Fear of ALS: EMG Reliability?

[CollsMaroon]

Figure someone out there will know about this.In general, for how long is the EMG reliable? I thought I read somewhere that it was sensitive enough to predict denervation in a limb a year before symptom onset. One of the guys I spoke with on an ALS forum in the past, I remember, said that his showed an issue two years before he started feeling anything.My gosh I hope I stop being scared of the bad disease at some point...that's all I want. It's like I don't know anymore how to recognize when anything else, anything, is wrong with me - I'll try to relate anything I'm feeling back to it. Sore throat, acid reflux, joint pain - anything. I'm afraid that will never change...Sorry, just a bit of a Thursday evening ramble.

 

[Broski7]

Colls_Maroon, do you happen to know why he/she had an EMG done at the time?

 

[BlueMan]

EMGs have their limitations, both over time and in terms of which kinds of nerves they can evaluate and what kinds of muscle problems can be seen. An EMG is not "valid" for a year. There are all sorts of things that can abruptly change in the body, including infection, trauma, and relapsing/remitting disease processes. Any of these could produce results visible in an EMG.However, an EMG is not by itself diagnostic for anything. It is used along with a history and physical, plus lab work as appropriate. If your doctor has told you have BFS, that other issues have been ruled out, and that you needn't worry about any of the nasty NMDs, demyelinating disorders. et al., then there it is. No worries.