Are EMG Tests Reliable for Muscular Disease?

[GrizzlyLeader]

The reason I made my last post inquiring if an emg will show any of the bad muscular diseases is because I am scheduled for a major back surgery this coming monday. My dx earlier this week from the specialist was good,clinical and emg, but in the past couple of days, my right calf has been especially active. Im not talking just about twitches, Im talking major rolling effects, twings, popcorn, ect. My foot and toes have started cramping and somketimes the muscle movement in my calf will make my foot jump a little side to side. Its like the entire length of the calf muscle is jerking. I e-mailed the specialist and she said no evidence points to any muscle disease at this time, but mentioned the antibody test has not came back yet and will still be another week or so. Being unemployed with insurance being a huge concern, Cobra, my deductible is met for the year, so I wanted to get this surgery out of the way, $15,000. The nuero says the back problem "could" be whats causing the legs all these troubles. The upper body stuff would not be affected so much. Whats the chance I have a back problem and bfs? Whats the chance I have a back problem and some kind of muscle disorder that are unrelated. Thats whats going through my head. I keep thinking if I have this surgery, which is a major surgery, 3-5 days in hospital and 5-6 months before its possible to be almost as good as new (as long as the fusion goes as planned), how bad would it be to be laid up in pain, then these symptoms turn into something bad. I would be sacrificing time that I could be mobile. I know this sounds stupid, but my mental state has been on shaky ground for a couple of months now.

 

[TwitchMeSweetheart]

what's the chance you could have a bad back and BFS. pretty high. i have two bulging discs, had some annular tears on my MRI, mild lumbar stenosis, i am only 35, i have batteld lower back pain since my mid 20's. had shooting sciatica at times, voltage type that made me jump in my chair. i attribute the damage at young age to heavy martial arts training for years in college. old school kind, like flip yourself on this hard wood floor. everyday to some degree have the calf symptoms you describe. my calves look like a player piano always.do i think it could be realted to BFS, sure, does Neuro, maybe, but they will all say well that does not explain the upper body stuff. but the nervous system is a mighty complex thing.really though it does not matter, you/I get the all clear, and we have to go on living with something that yes, we do not want, yes it sucks, but people deal with issues far greater all the time.no one ever guaranteed we got to perfectly healthy our whole life.

 

[Krackersones]

Here is my opinion for what it is worth. Obviously I am not a medical professional. If you are having similar neuromuscular issues that are unlikely explained with whatever is wrong with your back, I would consider having a muscle biopsy. I had one. It left a scar on my upper left leg (an inch or so long) but other than that it was no big deal. I had discomfort for maybe two weeks max and the discomfort was just that not real pain. You can get the results of the biopsy fairly quickly. If it reveals something (and hopefully something treatable or manageable) you may be better off abd may be able to avoid the back surgery. If it doesn't show anything, there would still be time for the back surgery. I may not have all your facts straight so my advice may be off if my facts are off. The main sense I get from you is that this is not a minor problem as it is for many here. I relate to that aspect of all this. I hope you find some answer with a solution or at least a good estimation (like I have in my case) so that you can be hopeful that things may be weird but still relatively ok.Krackersones

 

[Krackersones]

Here is my opinion for what it is worth. Obviously I am not a medical professional. If you are having similar neuromuscular issues that are unlikely explained with whatever is wrong with your back, I would consider having a muscle biopsy. I had one. It left a scar on my upper left leg (an inch or so long) but other than that it was no big deal. I had discomfort for maybe two weeks max and the discomfort was just that not real pain. You can get the results of the biopsy fairly quickly. If it reveals something (and hopefully something treatable or manageable) you may be better off abd may be able to avoid the back surgery. If it doesn't show anything, there would still be time for the back surgery. I may not have all your facts straight so my advice may be off if my facts are off. The main sense I get from you is that this is not a minor problem as it is for many here. I relate to that aspect of all this. I hope you find some answer with a solution or at least a good estimation (like I have in my case) so that you can be hopeful that things may be weird but still relatively ok.Krackersones

 

[simonw00]

HI there I reckon that back problems are very common and, if a disc is bulging onto the spinal cord itself, this may cause fasciculation BUT that this fascicualtion would only occur 'downstram' of where the nerves are being irritated, i.e. a lumbar problem could only cause problems in the legs. I have a history of back pain and my EMG showed denervation/ renervation in my L quads only, which my neurologist thought could be related to an L3/4 disc problem. I have never had an MRI etc. But, although my calves and feet are where I twitch most, I also twitch in my arms, chest, back and face too. So I assume I have both BFS and a back problem. If I got my back operated on, maybe my calves would twitch less than they do now but I bet that they would still twitch to some extent. I think BFS twitching is often worse in the calves whether or not there is a co-existent back problem so there is every chance that having your back fixed will do nothing to alleviate this fasciculation. There of course other reasons to get back surgery - intractable nerve root pain or risk of spinal stenosis - so if your specialist advised that you have surgery then maybe it is for such a reason.Good luckSimon

 

[LaurentHCH]

simon, if i have a neck disc problem and twitch allover. can this be related then?

 

[paucek.sheldon1]

I had a discectomy at l5-s1 on april 30, 2004. So 5 years ago.It was only after the surgery that I noticed my bfs.I am not a big fan of fusing the bones together. The discectomy removes the fluid which is pushing on the never. That being said it depends on your situation, sometimes a fusion is not needed.My bfs has decreased over the years. Either just through time or by enhanced by taking Tegretol. Today, I usually notice the twitching after going for a job. But I suppose some of that is normal because if you exercise a muscle it will twitch. That is the way the body is.I am not sure you will see immediate relief from you bfs after back surgery. You might see relief with numbness in your foot and shooting pain down your leg. And this relief might take months and maybe years.My understanding is nerves take a very, very long time to heal. It could easily be years.It is tough to say if your bfs is caused by your back surgery. Logically I would say no, because it should only effect the muscles below where the nerve is being pressed against. But really, who knows. Until there is concensus on this, I am not sure you will ever get a 100% answer.I hope you got a second opinion on your surgery. I suggest checking out the health survey for us news and world reports. Google it. It will tell you the hospitals which are the best at back surgery. This surgery is usually done by neurologists or orthopedics. You really want to go somewhere that has done a lot of these. Hope I have helped you.-43RichyThe43rd