[paper_bats]

Hi all,

I'm a 26 year-old female who is, ironically at this point, between insurance coverage. So of COURSE the moment I lost insurance I began experiencing odd things, mostly on the left side of my body (intermittent extreme leg fatigue which has actually gotten a bit better recently, tingling, odd sensations on face, periods of unexplained dizziness, foot drop). It's been a long couple of months. Before I graduated from uni and promptly lost access to health care, the health center doc for my school ordered a brain and neck MRI and tons of blood work.

Blood work was "pretty good." Brain MRI showed a few lesions which the report stated were consistent with a demyelinating or possibly even ischemic process, however the health center doc didn't seem concerned. A few weeks later I am seen by an actual neurologist who tells me I have simply damaged my nerve in my leg, and injects it with steroids. No improvement, so an EMG is ordered, but then of course I loose insurance.

I've been seeing a chiropractor on the off chance that it could be helpful until I regain insurance in November, and the routine chiro x-ray showed disc disease in my back, as well as an odd extra lumbar vertebra. I was convinced to pay to see an actual spinal doc (of the kind who deal with spine surgeries and physical therapy and the like) in the off chance that this was what has been causing the problems.

After a lengthy examination in which I have some odd reflexes and clinical left-sided weakness/balance problems apparently, he sat back on his heels and says plainly that an EMG is the next logical course of action for me to take, but he doesn't feel that my spine is the culprit at all. They are doing me a huge service and discounting the EMG a truly sizable amount and allowing me to make payments, so I'll be taking that this coming Tuesday.

However, he also said that if the EMG is normal or doesn't indicate peripheral nerve involvement, he's going to refer me to a neurologist again. His nurse assistant came in later and said the MRI report, which they ordered from the hospital, definitely was not normal (I had originally told them it was normal, since my previous docs did not apparently find the lesions odd at all ) and that I may have some sort of neuro-muscular thing going on.

At this point, I just want an answer. I'm tired of doctors and medical bills and shrugging shoulders. Is a normal EMG something people with MS experience?