Myotonia vs. Spasticity

Hi!

Is there any chance that myotonia could be mistaken for spasticity? The last couple people I have seen think my muscle problem is spasticity (cause unknown) because my gait is very much like spastic cerebral palsy (which I don’t have). But so much so, that some of the last medical people I’ve seen (one neuro and one physical therapist) thought I had CP and just wasn’t mentioning it, and that something else was going on. I am hyperreflexix, but no clonus. I do get something that mimics clonus when certain tensions are put on my body. For example, I would do an upper body weight machine in therapy, with my feet flat on the floor, but the exertion on my upper body (although the weights weren’t much at all) would make my foot and leg jump stemming from the ankle. The therapist said it looked like clonus, but the test has yet to bring it out. Although no one has tested my reflexes on follow-up visits or anything in quite awhile, even though things have been progressing. The EMG I had years ago was skewed by the massive disc herniation I had at the time, but what I’ve found, the abnormalities did show that it was causing an issue. For example, the volitional MUAPs were polyphasic for some muscles, and reduced recruitment, but insertion, amplitude and duration were normal. The last neuro I saw said that it would be hard now to gather much information from a current EMG because my nerves were compressed 90% on one side and 60% on the other for over a year. They have ruled that out as my problem, however, because of the hyperreflexia and not hyporeflexia.

I just wonder, because the more I research things that I struggle with, or that other females on my mom’s side of the family struggle with, I keep getting led back to myotonic dystrophy. Unfortunately, the genetic test panel didn’t include that… I found out and was too timid to request the doctor to include that because of the problems I have had with doctors over the years. Now I wish I had sucked it up and asked. When I grasp or carry things, my hands tend to cramp and lock up. For example, if I carry something down to the dumpster, it takes my hand awhile to release and open up again. Or if I sit at a desk and use a mouse, all the muscles in my arm lock up and make it hard to control it. I guess this could be the spasticity. I’ve yet to get a whole lot of explanation about it, and most of the information I find it either too simple of an explanation, or too over my head. Mostly, I find that both are delayed muscle relaxation. However, they have different physiological causes. I did look through some old notes I had from years ago, and I had good research with klonopin. So much so that I kept falling, but the therapist told me that’s because once the muscles relax, the weakness becomes a problem. I’m on baclofen now, but the results aren’t much. It cuts down on some of the muscle pain from the tension that I get, but hasn’t really helped my hands or functionality much.

When I walk, it’s like walking against rubber bands. It feels like my hamstrings catch in the motion of walking, and it makes me have a jerk to my walk. If I use my arms, it’s as if the muscles pull too hard and then don’t want to chill out after I’m done what I’m doing.

I’m not sure that any of these descriptions are helpful enough, but if anyone has any insight, I’d really appreciate it! On my own, I’m not getting very far…