Slight Delay in Nerve Conduction Velocity. What's it mean?

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Reedy22

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Saw the neuro who performed an EMG/NCV and all he said was he needed a day to look over the results, but did tell me that there was a slight delay in nerve conduction velocity. What does this mean? Is this something that points towards or away from ALS? Or is it not indicative either way?

Thank you for your time.
 
Away. When the full report is ready make sure it is explained to you but it is good news if you were worried about ALS
 
Away. When the full report is ready make sure it is explained to you but it is good news if you were worried about ALS

So it means I do have something, but it's not ALS?
 
If it's too much to ask please say so but would you mind explaining to me why it points away and what a delay in NCV even means? I want to better understand as it would go a long way towards bettering my mental state but I can't seem to find any good explanations on the web.
 
Reedy, if that's all your neurologist said after an EMG, then you've got no worries. When the neurologist gets worried about denervation, then serious things might be going on.

You're 18, right? Don't sweat ALS. It's an old person's disease.

To diagnose ALS, a whole lot of tests need to rule out a whole lot of other diseases. It's a diagnosis of exclusion.

Reedy, what makes you think you might have ALS?
 
Atsugi,

Hello again I believe you were one of the members of great help to me about a year ago, when I came on here with concerns about a weak left leg, some slight limping, and some sensory symptoms. You told me to have my back checked out, I did. My MRI was clean, no impingements. Doc said my back looks great. The limp persists, though I can't say that it has progressed much, if at all.

My twitching continues, albeit at a decreased rate. But other troubles have arose in my left hand, and I have an odd sensation in the left side of my tongue, that is now accompanied by fascics. (Yes, the real kind, at rest). Given the things they say about true tongue fascics, you may understand my concern. Admittedly, I am an anxious person. My symptoms make me feel that way.

I have a question for you... Now that back problems have been more or less ruled out, is there any chance my limp is psychosomatic? Reason being... Like I said it hasn't progressed much, in about a year. I can hop up the stairs on this one bad leg. That is one of the many reasons I can't make sense of my case. My reflexes checked out with the neuro, other than him not being able to elicit a left foot plantar response, though he said that's not necessarily worrisome. My leg does feel less strong than my right. I have to push off harder to walk with a degree of normality.

I'm rambling now... Thank you for your time. After reading your responses to some of the others on this forum, and you taking the time to answer me all that time ago, I respect your opinion and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
 
Nikki J, it seems you've removed my thread regarding fasciculations of the tongue and their clinical significance. Forgive me for creating a separate thread. You're probably the only one who saw that thread so would you mind addressing that?

For those who didn't see it, my question was this...

Are fasciculations of the tongue, the real kind (not the quivering you see when it is protruded) always malignant? I've read that in some medical literature. One Dr. Geraci stated that benign fascics never affect the tongue. Another ALS Doc, I beleive his name was Prioli or something similar said he doesn't believe in benign fascics of the tongue. However, I've heard of numerous neuros refuting that claim. And I know many BFS'ers that would disagree as well. But many of them don't specify whether the "fascics" they're talking about are seen when they're protruding their tongue, or when at rest. So I want to be specific in my wording of the question.

Do fasciculations of the tongue while at rest on the floor of the mouth always mean something sinister is to blame? And if not, is it clinically significant that I can provoke these fascics with movement of the tongue, specifically sticking it out and letting it return to a resting position. When doing this, I can see the tongue clearly flickering in a couple of spots for about 4-5 seconds after letting my tongue return to a resting position.

Highly respectable Dr.'s have made claims that are very scary to someone like me that is experiencing real fasciculations of the tongue. I would just like to know if, in your experience, these claims are outdated. As I said, many BFS'ers say these Dr.'s are wrong, but they don't specify whether their fascics are seen at rest, and the ones that do specify, usually admit they saw them only while sticking out there tongue.

Thanks and God bless
 
Not Atsugi. He will be along shortly I am sure. Your limp could even be a bad habit. Ages ago before ALS I had a fractured ankle. Even after I was better I had to concentrate hard not to limp from habit. And if you can hop up stairs I promise that is not ALS! Aside from your age your emg etc..

Tongue what "they" say. There is a very unfortunate quote about tongue fasciculations never being benign. As in many cases it was taken out of context. That doctor one of the world's leading ALS specialists has clarified. He said he has never seen benign tongue fasciculations in a patient already diagnosed with ALS but of course in the general population benign tongue fasciculations happen just like they do in other muscles and should not be concerning
 
Nikki J, would you mind showing me where he clarified this quote? That's something the people on the BFS website need to see because it's terribly misleading. I know many people that have gone just about mad because of that quote. Also, I posted anther reply detailing my questions about the tongue fascics that I personally am experiencing. Could you approve that? Sorry again for starting another thread about it, that's why I made that second reply in this one.
 
I saw a quote of an email reply on another site. I do not remember where. But someone had emailed Dr Turner at Oxford who is one often cited. And yes the comment they are benign included at rest. Since you have been on the bfs site you know it is fairly common and clearly these people do not have ALS after all this time no one posting on the bfs site is new. It has been many months since the admin has been there to approve new members
Any further questions need to remain on this thread. It is easier for you to type it here as you should have to begin with than for us PALS to hop from thread to thread
 
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Reedy, you don't have ALS. Now, I want you to look at Nikki's profile for a moment.

While we're happy to help those who have ALS or those who might have ALS, we need to ask you to move along instead of asking her to do work for you.
 
Nikki J, after a quick google search I found this email from Dr. Turner. Wow, I'm relieved. There was another, Dr. Anthony Geraci who stated that the only true cause of tongue fasciculations was ALS. I cannot believe an experienced neuro with his credentials would say that. Because even if benign tongue fascics weren't possible (I now know that they are), that statement still wouldn't be true. There are other causes, not many, but there are others. I wonder what brought him to that conclusion... Nikki thank you for your help.

Atsugi (Mike, right?), thank you for responding. I admit with embarrassment that asking Nikki (and other members) to do anything more than they're already doing for us anxious folks is shameful. But please, don't mistake that for ungratefulness. I am very thankful for the people who spend their limited time helping people like me, despite the headaches and frustration I know that we cause. It is easy for me to forget that it is difficult for these wonderful people to respond to our concerns, and I will try to be more considerate in that regard.

I wish I could tell you both that this is the end of my ALS fear. Tonight is a good night, you have both helped tremendously, but I can't say with certainty my fear won't rage again soon. That's the nature of this anxiety beast. I know I'll re-convince myself at some point that my symptoms have to be ALS. I'm just being honest. But when that happens, I'll do my best to refrain from posting here, I will try. And when it gets bad enough, and I feel I just have to have a question answered, I hope that you will forgive me.

With sincere gratitude,

- AP
 
You're still here. Aren't you, Reedy? You should be working on your problem instead of looking at the ALS website. --Mike
 
"...I can't say with certainty my fear won't rage again soon. That's the nature of this anxiety beast. I know I'll re-convince myself at some point that my symptoms have to be ALS."

You don't have ALS. Go see your PCP and talk to him about your uncontrolled health anxiety. He can prescribe drugs that may help you; we can't.
(Please don't reply to this...)
 
Hello, I know I said I wouldn't post here anymore but I saw the Neuro today and wanted to update.

He said my EMG was normal, the NCV showed conduction delays in the left hand and left lower leg (the two areas im having symptoms). He did a quick little run through to see if he could find the cause of the conduction delays. He noted weakness of dorsiflexion in left ankle. He had a blood test ordered but didn't tell me what for, so I asked at the front desk. She said it was for sensorimotor polyneuropathy. Presumably for antibodies suggesting an autoimmune cause?

He said he would shoot me up with a steroid in the leg once he got the blood test results back. Not sure why he needs to wait! Im limping around pretty bad now. Im a little worried about the mention of sensorimotor polyneuropathy because I know ALS can sometimes be mistaken for that.

Anyone just wanted to give an update on the results. Will come back to post what it ends up being, in case my situation is relevant to anyone else in a similar position.
 
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