SSEP - could it really be normal?

[sgbear98]

At the reluctance of my Neuro (one in which I am ready to fire anyway - because I dont trust his opinion anymore...anyway) He ordered an SSEP.

During the exam the poo technician had a heck of a time getting my left leg to react to the electrical stimulus. I told her I had drop foot and that I have weakness and numbess in that leg. So she turned up the ampage and after three attempts turned it up again and again, till finally my little toe twitched. The assitant that was with the technican's eyes were as wide as saucers and kept asking me if I was ok and I felt it...which I didn't. A passing nurse even did a double take and came into the room concerned, the tech told her I couldn't feel it and that it was ok. My right leg of course was set to the normal parameters and responded normally. I heard the technicial tell the assistant that two channels were not responding but the others looked good (no idea what that meant)

Anyway, I get a message from my Neuro (that I don't trust) and he tells me that all of my responses were normal.

Really?!?  Is that really possible to have that much deficit and still be normal, or have I truely hit the wall with this doc, and he is hell bent in proving all the other physicians wrong?

Any thoughts on this? and does anyone know what channels are?

Thank you for your time!

[sgbear98]

Thank you ladies for your comments.

**Sierra28 - I understand keeping a hold of the neuro doc when they order the tests you need despite "thier judgement". It is the only reason I am still with this guy (though now that his tests are done I am moving on. It is clear he no longer has my interest at heart).

I still have hope though! Today I see an MS specialist, turns out he is the director of the MS clinic here...I am excited, terrified and nervous all at the same time -- so close to an answer... but I am so terrified he is going to say "I don't know either...sorry".

Good luck with your testing results. I hope yours is much more informative than mine.

**SarahL2491 - FOUR Neuros!!! That makes my stomach hurt just to think about! I am glad you were finally able to find a good Neuro, I am learning that they are relatively hard to come by. I would love to hear about the one that threw the report accross the table at you some time...did HE survive that encounter? :o)

I also want to thank you for that link. It was very informative. It only affirms my notion that the "normal" reading to the SSEP by my Neuro needs to be read by someone else. I clearly heard the assitant say that "two channels were not responding" (on the affected leg) and that is clearly not normal - although now I want to know which channels weren't responding...wouldn't that tell me where the damage is? Interesting.

You are right the test is a little painful. While my left leg didn't hurt at all, the right leg was definitely uncomfortable - very similar to the sensation of your foot waking up after it has fallen asleep (and not being able to do anything about it but keep it perfectly still)...the Assistant noticed it right off that I was more tense during the testing on the right leg (I almost burst out laughing when they told me to close my eyes and relax - and pretend they weren't zapping me). The technician smiled and nodded and told him "That's because she can feel this side"

I also came accross this article:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1139906-overview#a1
It breaks down everything regarding the test ... funny there was even a paragraph there that covered my situation and it too said it would be abnormal...go figure.

Thanks for listening to my worries!

[SarahL2491]

Well, my 2nd neuro did one on me and he did it himself.  It hurt if I remember right, he sent me to a neuro surgeon for carpel tunnel, I cancelled, I had no pain, no symptoms, why cut?  that was 7 yrs ago.  He did an MRI and office called and said it was abnormal and I asked to see him sooner than 3 months and he said no need, so dumped him, 3rd neuro said he wouldn't be a 2nd opinion, 4th neuro said he wasn't about to repeat all the tests, this was the idiot that threw my doctor's report back across the table at me.  4th neuro smiled and read all of these and said MS......go figure.

Here is a pretty good web page, go to the bottom where it defines all of the tests one by one,, if it does not come thru here, PM me for the link.  

Thank you for posting this because it reminded me I have to try and see if the original hospital in 1981 did one of the brain, I remember it and would love to see those results.........

Sounds like no one in the office really was efficient at these things?  Keep us posted, sorry to hear about all of this, but trust your "instinct" with these bad neuros.

http://www.operativemonitoring.com/ep.htm

[Sierra28]

Gosh, I don't know enough about the test and how it relates to know for sure, but that does seem odd.

I just had an SSEP done this last Friday and I know my affected leg lagged behind my other leg, but to what degree and how much is considered "normal" I don't know. Waiting to get my results still.

I know what you mean about your doctor though. My current neuro (the 2nd I've seen) is a pill and seems to want to redo everything my prior neuro did...just because. But he's also the only dr who sees the benefit in my finally getting the 3T MRIs I want, so I'm sticking it out a little longer. At least while I work my way up the waiting list at the MS clinic. :)

Hope someone else can answer better than I, 'cause I wouldn't mind knowing those things too!