Should I Get Another Emg Or Ncv?

I haven’t had either one of these tests done since July of 2002, & you know how much I have changed in my ability level. Like you, I have been stable since the fall of 2003, but I know what I am able to accomplish each day & no test will change that. Why put yourself through all of that when you yourself already know your current situation better than any doctor or test?

I am going to see a new neuro in a couple of days. If she wants to do another EMG I’ll say no. My last and first one was two years ago. It was used to [U]diagnose [/U]my disease. Unlike you my symptoms continue to progress. I don’t need another EMG to confirm the obvious. There are enough tests to check my symptoms, safety pin, tuning fork etc. plus my subjective observations.

I agree with Pam. Why subject yourself to painful tests to confirm the obvious.

Hi Liz!
Thanks for your continued kind words to Kevin and myself. If you feel good and there is no progression, I probably would skip the test. However, in our case, the rapid improvement from our 4 month prior ncv/emg was what helped the docs decide on stopping IVIG and calling it gbs or aidp. Kevin did have what we thought was a progression, so they wanted a baseline for comparison. In March it was proof that he was no worse than original dx in Sept., but they did the ivig anyway, if you remember, I was never sure we should be doing more ivig so we did the July ncv/emg which showed huge improvement. Being that there was never a decline form start to finish, we now had diagnostic proof as well as clinical proof.

If you are positive there is no decline in your stregnth, abilities etc. I would skip it . If you are uncertain, I might do it just to be rest assured that additional ivig might not be warranted. Sorry nothing I mentioned was decissive, but it doesn’t seem like anything with this illness is!

Your hug graphics are the best Liz! I wish I knew how to do it, I would send you one back!!

Good luck!
Dawn 😮

Hi Liz

It really is up to you whether or not you feel that those tests would help
you in determining what you already know. Personally, I will never take
another nerve conduction test again…I hated it…I do not like shocks at
all and I anticipated them each time. The test was only to be one hour,
but turned into three because it was excruiciating to me.

You have had really good luck so far…no more progression, so why look
for anything?

How are your exercises coming along? I’ve been really laxed in mine…I
just don’t feel like doing them…but, I’ll start again next week. I’ve been
on this computer way too long…I have to stop or I’ll never get anything
done…lol.

P.S. I love your graphics, too!!!

Miami Girl

Liz I would get it to see if there were improvements. Also if your not getting worse but not improving also wouldn’t getting IVIG kick start your body to get better?
I don’t know enough about this disease to say if your body is not healing anymore wouldn’t getting one round (5 days) of IVIG help it in the healing process.

Maybe somebody can explain to me.
Thanks

Good luck on your decision Liz

Sue

Liz…

I was first struck with CIDP in July 5 of 2005, had my first EMG & NCV tests around August 20 of the same year, and was diagnosed with CIDP… This past April (2007) the neuro redid the tests just to see what was going on… I was definately a lot stronger but still had/have the pins and needles, creepy-crawlies along my back, fatigue, cannot stand for more than a few minutes, etc… The tests showed an 80 – 90% improvement in the readings… Dumb me did not ask why I have all the residuals still… I was just shocked that the tests showed that much improvement in the myelin coverage…

Aimee

Hi Liz,

It makes me happy to see that you are stable enough that you no longer need treatments or any meds, I hope that someday that will be me. I am 4 years into the illness and still need to be immunosuppressed and biweekly IVIG’s, but I can’t complain to much because everyday over the past 12 months I am getting better. I recently had an EMG and I hate it too, but the only reason I did it was so they could get a baseline average. So in the future if you start to have problems again they have something to compare it too, but like I said that was really the only reason I did it.

Take Care,
Emily

LIz,

If you were going to try to change treatments to something more effective, or if the Doc needs a baseline for comparison, then do it.

I think you can measure your success by how much more you can do today than what you could do before. There are many other ways to measure successes.

Take care, friend

Dick S

Liz,
Has your Neuro suggested having another EMG ? If so, it would probably be a good idea to get it done. It may show nothing in the end, but you would KNOW where you are. Sometimes knowing gives peace of mind that outweighs the uncomfortablenes of the test. On the other hand, if the thought of the test came from you, it may not be necessary. I’ll pray for wisdom for you.
Mary Ann