Nerve Conduction Test

Most gbs/cidp people have had the emg/ncv test done. its not all that bad, for the most part. it can give some information to the dr that is good to have. take care.

Hi I take the test once a year or more depending if my DR feels I need it. It checks to see if you are improving or getting worse. In your case because you have GBS they want to see how much the nerves in your body is improving.

Sue

The test measures the conduction in the individual nerves. It feel like stings(tiny shocks). I have had 5. It is not comfortable but not anything to dread. If it helps the neuro to eval the progress and degree of GBS damage it is worth it.Dr. Shawn

I have had the test done several times. It is not painful. You may feel a tickling feeling. At most some of the test can be slightly annoying, but not painful. Relax, the information that the doctor get is well worth the slight discomfort you may experience.

Hi there,

You will probably be given both an EMG (electromyography) and NCS/NCV test (nerve conduction velocity). The EMG is a test of the muscle’s electrical activity. It is used to test how a muscle responds to signals from the nerves responsible for their movement, called motor nerves. Nearly all these test include a test of how fast the motor nerve conducts electrical impulses, called a nerve conduction study (NCS) or nerve conduction velocity (NCV) test.

You will go through some minor electrical shocks and needle probes with these test, but they are not painful. I always find the tests interesting.

Best regards.:)

Jethro

Hi all,

I’m always drawn back to what DocDavid said in one of his posts at the beginning of the year …….

[quote]
DavidBod
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New Forest southern UK
Posts: 140
[IMG]http://www.gbs-cidp.org/forums/images/icons/icon1.gif[/IMG]
Aimee, no you cannot put strain on sensory nerves or motor neves, the concept does not exist. Muscles fatigue because of delay in removing waste products and in oxygen supply. [B]Nerve testing is very innaccurate and non-specific.[/B] [B]There is very little relationship between laboratory based conduction tests and real life function.[/B] You have done very well and may have to accept some residual discomforts. DocDavid
[/quote]

Ben had the NCV/EMG last week and slept through the NCV part. He even slept through the first pin ***** of the EMG, but the second one had him awake for sure. Since he’d been having problems with spasms, and the spasms had finally diminished, the EMG ended up bringing them back to life. Afterwords, the doctor said that was normal and would probably last 24 hours, which they did. Ben was a little upset that nobody warned us of that beforehand.

Good luck!

Shannon

LOL I guess the forum thought what I was trying to say was obscene. All I said was pinprick.

you really need to watch your mouth LOL! when I saw the word bleeped out I thought YOU did it for some reason. “wow this woman is very proper!” silly forum.

As for the nerve test, I didnt have the needle part, I opted out of it. The rest of the test is a bit wierd but not painful. Little electric shocks that zap you but dont last long at all. I was scared at first, but it was nothing at all like I expected.

Allison,
Thanks for the excerpt from DocDavid…..I was wondering why they do these tests to nerves that are trying to repair. When I got my first GBS twenty years ago, the neurologist said that he wanted to do a spinal tap (lumbar puncture makes it sound less frightening to them). WHen I asked him why he wanted to do it, because it came on too quickly to be MS. His answer was, “Because I can do it in my office and it won’t hurt.” I asked him what it would prove because it was Invasive. His reply was, “What are you…a nurse!!!!” I think sometimes we blindly let them do things to our bodies that don’t necessarily NEED to be done. Many times a test can give wrong results also. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck……….what else could it be????
I think we need to research and question what they want to do……and this site in invaluable for that. Does measuring how fast one is recovering change what they will do to you?? Just wondering…..

I have had them done to myself years ago. Its not really painful.
Its like a tiny pin stick that measures how well the nerves are working.
They are not shocking you to any degree that could do any harm.
It’s not like a defribrilator.
Its telling them how much of your own body’s electricity is getting through your nerves to your muscles.
Its a very useful tool to tell them how much your nerves have repaired themselves. It can also tell them how fast the repair is going.
Nate had them when he was first diagnosed and he had them about 2 mos ago, 18 mos later after he got sick.
He says it didn’t really hurt and it was not anything to be afraid of. It was helpful to his Neuro doc to be able to have some kind of idea of how Nate is doing and how much he has gotten back. Its a good thing to do.
Trudy, natesmom