BFS Fasciculations Examined by Specialist

[paulrational]

Ive had three normal clinical exams,reflexes,strength tests including every muscle eye lids and toes also,tuning fork on skin eyes,reflexes,tonge ,spine examined skin between each thumb,clonus test, babinski,all the usual, als specialist was not interested in looking for fasciculations.She said she was one the top in u.k ,her quote[*** fasciculations look the same as bfs fasciculations]she had 170 patients with ***,i made a point in asking her cause mine look like the bag of worms.

 

[Carrilicious]

Dear Teej,

My neuro wouldn't even do the emg till my third hysterical visit then she did it for me piece of mind.

It was a bit time consuming depending on how many limbs they do so I'm pretty sure it is made at a later visit. My neuro did only one side, my more affected side, and it took about an hour. I had mine done by the neuro so I did get the results as she went along. Hope this helps.
Carri

 

[ytewestGo99]

You can expect a physical exam and strength test. He/She will ask you to hold your fists to your chest and pull on your arms, ask you to raise your legs while they push against them in the opposite direction, ask you to stand with your feet close together and push against your shoulders to check for balance problems (mostly for MS I think), check your reflexes, have you do heel and toe walks, maybe even look at your muscles to see if there are fasciculations. The ALS specialist I went to had me undress to my shorts and looked at my arms, legs, chest, just to see the muscle tone and look for twitching. They will look at your tongue and have you move it from side to side, proably to check for bulbar. I never had any blood work ordered at my office visits. Generally, if you're twitching and not showing any signs of weakness, the neuro may not even bother to order an EMG. Sometimes, if you want one for peace of mind, you can be persistent ... then the neuro can say ... "I told you so ..."

The EMG and NCV tests can be done anywhere from 30 min to 1 hr. it consists of hooking up wired connectors and a ground strap to you limbs. Then a small to medium current is discharged with a small tool that travels to the location of the ground strap. You nerves will react to those electrical signals and the velocity and amplitude of the nerve conduction can be measured. The other part of the EMG is the needle test where the neoru will poke a small needle into your muscles, calves, biceps, triceps, quadraceps, etc. and listen for fasciculations, he may turn the needle in different directions while listening to the muscles. He may ask you to flex and relax the muscles while the needle is in there. These tests are only mildly painful but completely bareable. I've had 3 myself and don't plan on another one any time soon at all. All clean. Praise God !!!

hope this info helps

 

[DJohnDavies]

Teej,

From what I understand, the neurological exam begins the moment you meet the doctor. He/she will be listening to your speech, voice etc and watching the way you move. Stacy's description very closely matched my experience with regard to testing. They are pros and they know what to look for.

Best wishes,

Johnny