Hyper-reflexia in a 5 year old

[momwithquestions]

My son was diagnosed at 3 years old with Hyper-reflexia.  He had a twitch in his left leg at birth and the Dr said to wait until he was 2 years old and see if it was still there.  At 3 years old it moved to his right leg and into his right hand (occasionally).  He had an MRI done for brain and spine at 3 1/2 years old and it came back ok.  They did a sleep study due to night terrors and trouble sleeping.  Came back normal.  He was put in physical therapy as his legs were not strong enough for him to stand for very long and he was having a lot of the twitches and falling when he was walking/running.  He was also refered to a speech therapist as I was told his speech is slurred.  He was getting better and then all of a sudden the twitches came back again this time with muscle cramping and his right leg began to turn inwards.  He was diagnosed with very flat feet and they said that could cause his leg/foot to turn inwards causing him to fall.  Went back to Neurology and the hyper-reflexia in his right leg (the leg turning inwards) has gotten worse instead of better.  He is scheduled for an EEG to rule out seizures but he had an EEG during his sleep study and it was normal (1 year ago).  At 5 years old he still has frequent problems with the hyper-reflexia, behavioral changes, legs get weaker if he doesn't stay active, hard time going to sleep and staying asleep, still has infant reflexs if you try to move him or put him down while holding him.  Still no cause found for any of this.  He was born at 36 wks weighing 7 lbs.  I was taking terbutiline by pump for 3 wks prior to his birth, was given Mag to try to stop labor at 32 wks.  He is currently only on albuterol which he hasn't needed for a year and Zyrtec which he hasn't taken for 3 months.

[momwithquestions]

forgot to mention he also had blood tests ....CK, lactate, amnio acid and urine organic acids and all came back ok.

[momwithquestions]

hi, thanks for responding.  He did cry after a few seconds and didn't require any resuscitation.  Apgar scores were within normal range is what i remember them saying.  His main problem at birth was not being able to keep his body temp up and his sugar levels kept dropping so he has to be monitored a lot for 48 hrs and then they determined it would be ok to send him home with me but with a home nurse.  He ended up with the flu several times, strepthroat at 18 months, asthma, sleep apnea, allergies, horrible reflux but he walked by 9 months and developed as he should but he would have the twitches and fall.  He was never a good sleeper and was hard to calm down.  Now behavorial problems are severe some days.  Not sure what all problems he is having as he tries to hide things but he did say the other day that he thinks he passed out, he said he felt lightheaded and then next thing he knew he was in the chair but doesn't remember falling in it.  He also has complained about headaches.  

[JainMD]

Hi,
I am sorry that you and your family have to go through all this.
I have some questions.
Did your son cry immediately after birth?
Did he require any form of resuscitation at birth? What was his Apgar score?
I think what he has got is static encephalopathy.
His symptoms does not seem improve nor does he seem to have more symptom progression.
I think physiotherapy with stimulation programme for his motor skills development will help him.
Keep me informed.
I would be interested to know about his progress.
Bye.