Hi Alton, They did seem to cover most of the spasticity (banding) problems in the NINDS information. I could relate to quite a bit of it.
I know what you mean about the knee coming up to try and hit the chin except it happens to me when lying on my side in bed. Then the top knee jerks up to my chest. It does it several times then eventually settles down until the next night. It has lessened in frequency lately so am keeping my fingers crossed. The worse part of the spasticity for me is the tone you mentioned. I have it continuously in my right buttock. Every day there is a range of pain from a tightness/stiffness with some pain to very painful -- depending on how active I am. It plays havoc on my ability to sit. I have a variety of pillows, blankets, cushions, etc., to sit on but I spend most of my day pacing or eventually lying down. Another bad one for me is the tight feeling around my ankles. It feels like a giant is doing his laundry and is wringing out his clothes! :-) Then last but not least are the muscle cramps. That is some pain when the calves and backs of the upper leg go into spasms. I still can't figure out why, when I curl my toes down on my left foot, I feel a pull/cramp at the very top of that leg. I guess it is the hamstring. My nerves seem to be sending incorrect messages to various parts of my body. When they did the evoked potentials tests, my legs jerked when they had the electrical current going from my brain to my right wrist. That was some experience. Also, I had a buzz in my right ankle when they had my left one hooked up. Does anyone have an explanation for that phenomenon? Thanks for the extra information re: spasticity, tone, etc. I just wish I could take some of the medication as it does wear me down every day. Regards. Louise ----- Original Message ----- From: Alton Ryder To: TMIC list Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 2:40 PM Subject: [TMIC] spasticity One of the notes on bandiing included this statement "Spasticity is a condition in which certain muscles are continuously contracted. This contraction causes stiffness or tightness of the muscles . . ." This is one end of the spectrum of spasticity, Involuntary contraction of one or more muscles is the underlying process. These contractions may be brief, lasting only an instance, or longer, even forever. When the duration is for minutes or hours, the spasticity manifests as excess tone. I had both brief and day-long contractions. One symptom was a knee jerk where my knee would suddenly try to meet my chin , often slamming into the underside of a table. More troublesome was excess tone in my lower right leg, pulling the heel to the side. Eventually the ankle distortion put me into a wheelchair. Alton, coming up to my tenth anniversary
