toby1969
Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2015
- Messages
- 10
- Reason
- Other
- Country
- US
- State
- Texas
- City
- San Antonio
Hello ,
Sorry for the long post - I am terrified to even be writing in this forum. I noticed a "perceived weakness" in my Right bicep(dominant) in the start of April. There has been some wasting/ stretch marks under the skin when pulled a little that my wife could see as well so I headed off to the doc. I have HAshimotos thyroid(10+years now) and it is currently 4.78 TSH (i'm low) working on that as I know it can cause weakness and fatigue which i had but is correcting as my levels normalize, the bicep however has remained the same. I got lots of blood work done which showed an elevated CK (480) , maybe due to the hashi's. I have also had some fasticulations all over - probably BFS.
Anyway I met with a neurologist last week for prelim visit. He did all the usual office strength tests and could find nothing. We discussed the bicep and he said since he didn't know me so he couldn't tell if it had gotten considerably smaller or not. Fair enough. He set me up for MRI with and without contrast of the brain and c-spine this past monday. On wednesday I went in for my Upper NCV/EMG. This is where it gets a little weird and I'm freaking out - my anxiety is so bad right now that my doc has called in a prescript for Zoloft (haven't taken yet).
I arrive on Wednesday for my 10:30 appt. They bring me back to the testing room and the tech performs the first part of the test NCV. From what I saw all was normal-pass. I asked if the results from MRI were back yet and he said no but he'll have the nurse get them. He left saying the doc would be in shortly. I stepped out to the bathroom about five minutes later and I could hear the doc in with another patient. I came out of the bathroom and went back to the room. I heard the doc say goodbye to the other patient and then he went down the hall for like 1 minute max. He then came into the room looking at my MRI papers - he said "wow this is a good looking brain" etc.etc. I promptly said " so no ms or anything?" "no looks good - okay lets get started" -- I then asked about my c-spine as he prepped me for the EMG -" oh looks good no issues" he then began the test on my right arm - deltoid=fine. tricep=fine. forearm=fine. hands= fine. Bicep = FAIL. he poked several times searching for signal or something. At one point he said "push against my hand" I did - I saw the waves go up - he said push harder they went higher -- he said give it all you got and the waves hit the top and bottom of the machine. He didn't say anything but moved over to my left arm and started. All was good. So at the end I ask him, " so does this FAILED bicep possibly mean ALS?" He said " well it falls in the differential but we've got to just wait - time will tell" HERE"S the WIERD PART - He said sometimes a c-spine herniation can cause me to FAIL the EMG as a compressed nerve at C5_C6 could cause bicep weakness (not sure about the wasting) but he glanced at my MRI pics and said," Yeah... the c-spine looks good - so i dont know" -- Im totally freaking at this point and say well what else could cause that? he mentions random myophty etc.etc. I asked what now? he said see you back on monday for the LOWER NCV/EMG and we'll go from there.. he hands me the MRI report, shakes my hand, and quickly leaves - uggh.
I drive home totally freaked. I get home and look at the report. The radiologist report states: #1 at c4-c5 flattening of the thecal sac with mild foramina narrowing #2 at c5-c6 a 3.0mm right parasagital disc herniation flattens the theca sac with mild narrowing of the right neuroforamen #3 at c6-c7 a subligmntous disc herniation flattens the theca sac with mild narrowing of the left neuroforamen. -- What the heck? he said the c-spine looked good? - so my guess is he didn't read the report!
THE QUESTION: Could these herniated discs cause only my bicep to fail EMG due to nerve compression? Basically would nerve compression at c5-c6 mimic the same result as weak bicep from ALS? I am going back monday for my lowers but fear I will fail it too due to the fact that I am having some lower disc issues again on my left side --- I should also mention i had a microdiscetomy of my l5s1 in march - it affected my right leg - causing calf wasting, outside foot pain and three numb toes - it has healed some but not completely - total freaked out - I am driving my wife nuts - please help with any advice --
Best, Toby
Sorry for the long post - I am terrified to even be writing in this forum. I noticed a "perceived weakness" in my Right bicep(dominant) in the start of April. There has been some wasting/ stretch marks under the skin when pulled a little that my wife could see as well so I headed off to the doc. I have HAshimotos thyroid(10+years now) and it is currently 4.78 TSH (i'm low) working on that as I know it can cause weakness and fatigue which i had but is correcting as my levels normalize, the bicep however has remained the same. I got lots of blood work done which showed an elevated CK (480) , maybe due to the hashi's. I have also had some fasticulations all over - probably BFS.
Anyway I met with a neurologist last week for prelim visit. He did all the usual office strength tests and could find nothing. We discussed the bicep and he said since he didn't know me so he couldn't tell if it had gotten considerably smaller or not. Fair enough. He set me up for MRI with and without contrast of the brain and c-spine this past monday. On wednesday I went in for my Upper NCV/EMG. This is where it gets a little weird and I'm freaking out - my anxiety is so bad right now that my doc has called in a prescript for Zoloft (haven't taken yet).
I arrive on Wednesday for my 10:30 appt. They bring me back to the testing room and the tech performs the first part of the test NCV. From what I saw all was normal-pass. I asked if the results from MRI were back yet and he said no but he'll have the nurse get them. He left saying the doc would be in shortly. I stepped out to the bathroom about five minutes later and I could hear the doc in with another patient. I came out of the bathroom and went back to the room. I heard the doc say goodbye to the other patient and then he went down the hall for like 1 minute max. He then came into the room looking at my MRI papers - he said "wow this is a good looking brain" etc.etc. I promptly said " so no ms or anything?" "no looks good - okay lets get started" -- I then asked about my c-spine as he prepped me for the EMG -" oh looks good no issues" he then began the test on my right arm - deltoid=fine. tricep=fine. forearm=fine. hands= fine. Bicep = FAIL. he poked several times searching for signal or something. At one point he said "push against my hand" I did - I saw the waves go up - he said push harder they went higher -- he said give it all you got and the waves hit the top and bottom of the machine. He didn't say anything but moved over to my left arm and started. All was good. So at the end I ask him, " so does this FAILED bicep possibly mean ALS?" He said " well it falls in the differential but we've got to just wait - time will tell" HERE"S the WIERD PART - He said sometimes a c-spine herniation can cause me to FAIL the EMG as a compressed nerve at C5_C6 could cause bicep weakness (not sure about the wasting) but he glanced at my MRI pics and said," Yeah... the c-spine looks good - so i dont know" -- Im totally freaking at this point and say well what else could cause that? he mentions random myophty etc.etc. I asked what now? he said see you back on monday for the LOWER NCV/EMG and we'll go from there.. he hands me the MRI report, shakes my hand, and quickly leaves - uggh.
I drive home totally freaked. I get home and look at the report. The radiologist report states: #1 at c4-c5 flattening of the thecal sac with mild foramina narrowing #2 at c5-c6 a 3.0mm right parasagital disc herniation flattens the theca sac with mild narrowing of the right neuroforamen #3 at c6-c7 a subligmntous disc herniation flattens the theca sac with mild narrowing of the left neuroforamen. -- What the heck? he said the c-spine looked good? - so my guess is he didn't read the report!
THE QUESTION: Could these herniated discs cause only my bicep to fail EMG due to nerve compression? Basically would nerve compression at c5-c6 mimic the same result as weak bicep from ALS? I am going back monday for my lowers but fear I will fail it too due to the fact that I am having some lower disc issues again on my left side --- I should also mention i had a microdiscetomy of my l5s1 in march - it affected my right leg - causing calf wasting, outside foot pain and three numb toes - it has healed some but not completely - total freaked out - I am driving my wife nuts - please help with any advice --
Best, Toby