I have my repetitive stim test tomorrow and am just curious what to expect.. I Have had three emg/ncv in the past, but never a repetitive stim...
How long does it usually take? They told me I am scheduled for a 90 minute appointment.. I did not think that the repetitive stim test would take so long.. do they normally do an emg with that as well?

I am most nervous that they will find some bad/scary things, more than find something treatable etc.. I am not afraid of any of the pain at all, I just would like them to find an answer- well, as long as it's good news anyways! It's been a little over one year since my last EMG.. and not having a concrete diagnosis always makes my mine wonder to the very bad things..

Do they usually do the repetitive stim on the face too?

Thanks in advance!

I'm sure it'll be fine! They normally do an RNS on the forearm but they can do them anywhere. The RNS is a little painful to do on the face and you do have the right to say no to that.

They send a signal in a repetitive manner, thus the name. For example, zap . . . zap . . . zap . . . zap . . . zap. And then again like that. The time in between "sets" of zaps may increase in intensity or decrease in the interval between them. Ask them to tell you what they are doing - which they usually do - so that you are prepared for it.

The doctor may want to do an EMG if they find something in the RNS. They want to be thorough, thus the long appt. time. That doesn't necessarily mean it'll take that long.

An RNS is not specific, so they look at the results in combination with the clinical exam, other tests done and response to any treatments. That would be the same for an EMG or SFEMG.

Just take one thing at a time. Tell them how you're doing. Most techs are very nice! Let us know how it goes.


Annie

Thanks so much Annie..I really appreciate you!!!

It wasn't bad at all, the only thing that remotely hurt was the F wave test of the NCV.. EVERYTHING was negative.... even the needle EMG.. which is what I was MOST nervous about.. I feel confident that a year later a clear EMG rules out the really really bad stuff - pheeew!!!! That is most of my anxiety!

The dr didn't seem to think that repetitive stim shows a lot of positives on MG patients.. he said that he has had many many confirmed MG patients with stone cold normal repetitive stims.. and with me having IVIG only 2 weeks ago, it wasn't a shock that it was negative he said.... so they are going to talk to my attending on the case and go from there.. I am just so thankful that it is over with.. and the needle part is clean.. though I wouldn't have minded the repetitive stim test giving me some answers.. I asked about LEMS.. and he said that they really didn't test specifically for that.. that they do that in a different location and more zaps.. that its quite different.. though my amplitude looked good in the first place, making them think LEMS isn't as likely (though again - ivig could mess that up).... so for now I celebrate big time! Thanks so much for your support.. it truly means a lot!