Were those of you who had weakness diagnosed with Emg?

[shizzy]

Hi,

My husband is going through a strange situation & would really be appreciative if those of you with a Diagnose can tell me if you found out about your als diagnosis from an emg & how much of a supporting factor the emg is. (realizing there are many reasons for a bad emg) Has anyone been diagnosed with als with a clean emg? Can a nuero give a diagnosis with a clean emg?

Would anyone be willing to share briefly, your symptoms that led you to the Nuero & how much impact the emg had.

Many thanks to you

 

[Blubear]

Hi shizzy, Welcome to our forum, so sorry that you had to find your way here. My father has ALS and underwent a lot of different tests before he had the EMG. He first was only suppose to have the EMG on the lower legs, but when the doctor saw what he saw, he had my dad go back the next day to do the rest of his body. He was told that day that there was a system wide problem, and that it was ALS. I do know of people here who have had inconclusive EMG results in the beginning and are waiting to see how they progress further before getting a diagnosed of ALS. It was the EMG test that confirmed my dads final diagnosis. Hope that helps, and hope your husband doesnt have ALS, hopefully it is something else.
Hugs, Blu

 

[serenade]

Shizzy,
All of my many tests were all negative it was the emg that gave the diagnosed of ALS. Sorry that you have to be here. I hope he does not have ALS but we will be here for the both of you if he does.
Judy

 

[shizzy]

Dearest BluBear & Serenade,

How kind of you to reply in detail,

It has helped me. I am sorry you both or anyone need to be here & thank you for your caring words. As it seems the Emg is an important test, yet we are baffled by the lack of a diagnosis.

My husband is exibitting upper & Lower motor neuron symptoms but has has a clean emg.

Thank you

 

[Blubear]

Oh shizzy, this must be so frustrating for you! Although we need to be thankful at the moment for no diagnosis of ALS, it is so hard to know what to expect when you just dont know for sure what is going on. I know you can have a clean EMG and then later it can turn into ALS just based on what has happened to people here. Is the Neuro an ALS specialist? If your neuro doesn't seem to be able to get a firm diagnosis, I would find another doctor until you do find out what is going on. Not all Neuro's are the same, they study the same books, but they are just people, and people can make mistakes. Good luck, and please keep us posted!
Hugs, Blu

 

[Danijela]

An emg will pick up on lower motor neuron damage. Partner had inconclusive emg followed by 'dirty' one 6 weeks later. It is crucial that emg is performed by an experienced technician or consultant, thoroughly, using up to date equipment. I recall posts about antiquated equipment and difficulty in diagnosing. Pls see sticky about El Escorial criteria for ALS diagnosis. All the best.

 

[Just J]

Shizzy, my husband is exibitting upper & Lower motor neuron symptoms and has had a clean emg. We are seeing an ALS specialist (one of the best) and he was diagnosed last week with ALS.

 

[helpinhand]

Dear Shizzy,
My father-in-law actually had an EMG that was supposedly normal in Oct. of 09 by a local neurologist, when the neurosurgeon we were refered to saw dad in Nov. 09 he immediately got on the phone and arranged for us to have a more experienced lab do one at Duke University Hosp. because he knew something more than disc. compression was effecting dads weakness, surred speech, and hyper reactive reflexes so in Dec. 09 he had it done, We were then told by the Neurosurgeon he was referring us to the Duke ALS Clinic that is where we were told that the EMG that had been done at Duke showed abnormalities at all for levels from bulbar all the way down. So what I am saying is that I guess technique and experience is very important in performing this test your diagnosis and treatment depend on it, so I would seek the most reputable place to recieve the EMG. Good luck and God Bless

 

[shizzy]

Hi justJ,

Im sorry, it must be a terribly confusing time for you.

Is it possible, with a clean emg?

I hope theres proves to be a mistake.

HandIn,
TY for your advice. Yes, i have heard it is true, to be certain a reputable Dr is doing the Emg. My husband went to a MND/Als clinic. Surely, they know what they're doing. Surely being the Big factor!

 

[abbas child]

justJ, I am so sorry.

shizzy, I had a clean emg the first time it was checked at Hopkins. About a year and a half later it proved dirty. I agree with helpinhand about having a good test. While I think my first doctor was good and there wasn't enough progression for MND to show, the second doctor was head of the department and very obviously good. In our little city locally an ALS Clinic just began in March. I would not go there for the testing even though they have the clinic. They haven't seen enough ALS yet.

 

[joebing]

Abbas Child & JustJ,

May I ask if you or your husband had predominately upper motor symptoms, that being the reason for the clean emg initially?

Thx

 

[Just J]

Joebing, in our case I think my husbands progression has been relatively slow to moderate until 10 months ago and we had been seeing different doctors trying to get answers. Finally we had an appointment with top ALS doctor who was the only doctor who said that Mike was exhibiting upper and lower signs. His progression for last 10 months has been quite rapid (comparatively speaking) but was slow for 3 yrs previous. One of my main concerns from our recent appointment was that he had a first time breathing test....FVC reading was below 70%. Who knows, could have been that way for a while but we will have a follow up in August and they'll do the test again along with some others for comparative purposes. So we'll get a better idea then of where he is with this illness.

 

[abbas child]

My first problem was in one foot/leg, then the other, and from there worked upward. Definitely lower motor in the beginning, but upper was present at the time of the second emg.

 

[joebing]

JustJ & Abbaschild,

Im sorry for your situation. You are extremely considerate to take the time to answer.

Abbaschild, may I ask what your symptoms were? Was it a footdrop? You say your foot/leg? Initially, what was the symptom?

I cant understand why the emg did not pick up lower motor damage?
Did your Dr have an explanation? How could there not be enough progression for MND to be found if it was predominately lower motor? Hopkins, especially, its supposed to be one of the best, no?
How quickly did your symptoms progress?

Thx.......Im asking because it seems everyone here says Clean Emg, No als........I have a footdrop, clean Emg & trying to gather more info.

Again, JustJ & Abbaschild, Thank you, I appreciate your time.

 

[abbas child]

Footdrop was my first problem, but progression was slow. It was only in the one leg at the time of my first emg. Many things can cause isolated weakness.