Clear EMG.

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banksm

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I am still under the neuro. He says now that I have not got GBS. My EMG in February was clear. I have right sided weakness now. He is scheduling further MRI s and a lumbar picture. Does clear EMG mean no ALS? I know you get asked this a lot but I am still unclear. Forgive me. Worried.
 
Sorry the gbs diag did not pan out. The short answer is yes, clear EMG = no ALS
You will find people who say they initially had clear EMG. Think various reasons for that 1 incompetent EMG physician
2 they were bulbar which is very tricky to differentiate on EMG the extremities and torso are easier to interpret
3 they are upper motor dominant and essentially had pls that quickly progressed to ALS
What does that mean to you? If you have a competent neuro, if you have extremity/ torso symptoms and you do not have a clinical exam that is positive for upper motor neuron findings I would look elsewhere. What is your neuro telling you it might be?
 
Thanks a lot for your reply. He is keeping quiet but he mentioned lack of arm swing on the right. Minute he said. I dont have a tremor but I looked up these symptoms and could be parkinsons. I have trunk tightness/weakness. I am only 40 so young for it. I am seriously worried as I have known there was something very wrong since October but have struggled to be believed but I think the symptoms are beginning to be more noticeable to the neuro. This is the 5 th time I have seen him. I have hoped that could be fibro or m.e but I have real motor symptoms- diaphragm spasms, incomplete yawn, very weak and it is becoming more obvious that i am getting weaker on the right side. Scared as we were about to adopt and now I am worried that I won't be there for my four year old. Thank you again for taking time to respond.
 
I do have to say that I had 4 clear EMGs and a probable diagnosis before I had the first Dirty EMG And the definitive diagnosis.But I had weakness, spasms, Twitches, and atrophy. My neurologist did asked me if I was angry that he hadn't told me in 2009. I told him I wasn't, since there was no treatment and I appreciated them waiting to tell me till he was 100% absolute sure.
 
This is the tricky thing. It says on sticky that clear emg means no ALS and then there seem to be the exceptions.
 
As Nikki pointed out, the exceptions are incredibly rare. Do you really think your neuro is not competent to do an EMG? Get a new neuro. Does your neuro think you have bulbar signs? No. Does he see UMN signs pointing to PLS? No. You don't meet any of the exceptions. Clean EMG = no ALS.

In the past, you said, "Hey. If this isn't ALS, I won't need help. I will be ecstatic!" It isn't ALS. Why aren't you ecstatic?
 
Have you browsed the neurotalk si te? There are multiple forums there for assorted neuro conditions. You might find posts that match your symptoms if you poke around there a bit. Good luck
 
Thanks Nicki. Will take a look. :)
 
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