yes - before i was dx with PD, i had problems walking and my left foot didn't lift - after ruling out pressure on the nerve from a disk with an MRI, they did this test - actually two different docs did it - one thinking i had ALS and the other thinking maybe some other thing (he never did buy the pd dx)- it was abnormal but wasn't bad enough to be ALS, thank gioodness, so I was sent over to the Parkinson's guy who watched me walk to the end of the hall, pronounced his dx, handed me a booklet, told me to be grateful it wasn't something worse, and left. that was 4 years ago. i had had noticeable symptoms for a year, i think/

sorry about the typing - tryed to ride a bike and broke my arm - anyone have any ecperience with a tricycle///////?

2 out of 3 in surgery.....yikes......thanks for responding. Sasha, sorry to hear about your arm! I haven't been on a tricycle since I was a little kid. Be careful - helmut? lol

paula

Paula,

I'm sorry to hear about your difficulties.

I had a few of the NCVTs with the EMGs performed. Very painful tests as far a I was concerned. These were used to rule out other problems that could cause my symptoms. The first one was to test for muscle weakness because I had very high (300% above normal) CPK levels after taking Lipitor. The other two were by two different neuros to rule out other things before diagnosis.

The good news is the muscle weakness went away, and the other two confirmed that the nerves were normal.

Sasha,

I hope your bike riding accident wasn't my fault. I started riding myself and I mentioned how good it felt, and gave you the riding bug.

John

probablt all yiur fault, john! actually my cousin - nwho has pd and poor balance can bike for hours - no prob - also a bad, bad influence!

thanks for the concern,

sasha

Hey, Paula,

I had EMG testing. Most of it wasn't so bad because it was quick. However, the EMG on my hands was a nightmare, and went on forever, like a cortisone injection there. It diagnosed carpal tunnel in both wrists. The rest was normal. I didn't have surgery because recovery takes too long, and I need to work. Catch 22. I probably got it from working. I wear splints at night and take gabapentin.

I also had Evoked Potentials testing done. Visual was fine. But the somatosensory tests were painful, and it went on and on for three hours. All was normal.

What testing did you have done?

ZF - i had to go twice but not for 3 hours! first time electronic zap; second needles. the electricity was worse for me, although it was closely followed by the needles in between the fingers. I get results tomorrow.

i wear braces when they are clean.....lol

thanks,
paula

how strange that this should come up. I just had nerve conduction study done on right leg. The docs trying to find out which nerve in my back is in trouble. Anyway, my right leg is so mangled from car accident that they couldn't find the nerve. They kept zapping and zapping. This was followed by the needles inserted into muscles to see how nerves affected them. He said I had nerve damage on L4 and L5. I believe that was already known from cat scan, so not sure how this study helped.
This was followed the next day with an injection between l4 and l5. Doc must have hit nerve and I could feel it firing all down my leg!. There has got to be an easier way. After this series of shots are done (just want to follow thru on them) I am going to see an acupuncturist. Has anyone had any luck with them for pain?

Well the both of us are to blame then. lol. I went out riding yesterday for quite a ride, and had no problems with balance until I climbed out of the bathtub. I had to grab the towel rack because I lost my balance in the shower. Thank god for the rack otherwise I would have clobbered my head!


Anyway back on topic, I think the electric shock treatment was the worsed part of the ordeal. They seemed to go on forever and my muscles were twitching like crazy during them. You could hear the fasciculations on the needle part of the test, but the tech didn't make any note about them. That's one mean test and I agree there's got to be a better way of doing this. This is like the old frog and the battery experiment from the early nineteenth century!

John

libra,

i had 3 epidural shots a year ago and the pain is still gone. it's not fun getting them, but well worth it for my situation, which was chronic back pain. See it through and good luck!

paula