I'm supposed to have the MRI and EMG next week and I'm beyond scared about the results, in particular of the MRI. I won' t see the neurologist till 30 September, so won't have results till then and I have no idea how I will cope in the meantime. I had a full clinical exam and that was all ok. Is this a good indication that I'm ok? What are the chances that it is MS? The neuro also did the following blood tests: FBC, ESR, PTH, ANF, CK, vit D, ABS, complement and coeliac. I know some of it is routine but the lady taking my blood said that most of these are rare and very specialist tests. Should I read anything into that or is the neuro just being thorough?Finally I stupidly googled EMG, just to see excactly how it is performd, and ended up on an ALS forum. Is it true that if you can hear anything during the test while your muscles are relaxed then there is something serious wrong with you? Did you get your results straight away or did you have to wait? My overall symptoms are not as severe as many of you describe; some tingling, buzzing and pins and needles in hands and feet, but not too bad and twitches all over the body but these are quite rare now, a couple of times a day. I know I shouldn't worry too much but can't help it.
Anxious About MRI & EMG Results
- Thread starter Taggart
- Start date
Hi Dagny,most of us have background noise on EMG becasue it is not possible to relax fully, especially if you have a NEEDLE inserted in your dear leg or soft thenar 
)) I have heard alot of cracking and thrumping noise on my EMG and doctor wrote on it: no sign of motor neuron damage. People can even hear their muscle works in the neck or jaw without anyt EMG (becasue in fact noise made by muscle fibers contracting is the same as we grip guitar strings, i.e. 100% natural and healthy).It might be true that pathological dischares have certain 'tune' and I had read that experienced doctros can read EMG sound as a partiture saying even by sound are you healthy or not. But having noise itself does not mean anything bad. Full relaxation is not possible in live and conscious person - you need kurare shot to relax till complete EMG silence and still be a bit alive...FBC is full blood count to see of your blood formula is Ok (no shift to more leucocytes or white blood cells and enough erytrocytes (red blood cells)ESR is erytrocytes sedimentation rate and is done to see if you do not have any hidden inflammation inside the bodythose two are routine testsPTH is parathyroid hormone and alone is not to be very informative but might give any idea if you have changes in parathyroid glands lowering Ca in your blood and causing spasticity and twitches.ANF is (on my suggestion) so called angyopeptide, a compound related to how much of Na you excrete with urineso those two are to check if your body pumps out too much Ca/Na and check if that could e a reason for twitchesThey are very special of courseCK is creatinkinase. Usually people with MND have this very elevated (times and times of normal value) becasue their muscle are died and atrophied. healthy people also can have it elevated after stress, infection or physical load but far not so much than in MND. I had this test in the middle of my twitching period, and it was normal. have no idea what could be ABS, but complement is a kind of immunological test (do not know in details but suppose can check your immune systenm status just in case becasue some autoimmune disorders also can cause twitching)coeliac is a test to check if you have celiac disorder which affects our ability to absorb nutrients in the guts and also is associated with twitches.so practically good panel to cover all possible and known physical cases for twitches. Normal results of those tests usually suggest benign hyperreactivity of nervous system (i.e., BFS).
)) I have heard alot of cracking and thrumping noise on my EMG and doctor wrote on it: no sign of motor neuron damage. People can even hear their muscle works in the neck or jaw without anyt EMG (becasue in fact noise made by muscle fibers contracting is the same as we grip guitar strings, i.e. 100% natural and healthy).It might be true that pathological dischares have certain 'tune' and I had read that experienced doctros can read EMG sound as a partiture saying even by sound are you healthy or not. But having noise itself does not mean anything bad. Full relaxation is not possible in live and conscious person - you need kurare shot to relax till complete EMG silence and still be a bit alive...FBC is full blood count to see of your blood formula is Ok (no shift to more leucocytes or white blood cells and enough erytrocytes (red blood cells)ESR is erytrocytes sedimentation rate and is done to see if you do not have any hidden inflammation inside the bodythose two are routine testsPTH is parathyroid hormone and alone is not to be very informative but might give any idea if you have changes in parathyroid glands lowering Ca in your blood and causing spasticity and twitches.ANF is (on my suggestion) so called angyopeptide, a compound related to how much of Na you excrete with urineso those two are to check if your body pumps out too much Ca/Na and check if that could e a reason for twitchesThey are very special of courseCK is creatinkinase. Usually people with MND have this very elevated (times and times of normal value) becasue their muscle are died and atrophied. healthy people also can have it elevated after stress, infection or physical load but far not so much than in MND. I had this test in the middle of my twitching period, and it was normal. have no idea what could be ABS, but complement is a kind of immunological test (do not know in details but suppose can check your immune systenm status just in case becasue some autoimmune disorders also can cause twitching)coeliac is a test to check if you have celiac disorder which affects our ability to absorb nutrients in the guts and also is associated with twitches.so practically good panel to cover all possible and known physical cases for twitches. Normal results of those tests usually suggest benign hyperreactivity of nervous system (i.e., BFS).
) So I would say your doctor really decided to cover ALL possible cases of twitching.and again, do not worry about the tests. if any of them would give a result, you'd have a treatment then, if no one would deviate - then you have benign BFS which practically wanes on its own or with antianxiety treatment and day schedule it is a win-win situation (becasue chances that you have MND are same as for other population, i.e., very low)Fasciculations make a crackling noise on the EMG. The doctor doing mine pointed that out when I asked him if he saw any fasciculations. He said "what do you think that noise is?". And he also looked at me like I was crazy to think I would NOT have fasciculations on the EMG, since I was there because of my twitching.Many of us had this finding on our EMG. Yet when I asked the doctor, he said they were "benign". They can tell if there is something bad going on. If you twitch, there is a good chance you will have them on your EMG.Please don't worry if you hear noise on your EMG.Mitra
PS: I have no idea why you are getting an EMG. If you hardly ever twitch, and have no weakness (weakness being what an EMG is really a test for) - there is really no point to this test. The tingling/sensory symptoms you're having won't be picked up or evaluated at all with an EMG.
skyCoyote76
New member
I was nervous just before my tests and all three neuro visits. I was as certain as I could be that everything was benign, but I couldn't help thinking, "What if ..." My heart fell to my feet when the nerve conduction test came up with abnormal results in the same nerve in both legs. The follow with the specialist saw absolutely nothing of concern.