Questions posted in the Neurology and Neurosurgery Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Question Title: hyperreflexic bladder + symptoms

Forum: Neurology Forum
Topic: Neurosurgery - General


Hello. I am posting as a follow up to a post I posted sometime back. I have recently undergone urological testing for problems with urgency/incontinence. The doctors have determined I have a hyperreflexic bladder (the bladder itself looked o.k., but the signals getting to bladder were off). I would like to know if this is more commmon with MS or with connective tissue disorders, as these are the diagnoses under question.

I have had negative MRIS of the brain and lumbar areas, negative neuro exams, but have had positve connective tissue bloodwork (autoimmune antibodies - although none specific to any one connective tissue disease).

I have been told that my symptoms are not really consistent with any one thing:

Extreme fatigue, ahcing pain in my extremities, aching in my jaw, aches in knees, bladder urgency and frequency, and periodic shooting pains that go from my foot all the way up to my arms and hands randomly.

Will the outcome of the bladder/urinary testing narrow this down any further? I've heard of the bladder problems with MS, but never with lupus. The doctor only said that the bladder problem was related to some sort of neuropathy - and that is something that CAN happen with lupus. I'm confused!

Char

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Bladder dysfunction from neurologic damage can occur with central nervous system lesions and peripheral nervous system lesions. In MS, the central nervous system is affected in that signals are not properly conducted along myelinated pathways. In diseases that produce neuropathy, the peripheral nervous system is affected. Lupus and other connective tissue diseases can produce neuropathy. MS is NOT a neuropathy, as it is defined as a central nervous system disease.

The most direct way to determine which pattern of bladder dysfunction fits what disease is for your doctors to decide, on the basis of the data at hand, whether the neurologic dysfunction is "upper motor neuron" (that is, central) versus "lower motor neuron" (that is, peripheral).

I hope this helps. CCF MD mdf.



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