Oww, an EMG! Hope all goes well for you. It should give your doctor a good starting-point for the diagnosis.

I've had two, and I hope to never have another. I take Valium prior to mine. Really seems to help me relax and be more open to the "honest" results of the exam. The meds help me get over my fear of needles and can give a better "true" result. Good luck!

Well I had my appointment today, and well, the EMG test was nothing short of absolute, unadulterated, pure torture. The test began simple enough, with the doctor (not the pain doctor, another specialist that travels from office to office) placing electrodes on my leg and shocking my leg. After the second shock, everything he did was total h-e double hockey sticks...my entire leg felt like it was on fire, every muscle was cramping, and every joint was aching tremendously. That wasn't even the bad part. He then stuck this needle in my shin that burned just like a syringe, and began telling me to move my toes...but I couldn't! They were locked up for some reason, so he flexed them upwards by hand. He then progressed to place these needles in my calf, above and behind my knee, and in my lower back. By the time he was doing my back, I was punching the wall above my head, and when I finally sat up I saw a puddle where my face was...didn't even realize I was shedding so many tears during the test! I guess the point of all this is it was awful, and while it's true that it wasn't worse than some of the other stuff I've suffered through since my injury, like Coumadin therapy, it's certainly something I never want to do again.

So there I am, sitting on the table, writhing in pain from this test, thinking that now I'm going to see my pain doctor...nope! I was there only for the test...but I only had three days of my medicine left, and I needed to talk to him about the hydrocodone not working. I was about to freak out.

Well, what happened next made all the other bad stuff I went through a little better. After explaining my med. situation to the receptionist, she called my doctor (I guess he wasn't there) and told him what I told her, and he switched me from 7.5/500 lortab 3x/day to 7.5/325 oxycodone 4x/day...without even seeing me! I'm guessing from that gesture that 1)he's a compassionate human being, and 2) he trusts me. I can't begin to describe how much better I feel about my relationship with him. At least I have one doctor whom I feel really understands me and what I'm going through.

Oh, he didn't see any nerve issues or entrapments...oh boy...

I wish a pain-free day to you all!

Tim

Hi Tim -

As others have mentioned, you can't rely on the results of the EMG's to determine whether or not you have nerve issues. I had an EMG which the doctor said was negative in the early phases of my RSD, but I very definitely have RSD. I wish the EMG had been right, and that there was nothing wrong with my nerves. IMHO, EMG's are pretty much useless as far as RSD is concerned.

If you have to go through another one, you may want to ask for some chill meds in advance.

So sorry for your pain, and I hope you get the treatment you need ASAP. The RSDSA is an excellent resource - see RSDSA.org.

XOXOX Sandy

thanks Sandy!

There is a major disconnect here.....why has 1 year gone by between the onset of symptoms and a presumptive diagnosis of RSD? Quality care (non-HMO/NHS style) should not have allowed this! Makes me so dang mad!!!

Also, this sounds a lot like a similar situation with Allen where a vascular injury led to nerve trauma, consequently, CRPS.

Reflex Sympathetic Dsytrophy is what they'll call it if they can't find anything. It's the least satisfying kind of diagnosis as it explains nothing. I'm not saying there's nothing wrong, just that if you have a diagnosis of RSD, it means they didn't find anything.

Tim, welcome to the confusing world of RSD.

My neurologist last fall gave me an EMG in both arms as I complained of a burning right shoulder (pre-RSD dx). I also had lower right burning back pain but he said that an EMG couldn't be done in the back for some reason (too many nerves?). The electrical part of the EMG didn't bother me - all I said was 'don't taze me bro!' and finally got a smile out of this guy. The needles didn't bother me either. Results were normal.

I've been seeing a pain manager for a few months and they diagnosed me with RSD lower and upper extremity after sympathetic blocks helped a little. Recently I asked my pain manager if I really had RSD and she replied that RSD is a diagnosis of eliminating other things. She suggested an EMG. After reading the results of my previous EMG she said that the normal results were further evidence that I DO have it.

I agree with Neoplasm, a very unsatisfying diagnosis.

I have pain but do not have it anywhere near what some of you experience.

Well I think the way my situation was handled was due to it being covered under Workers Compensation. they were awful...for example, when the DVT was discovered in my leg at the ER, the ER doctor wanted to admit me, but had to call the doctor's office I was being treated by, and the next thing I knew I was on my way home. and there I sat, for FOUR DAYS, before they sent me to a vascular surgeon. Then, when the vascular surgeon prescribed the blood thinners, WC took three days to approve the medication simply because of the cost of the meds. So in all, SEVEN days went by from initial diagnosis to beginning treatment.

What is this that you speak of with Allen? Fill me in please.

WC certainly explains the "dropping of the ball." It is a disasterous system. I have personally seen a lot of injuries made MUCH worse by the involvement of WC.

Allen, whose screen name I can't recall, had a vascular injury I believe, that caused an eventual onset of CRPS. Not unheard off...

I am sorry for your loss. But you are amoungst friends here!

If you've got RSD, trust me - there's all sorts of ways to prove it, and sadly enough with some of the things you've listed in your posting, it sounds like you might be on this path, but don't assume the worst, but instead just try and work each problem as they arise. Those who claim you can't prove it, or that the doctor's don't know anything but that they do, are sadly enough not nearly as educated as they believe they are. The physical changes that takes place when you've got RSD can be rather alarming I'm afraid to admit.

After crushing some nerves from the waist down, I was diagnosed by the chief of orthopedics at MO State University Medical school 2 weeks after the accident. Never in my whole life have I wished someone could have been wrong. Within just 3 months my bone mass was down by 50% for example and the list just goes on and on from there.

From what I've learned firsthand and seen in others, it appears that RSD and the severity of it is more dependent upon the actual injury and resulting damage than just about anything else. For example if there's extensive neurological damage that's irreversible, that's when there's greater odds that it could progress further, but other injuries can also be equally as facilitating the progression of RSD. For those who are dealing with RSD over a sprain that will in time heal, the odds are so will the RSD in time. Most reports I've read state that around 90% of all RSD does actually burn itself out within the first 24 months, but it's more about the actual injury than the RSD that decides this. Sort of like, "what's feeding the fire?"

After loosing total usage of my left leg it was 7 years before we crossed hemisphere's over to my right. Within 24 months it had done around 80% of the total damage I had on my left leg. Wow did it spread and fast! Between narcotic tissue, infections, blood clots and loss of use, it eventually led to the amputation of my left leg high above the knee. I was scheduled for a duel above the knee operation, but I backed out the day before surgery. Only a month ago I was reminded we still need to take the right leg. It's a ride I never would have dreamed possible, but like all challenges in life - we do learn how to live with whatever changes come our way.

As long as you don't go shopping for problems that don't exist and you just keep working the problem to the best of your abilities with a great doctor as you go along, you'll do just fine. It's when you allow the RSD/injury to take over your entire life when there's the real damage but you're to smart a person to allow that to happen. Here's hoping only the best for your future, Bob.