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Pain & new symptoms after an EMG/NCS

I wish I would have stopped the test I for some reason was too scared to speak up probably due to my anxiety that I have and I was already nervous about the test. The test to me was extremely painful it felt like every shock was from an electrical outlet or taser. And I didn't stop the test and let them keep hurting me. I don't know why I didn't stop it, it's something I'm still trying to process 2 weeks after having the test. I've been beating myself up because from the moment I left the office after having the EMG/nerve study I started having increased pain, my hand went numb, since then I've had weakness in my entire arm with the pain and pain using my hand. I think it was a mistake that I was told to do this test because all I had was pain an on/off weird symptoms after the injury.  The injury was just a bad bruise on the ulnar side of my forearm. I didn't have numbness or anything before the test. I thought the weird on/off symptoms I was having after the injury were tingling, but I HAD NO idea tingling meant pins & needles. I feel stupid for this as well. I literally just looked up tingling, bc to me a tingle is like a weird bubbly sensation in your skin. Again I know it was stupid for not stopping the test or speaking up and again I don't know why I didn't say anything. And now I'm having a hard time living with the fact that I cause myself to have probably permanent nerve damage all because I didn't stop the test. CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF THIS IS PERMANENT DAMAGE FROM NOT STOPPING THE TEST OR WILL THE NERVES HEAL? They ended up testing all 3 nerves in my entire arm, even though my injury was in my forearm.
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Avatar universal
I would think the first thing to do, and maybe you already did it, is to go back to the neurologist and discuss what's going on.  I've had an EMG, and it's a pretty useless test most of the time.  It is painful.  It wasn't as painful to me as you're describing, but everyone has different pain thresholds.  But working yourself all up about something you already did won't help any, it's done.  So now you have to focus on what's happening now.  I don't know what's going on with you but your neurologist should have a better idea.  If not, see a different neurologist.  It could be you're just really freaked out about it and magnifying it, but I think we all need to eliminate all possibility of something physiological going on before going there.  Again, it's an uncomfortable and unreliable test.  It's useful if you do test positive, but rarely does that happen even when there is a nerve problem.  But again, you already had the test, so let that part go.  Peace.
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thank you for responding! I did go back to the neurologist and he didn’t have an answer as to why I was having the reaction I did after the test. All he kept telling me was nerve study or EMG test are perfectly safe. Then he wanted to say that I had these symptoms before the test but I did not. He can give me any answers and just prescribed me gabapentin.I wish I would’ve known how unreliable these tasks were. I wonder if the neurologist started the test turned off the settings because I wasn’t making a reaction to the shocks, maybe he thought I couldn’t feel them. But I held in my pain inside. And took the shocks as they came because they were short little bursts of pain. Thank you for your advice I know I should let it go since it’s already done and over with but it’s hard since I’m having the increased pain, weakness, and difficulty using my hand after. And it’s hard that no one can give me an answer as to what happened. My fear is taking over. I just wish someone had an answer and that would help ease my mind.
I wouldn't advise taking the gabapentin until you see a different neurologist.  While this med is an old med for a couple kinds of nerve pain, any med can be a problem especially when it involves the brain or nervous system, and you don't even know what's going on.  Always be suspicious when any doc tells you he doesn't know what you have and then prescribes a palliative med rather than trying to figure out what is wrong.  I'm suspecting you just had a very sensitive reaction to a test that felt pretty much what an EMG feels like.  It runs electric impulses from needles inserted, as you now know, and yeah, that is going to be somewhat uncomfortable.  In your case, you had a very sensitive reaction to it, and hopefully it goes away, but again, taking a med when you don't know what you're treating is a bad idea.  That's just a doctor's way of getting rid of you.  It's like so many docs giving us antibiotics when they have no diagnosis and taking them can be a problem just to get us out of the office.  So if this continues see a better doc.  Keep in mind that the neurologists who do the most EMGs aren't the best neurologists, because the best ones do things that are much more lucrative.  Again, something I found out after I had mine.  Peace.
Man, this website is having problems again.  Have to repeat what I said.  I hate that waste of time.  Anyway, I would advise against taking the gabapentin at this point.  That's a palliative for a couple kinds of nerve pain, but without a diagnosis.  Your neurologist sounds like he was just trying to get you out of the office.  Neurologists who do EMGs aren't the best ones, as it's not a very lucrative thing to do.  I'd see a different and better doc before I took a drug that can be a problem because it affects the brain and nervous system.  Not the worst drug, but it can cause problems taking and trying to stop taking.  So either wait it out and see if you're just overly sensitive to what sounds pretty much what an EMG feels like.  I mean, they're running impulses from needles stuck inside you, so yeah, it's not comfortable, but not the most painful thing either.  Maybe this just goes away.  But if not, see a better doc before taking a drug the doc prescribed just because it treats some kinds of nerve pain again probably just to get you out of the office.  It's what they do.  I'd want a specific diagnosis before taking that drug, as it's not just a temporary pain reliever but a drug you take for a pretty long period of time often before it starts working.  Peace.
Thank you for writing me & what you say makes perfect sense. I still haven’t taken the Gabapentin & I don’t think I will. I wish i would’ve never done the EMG/ nerve study test bc now i feel I never needed it to begin with. I am still having issues with my whole arm bc the neurologist tested my whole arm. My injury,  was a bruise I had was only on the side of my forearm. Since the EMG i have so many issues with my hand/ fingers & bad pain in my whole arm. I saw doctors after the EMG & all of them said the EMG can’t cause these issues and it’s just anxiety. It’s frustrating that they won’t listen to my symptoms & just throw anxiety meds or this gabapentin at me. It seems like I lost muscle or fat in my forearm after the test.
Avatar universal
How are you doing now?

Mine was absolutely awfull. Electrical shocks felt like I was getting electrocuted.

I’m on the small side 52 kg ( 114 pounds) and 1m59 (5,2 feet) and my guess is that the doctor used too high of a voltage.

The doctor had problems with the machine and was very frustrated and in a bad mood.
He kept zapping me in each point 10 times really hard.

The needle was thick / long and the doctor pushed it in really hard and deep. He was constantly stirring it when it was in my muscle.

I have been through alot in my life. But this test was a really traumatic experience.

Before I got the tests my symptoms where all gone in hands and feet. I actually went for tingling in the left side of my face. But since they couldn’t test that, they decided to test my left leg and arm.

After the tests everything is 100x than before. Pins and needles in legs, feet, arms and hands even in places I never had them before.
I feel like the electrical shocks did the most damage. All the spots where these were applied to hurt really bad. (Left knee (back), inside of the elbow, my wrist and my foot)
Since the tests I’m also having migraines.
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Avatar universal
I started an EMG in 2017. They inserted the needle in my arm and then twisted it around until I screamed for them to stop. I will never have that type of exam ever again. I don't care if I have a muscle degenerative illness. NEVER. AGAIN. I still feel the pain. Every day my arm hurts where the needle was inserted. Some days I can barely move my arm. I hope you are not feeling anything like this.
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