than on an average day. But I would not have been able to come up with results like that everyday, as if I had a job, etc.
So for me, I don't feel it was an accurate depiction.
They ask you to recall things they say out loud (like a story, then you say everything you remember from they story), they ask you to tap this gadget as many times as you can in like a minute, and the thing measures how many you can do, they show you pictures and ask you questions about the picture.....I think there is some reading, they show you faces then show you more and you have to say which ones were in the first group (yes or no), etc.
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
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posted
- This explains why I suggest talking with your LLMD before undertaking exhausting and expensive tests that may not show much (unless you could get some training advice). With treatment, many of the sensory problems can clear.
If there is something going on that may not be lyme related &/or requires prompt attention by a different kind of specialist, your LLMD can guide you.
Regardless, some of the suggestions in the main Tinnitus thread should help.
. . . Attempts to indulge avocational or vocational pursuits is frequently interdicted by either the languor of Lyme or by encephalopathy. . . .
. . . impairment of concentration, inattention, easy confusion or disorientation when attempting intellectual tasks. . . .
. . . Lyme patients can be easily irritated by anyone just walking into the same room even though eye contact is never made or words exchanged. . . .
. . . Incidentally, hyperaccusis (sound sensitivity) can be a feature of VII neuritis. . . .
. . . Eye related problems in LD are commonplace . . . .
. . . disorganization, an inability to follow a train of thought . . . .
. . . Others forgot how to spell even simple words, how to read or must re-read with varying degrees of comprehension. One patient drove to Philadelphia instead of the desired Princeton destination because the initial letters were identical and confused him.
After shopping for groceries, another patient placed her shoes in the refrigerator and stored the food in the clothes closet.
Lyme patients can lose their way home or on the way to work, bypassing otherwise familiar exits or plain forgetting where they are in time and space or how they got there. This is known as topographical disorientation or environmental agnosia. . . . -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
Thanks again for the replies. I have already done ear testing. It was very informative and showed my brain slowing down the impulse of audio data. Have also done eye testing and vestibular with similiarly informative results. I'm on liver, kidney, spleen, and digestive support. Just testing for more info because I seem to be worse off in the brain than most lyme patients my doctors have worked with. Though certainly not looking forward to the $
Posts: 62 | From U.S. | Registered: Apr 2009
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
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posted
- I have to say that neuropsych testing is most likely going to be a waste of time and money if you want to figure out why it's so hard to function.
If the testing showed your brain having problems with audio processing, that explains a lot.
See if you can get some vestibular rehabilitation. Do Tai Chi. That should help but if the vestibular system is stressed, you may just need time to heal or seek out more sophisticated testing with a LL neurotologist.
Still, lyme and co. really can clobber ears. Household chemicals and mold, too, and many - many - other things.
Have you tried Ginger capsules?
I just read Neil G. Bauman's book on Ototoxic Drugs. It explains far more than I can here about how the eyes, the brain are dependent upon inner ear function. It's that is stressed even a little bit, it takes a huge toll and causes lots of problems. -
[ 05-28-2010, 03:54 AM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
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hshbmom
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Neuropsych testing includes assessment of auditory memory (recalling things that were spoken to you) and processing. These are standard tests.
You could discuss the difficulty with processing in a noisy environment and ask the neuropsych if they evaluate this problem. A phone call would solve this question pretty fast.
A Lyme literate neuropsychologist is most beneficial to students who need to document cognitive difficulties to obtain special accommodations and services from school, and for those who need documentation to support a disability claim.
A non-Lyme literate neuropsychologist can test and document some of your cognitive deficits, but, because they are unaware of the extent and variety of problems associated with Lyme disease, the testing and documentation will be less than thorough. Those with Lyme disease need thorough, optimal documentation.
I hope Geneal sees this post. She can give you a better answer; she's a speech pathologist. You may want to edit the title of your post and add Geneal's name so she'll see it.
You can edit your title or post by clicking on the pencil & notepad icon to the right of the (purple) date of your post at the top of your first post.
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A Lyme literate neuropsychologist is most beneficial to students who need to document cognitive difficulties to obtain special accommodations and services from school, and for those who need documentation to support a disability claim.
"Lyme Disease" means little to nothing to school districts. They just don't get it. A neuropsych eval conducted by a skilled psychologist gives school districts a lot of concrete information that can be translated into accommodations/modifications for kids.
-------------------- You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
---Eleanor Roosevelt Posts: 748 | From somewhere | Registered: May 2010
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