Comments on: Autonomic Dysreflexia – Hyperreflexia

By: Graham

Graham — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:23:30 +0000

Hi uuganaa, welcome to the Mad Spaz Club website.

By: uuganaa

uuganaa — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:05:58 +0000

Hi everybody, I,m from Mongolia. My English is not good. My spine level is T9

By: ac

ac — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:22:49 +0000

HI daniel, read your comment and I agree with Graham, having an inability to completely feel is a very poor excuse for not treating your hip. Finding the reason for your raised BP is important to your well being. Good luck with all your investigations

By: Graham

Graham — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:33:30 +0000

Hi daniel, what is your level of injury? A broken hip unmended over time could increasingly cause autonomic dysreflexia. Any broken bones, deep cuts, etc should be treated like they would in any person. I’d be pushing to have that hip fixed, if for nothing more than a %25 improvement it would be worth it. Just because you can’t “feel it” is not reason enough for them to ignore.

A colonoscopy sounds like a good idea. Our body often finds a way to tell us what’s wrong. Rule things out one by one, ingrown toenails, ultrasound kidneys/bladder, abdominal xrays and so on, explore all the causes we listed here. I just noticed, one not on the list, if you use a wheelchair make sure you are not sitting on your testicles all day, it can cause AD. I’ll add it to our list.

By: daniel wright

daniel wright — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:07:49 +0000

I have a chronic AD problem which has become life threatening; my blood pressure is spending too much time extremely elevated. 185/115 Is not uncommon. Unfortunately the folks at the Tampa VAMC have done little to track down the cause. I think it may bowel related and am considering a colostomy, I also experience extremely high BP during bowel care. I’ve been forced to sleep on my sides at night because my pressure is slightly better although it still gets elevated seemingly without cause. What complicates matters is I don’t sweat when AD, I can tell when it’s my bladder by a slight flashing in my head, but unless my pressure reaches 220/125 and I get a headache I’m clueless when it’s elevated. As a result I spend hours with my diastolic over 100. I have a broken hip, which they will not replace, but I can honestly say that it results in only 25-35% of my AD problems. I need to find a doctor and/or that specializes in finding the cause of my AD, any suggestions?

By: Graham

Graham — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:17:40 +0000

Thanks BobS, people often ask me what tetraplegia is. I answer quadriplegia. They say no, I know what quadriplegia means but what is tetraplegia? They are the same thing. Tetra is greek while quadra latin, both mean four (4). Plegia is also greek meaning paralysis. The term tetraplegia is most common in Europe.

I can see why quadra might be seen as the odd one out and in 1991 a review of the American Spinal Cord Injury Classification system suggested tetra be used for global uniformity but it’s been slow to be adopted. In America, Asia, Australia and so on quadriplegia is most common. Penta is also greek meaning five, a pentaplegic is a person who has paralysis in all four limbs and the neck or head.

If I state I have plegia in my legs people step back, “You got what?!” like I’m some infectious hazchem spill on wheels. I’m a tetraplegic usually brings a blank deer in the headlights stare, like they have an idea but feel bad not knowing exactly what it means. I’m a quadriplegic and they all say ohhhhh right. I wonder if the reverse happens in Europe.

By: BobS

BobS — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:47:29 +0000

Graham..Thx muchly for the article. I’m a partial Tetraplegic (I’m glad to see the term tetra finally coming in) C3-7. In rehab I ended up on a plymph too many times and would get wheeled back to my room. I used to pass out with mine. The neat thing is that I get 15 – 30 seconds notice before passing out… enough time to warn my attendant. Once I woke up with 2 Physitrists, 4 Nurses and a couple Physio’s peering down at me. How’s that for getting attention! It was the only time I could sweat.

Your elevated BP figure is bang on. As time has worn on the frequency and severity have decreased, but I still get a milder form often with UTI and exercise. Enough of my ramblings. Your article was greatly needed and fills a knowledge gap for many of us.

In your funny Aussi terms “Good on Ya, Mate” Cheers, BobS