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What Do Intermittent Loss Of Tone In Lower Limbs And Arm Popping Indicate?
Question: When I am trying to use the keyboard or poking on the screen, my arms are spastically dropping down on the keyboard asnd popping back up. Sometimes when I am standing, my knees stop holding my up. I am standing up just find and the next half a moment my buttocks hit my heels and my coccyx hits the concreate. Any clue?
Brief Answer:
Need more information
Detailed Answer:
Hi cxxxxxn81, thanks for asking from HCM.
I can understand your concern. You are having intermittent episodes of spasticity in upper limbs, sudden loss of tone in lower limbs and frequent fall. It means you are experiencing some neuromuscular disease manifesting as change in tone in all limbs and balance difficulty. It can be due to following organs
- Spinal cord - Cervical spinal cord can affect all 4 limbs. Its involvement known as myelopathy can cause change in tone.
- Peripheral nerve disease - It can cause weakness of limb muscles followed by fatigue and drooping.
- Brainstem - Brainstem disease can manifest just like spinal cord. But it has other major nerves and centres in body like facial muscles/cardiac and respiratory which are spared in you. So it is less likely.
- Muscular - Limb muscle involvement due to myopathy/myositis can cause fatigue and weakness of all limbs.
To differentiate between these systems, I need more information about you. I have few questions for you. Please let me know the answers to help you
- What is the total duration?
- Is there any history of pain, radiation of pain from neck to upper limbs?
- Is there any history of diabetes, chronic alcohol intake, chronic drug intake, past history of nerve disease?
- Any history of thinning of limb muscles, weight loss?
- Is there any history of muscular pain, fever?
- Did you get any investigations done like MRI cervical spine or brain, nerve conduction velocity, electromyography? If yes, let me know.
Hope you will understand my point. If any doubt, do let me know.
Thanks. Take care.
Need more information
Detailed Answer:
Hi cxxxxxn81, thanks for asking from HCM.
I can understand your concern. You are having intermittent episodes of spasticity in upper limbs, sudden loss of tone in lower limbs and frequent fall. It means you are experiencing some neuromuscular disease manifesting as change in tone in all limbs and balance difficulty. It can be due to following organs
- Spinal cord - Cervical spinal cord can affect all 4 limbs. Its involvement known as myelopathy can cause change in tone.
- Peripheral nerve disease - It can cause weakness of limb muscles followed by fatigue and drooping.
- Brainstem - Brainstem disease can manifest just like spinal cord. But it has other major nerves and centres in body like facial muscles/cardiac and respiratory which are spared in you. So it is less likely.
- Muscular - Limb muscle involvement due to myopathy/myositis can cause fatigue and weakness of all limbs.
To differentiate between these systems, I need more information about you. I have few questions for you. Please let me know the answers to help you
- What is the total duration?
- Is there any history of pain, radiation of pain from neck to upper limbs?
- Is there any history of diabetes, chronic alcohol intake, chronic drug intake, past history of nerve disease?
- Any history of thinning of limb muscles, weight loss?
- Is there any history of muscular pain, fever?
- Did you get any investigations done like MRI cervical spine or brain, nerve conduction velocity, electromyography? If yes, let me know.
Hope you will understand my point. If any doubt, do let me know.
Thanks. Take care.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Nagamani Ng
Answered by
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