Shockingly Late to the EMG Party
- Thread starter nellief
- Start date
I've never had an EMG either. I have had symptoms for about 7 months now, and no doctor has ever mentioned one either. My neuro didn't even want to do and MRI when I thought my symptoms were related to MS.I would say it's a reassuring thing that your doctor is confident enough not to order an EMG. Many people here actually ask for the EMG for their own peace of mind.
JohnnyRocket
Well-known member
Many didn't get EMGs. For the most part EMGs have been given to us upon requestand served only to ease our anxiety. If your neuro says you don't need an EMG it is because you don't need one. I suggest listening to your neuro.
Agree with everyone here. My doc didn't even see the need to send me to the neuro. However it was greatly affecting me, so he sent me just for my own peace of mind. Normal EMG and I still have issues. Don't underestimate the opinion of your doctor. They are greatly trained (even if they have never seen this wicked disease). There are things a normal doctor would see if something were a concern.
No EMG for me.First Neuro:"I don't care about your twitches. Really, i don't. And I won't do an EMG 'cause it won't help you to get rid of your fear.Twitches mean nothing, do you understand? They really mean nothing. I have never seen an ALS patient in my career coming 'cause of twitches. Do you have weakness? I mean, weakness that stays and never goes away again? No, get out of here, come back if you ever get weakness, but i promise you, you will not get weakness.I have seen lots of ALS patients in my life as a neuro at the university and in my own office, no one ever came 'cause of twitches and i can tell you for sure, that when we saw a patient that suffered from als, we allready could guess its ALS, you usualy just can see it at once as a trained neuro. You are fine, have a nice day. Work on your anxiety, not saying it 'causes the twitches, but you have to accept they are benigne. You don't want to be an EMG-junkie, trust me.""Second Neuro:"So you twitch? Ok. And what else? Weakness? No? Ok, it's no ALS i can tell for sure." Then he did a clinical exam, everythings fine.He said: come back in three months, i'm quite sure, you are still fine then.He never even mentioned an EMG, but said to me: "Twitches really don't mean anything in neurology. Yes, they can be a symptom of nasty deseases, but they will allways get together with other symptoms, like weakness. Go work on your fear to accept that you are surely fine, just twitching."So I had no EMG, and i can tell that I know a lot of persons from this forum and other places, that dont trust the EMG. It just won't help as long as someone does not accept.For some people it helped to ease their mind, but for the majority of them it didn't help, 'cause the anxiety and the illogical thinking of them makes them doubt it after a few days.The key is to trust and accept. Sounds easy, but it isn't, i know, but it's manageable.Greetings,LevenLevi