New to Forum: Need EMG Advice

Hi I am new to this forum but I have been reading what you guys write for a while and it has helped me a lot during this stressful time. I have my first EMG on next Monday (arms and legs) and I would really appreciate any advice or input you can give me in regards to my symptoms. In summary I have twitched sporadically (1 every week or so), mostly in my calf muscles over the past 3 years. However, 1 month ago, after stomach flu, I started twitching all over my body every day. None of the twitches are permanent but I do twitch somewhere on my body approximately once every 5 min. Also, after the stomach flu I started feeling joint pain on my wrists, fingers, ankles and toes. To top it all off I haven’t had a good night sleep since this started and have been waking up a 5 am every morning without the need of an alarm clock. Finally, I have lately been feeling that I stumble on my words…tongue tied not slurring. I am not sure if this is because I have been incredibly focused on my tongue or if it a real symptom my husband says that my speech is normal. On the bright side I have not noticed any weakness, I go to the gym every day and run, lift weight etc.Please keep in mind that I have been taking magniseum and potassium suppliments for the past 2 weeks and they have not helped at all from what I can tell. I don’t know why I am so scared and why this is the only think I can think about lately. I am 31 and thinking about looking for a baby but sometimes I can’t breathe when I start thinking of the horrible things this can be. I am also scared that I will not be satisfied with the EMG if it turns out negative since they will not be testing my tongue… would a clean 4 limb EMG be enough to rule out a Bulber onset of *LS? What do you guys think of all of this and of my symptoms?

Twitchy,One twitch every 5 mins is a very mild case of BFS. Regarding your tongue, I went to the Mayo clinic in 2012 and showed them fasciculations in all 4 limbs and my tongue. They didn't even want to EMG me but I insisted. When they did the EMG, they did not do my tongue even though I had shown the neuro my tongue twitching. He told me that if there were something nasty going on in my bulbar region, it would show up in my limbs. I hope this helps. -Matt

Bobajojo, thank you for your answer! My body twitches come and go aproximatly every 5 min however when I look at my tongue I am not sure if it is BFS twitching or if everybody´s tongue looks that way. When I rest it at the base of my mouth it is still most of the time but makes some very small sporatic twitching movments once every 2 to 3 seconds but I cant even feel them... what does BFS tongue twitching look like? Should I be scared of the twitching I describe?

Twitchy,Your symptoms are textbook BFS and not consistent with those typical in a pathological condition. I assume your doctor will have done a clinical examination of your reflexes and if this is clean and you don't have noticeable weakness i.e. significant loss of function, the EMG is just a formality. The biggest hurdle is overcoming the initial anxiety about what is happening and whether it is anything sinister and I strongly recommend that you trust what the doctor says and the EMG result which will be fine. Then stop trying to diagnose yourself, keep going to the gym and focus on other things. Twitching feeds off anxiety so starve it by being positive and moving on.All the bestSM

HiThis is pretty much what happened to me about 10 months ago. I got sick, got twitchy..I had an EMG about 4 months of symptoms. It was normal. My guess is yours will be too. My diagnosis is not BFS. It is post viral CFS/ME (fibro) but I have a lot of the BFS symptoms. Nothing helped until I went Gluten free. I had to do this because of my vitamin levels were tested and they were low and unable to be raised by supplements. So my doctors assumed I had absorption issues. In any case, I got a virus, then an infection then I was dehydrated and vitamin depleted and I had trouble walking and got muscle twitching all over. Gluten free and vitamins do help reduce the twitching but mostly it reduces the joint stiffness you mentioned. Other than that just time has helped. Hang in there..

Thank you so much for all of your answers! I am going to try cutting out glutten and see how that goes. I have been looking more at my tongue and the twitches are constant and all over the place! Is this normal for bfs even if I cant feel them at all??

I can understand your anxiety. I am going for my first (and hopefully last) EMG on Tuesday. Your twitching seems very mild compared to what I have been experiencing. I hope this makes your feel better. At rest (like sitting here at my computer) I will twitch about 10 times in a minute. Left thigh, right thigh, lip, arm, etc... I originally went to the neuro because my lip was twitching like a maniac daily for up to seven hours. With a normal neurological exam and no weakness, my neurologist said no ALS. That was my big worry! He is doing the EMG to look for nerve damage in my lip due to a herpes virus I had several months before the twitching started. I'm still very worried about the EMG especially since I started twitching everywhere in addition to my lip. How could it possible be normal with all this twitching??