EMG Patterns
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September 3, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Curious to know what the typical emg patterns look like for CIDP. My Dr. has not supplied me with a report but I know that the bar that I believe measures “action potentials” was going up and down in a very large pattern, taking up all the available space. The Dr. said a normal pattern would have shown the zigzag being much smaller, moving up and down just 1.5 to 2″ instead of 5-6″ like mine. Anyone?
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September 3, 2011 at 9:08 pm
There are a lot of results in an EMG. It is a diagnostic tool to help identify what is going on. The big thing is how aggressive the Dr.s are going to be with treatment.
CIDP is a polyneuropathy, it happens in a lot of places. Some places might be worse than others for some, but yield different results in others. The diagnosis can still be the same. In some the hands suffer, and in others it is the feet. Some have sensory loss and others show more muscular losses.
Keep track of your results and compare them to the next one they do on you. That will show whether you are making headway or if the CIDP is gaining on you. In this funky disease, the diagnosis can be the same for different results, If the treatment matches the diagnosis, you could see results.
Pay attention to those results, but don’t get overly hung up on whether it is a 2 or a 10. Getting better is the key.
By the way, my spinal fluid proteins were a 55. The upper range of “normal” is 45 or 46. Some people with GBS or CIDP have scored in the hundreds. I was just barely “abnormal”. Now, years later, many of those high scorers are doing better and I am on disability. Go figure.
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