Saw rheumatologist yesterday & informed me that I do have some inflamitory arthritis but bone scan showed very little - in wrists & ankles. She said that my pain doesn’t correlate to the little arthritis found on bone scan. She thinks I have peripheral neuropathy and wants me to get an EMG. Any thoughts on this? Experience with EMG?
Guido, you aren’t losing your mind or imagining your symptoms. There are other ways that your PsA could be causing you pain. Am I correct in assuming that you also have tingling in your hands and/or feet?
EMG is just annoying – zap after electrical zap to test how your nerves are transmitting. Mine showed nothing. The neurologist said he suspected that swelling of the tissues was putting pressure on the nerves. In fact, now that I am on aggressive therapy, the neuro symptoms have pretty much gone.
Neither a bone scan nor an EMG (nor an X-ray) will show inflammation/swelling of tendons and ligaments, one of the things that can make us hurt so badly.
You’re not “lost”. Nor are you imagining things. They just haven’t figured it out yet.
Remind me, what meds are you on these days?
Don’t freak out. A lot of us have “pain that doesn’t correlate”. With the right drugs, a lot of that goes away, and the rest can be managed.
It could be that you do have some neuropathy, but you may have fibromyalgia too. I was in horrible pain for the last few years. Started on Lyrica, and WOW! What a difference!
I felt lost, and alone, and all sorts of grumpy too. It gets better.