Mild GBS without elevated protein and normal EMG

Dear Andy:

You can have false negatives with a lumbar puncture with mild cases of GBS. Sometimes the elevated protein can be delayed several days after symptoms occur.

A normal EMG however, may prove that you do not have GBS. Even mild cases of GBS will show slower nerve velocity. There are many other causes of polyneuropathy including brain disorders.

I wish you luck Andy. (I hope you can find what is wrong with you.

Lee

hi andy, i too had a normal csf protein count, 3 out of 4 times, over the past 10 months. but unlike you all 7 of my emg/ncv test were abnormal in some ways, no f waves detected and so forth. i have had 4 paralysis events since aug 05 and the drs still can not make a dx, some think since i had a normal protein count it can’t be gbs, but i have found research that states 10% of pts with gbs have a normal csf protein count. don’t fret over the tests results, tests aren’t always perfect. there are mild cases and hard hit cases, gbs is gbs no matter how mild or hard hit. ever since my first event, i haven’t been able to feel hot/cold or alot of painful stimuli on my skin, my sensory nerves are shot, but the emg, ncv and emt tests don’t necessarily show that all the time, it just depends on where the tech puts the probes and electrodes and such-they aren’t perfect-they are humans and make mistakes also. take it easy.:)

hi andy & welcome,

have you had an mri of spine & brain to rule on ms? take care. be well.

gene gbs 8-99
in numbers there is strength

My spinal tap was negative for elevated protein and my first EEG didn’t show anything either.

My spinal tap wasn’t done until 3 weeks after onset of GBS.

Because the first EEG was done on areas of my body which were not yet having problems, nothing showed up.

So, you can have negative results on both kinds of tests and still have GBS.

Whatever it is, I do hope you”ll find out soon.

Best wishes,

Suzanne

[COLOR=”Sienna”][SIZE=”3″][FONT=”Comic Sans MS”]Hi Andy: 😀

I am an “old” member from the “old” forum so have been around awhile but do not post as much as I used to.

Your post caught my eye as it sounds like me exactly except both legs were paralyzed and one arm. My spinal tap was same as yours.

What I would like to know, did the paralysis or GBS symptoms come on quick? The onset of mine was 3 days. What preceded your onset of GBS – i.e. flu shot, food poisoning, ….anything that you can think of? I’m just curious Andy……

Myrt[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]