EMG next week and I have questions

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magpie1970

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I am going in or an EMG of the lower extremeties. I have heard that this hurts and is not fun. Too be honest, I'm a big wuss and hate pain. I was thinking about taking a valium (I am prescribed them) before the procedure, but I am not sure if there will be an effect on the results of the test.

Has anyone had an EMG done? Does it hurt and do you know if a valium ahead of time will mess the results up?

Thanks in advance.
 
the valium may help you to just relax thru the procedure. it should not interfere in any way with the overall results of your test. i have taken muscle relaxers(including valium) and my regular pain meRAB before all my EMGs over the years(had three). its the way the test is that just checks for actual impairment or nerve flow problems,so almost any med can be taken and it wont effect the "true' responses since it is looking for impariments or something actually impedding nerve flow to the muscles and the nerve velocitys. but if you want to be absolutely certain,just call the place you are having the testing done. but from what i have taken in the past it was all fine with my physiatrist pre testing.

the more pain comes when you have severe muscle atrophy,i found this out the hard way,lol. my very first EMG was painful but nowhere near what i had post op from spinal cord injury that just took away my hand muscle. those areas were much more painful that time around than when there was the fatty/muscle there. you just kind of try and relax as much as possible and go to a 'happy place' inside your head. that what i do. you WILL get thru it, its not too overly bad compared to some other tests and procedures i have had to have done. i would think this being done in the legs,would not be as bad as in the upper torso area for you, just becasue the upper is much more heavily innervated and a bit more sensitive to begin with. i only had one leg done before(the rest were all uppers) and it was not as bad as having my upper done.

good luck with the test,i am sure you will do fine with it. just what are the symptoms you are having that the testing was ordered for? please let me know what the test finRAB out. Marcia
 
I would not take anything without first checking with the facility where you'll have the EMG. Valium relaxes your muscles and may therefore affect the test. And there's no reason to have to take the test twice if you find this out only after doing the test on valium.

I've had an upper EMG and while it was a bit irritating - it wasn't all that bad.
 
Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it. I'll call the office on Tuesday for clarification about this.
 
i would agree that always checking with anyone before any test whether or not it is okay to just take any particular medication is the way to go,always. i just wanted to mention AZ. becasue of just 'what' the specific nerve conduction test is really looking for,the muscle relaxers,even valium,from what my physiatirst told me,in no way would impede or change the results. the only thing that truely changes that muscle response is an obstruction or something actually impedding the actual flow which would not change with any muscle relaxer. it makes sense tho that one would think that,i mean i wondered. i did call before all my EMGs just to double check and the valium and my robaxin and my oxy were just ducky according to my phys. it is only because the test is checking the nerve flow to muscle and not the actual muscle itself that this is okay to do,you know what i am trying to say here? that particular part simply doesn't change with the muscle being relaxed in some way. you can relax your own muscles as well and it would not change the true flow to them. its just being tested at its very basic autonomic response level. this is one particular type of test that you really cannot 'change' the true results to from the outside,ya know what i mean? just a little factiod for ya. i think the muscle relaxer question is probably the MOST commonly asked one having to do with this particular type of test. only becasue you would "think"(common sense) it would change something, it just doesn't. so i will continue to medicate the liveing hell out of myself before every EMG,if i ever go there again,i doubt it after the last one,lol. Marcia
 
Well, I had my EMG today and let me tell you........I have had 3 epidurals (for childbirth) and at least when I got stuck with a needle, there was pain relief after the fact!!!! Aside from the fact that I am a big wuss with pain, the shocks didn't bug me that much. Well, that's a lie, when I got zapped behind my knee I thought that my knee was catching fire. When the doc moved to the 2nd knee, durab me decided to count how many times I got zapped....27 times!!! THen when I think that I am about done, out come the needles. I would take childbirth over needles in my back again. I also still have cramps in my shins from where he put the needle between the 2 shin bones. I can even describe that pain.

After the test was done I told him that after all that there better be something wrong. Well, guess what? My nerves are fine GRRRRR :confused:

I meet with the Neuro doc in a couple weeks for a followup to see where we go from here. The back pain and sciatica are not in my head, but I still don't know where it's coming from. The doc that did the EMG said that I have a pinched nerve somewhere but this certain test couldn't assertain that.

Thanks for letting me vent. This procedure was no fun at all.
 
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