Can you have peripheral neuropathy with negative nerve. conduction tests? tested positive for bilateral carpal tunnel

Neuropathy: Yes its quite possible that it will not be picked up on EMG. Peripheral neuropathy is a small fiber disease - EMG's are not very specific with small fiber disease. The best is to do a non-invasive Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV) study which is a more specific test for small fiber function. - keep in mind that there is a great deal of controversy on the application of EMG's

Yes: You could possess a small fibre neuropathy, where EMG test would uncover only minimal and subtle variations. The carpal tunnel syndrome could emerge independently due to repetitive wrist/hand flexion extension such as keyboarding, and might not relate at all to a more widespread neuropathy.

Peripheral neuropath: If severe enough, will be evident on the standard nerve studies, but the examiner must also at times test for the neuropathy by testing other muscles away from the hands. This is known as a neuropathy profile and some tests don't do this. If one has an early neuropathy that affect the toes, it may not have been significant in the hands yet while still in some ways contributing to the overall exam

Carpal tunnel or PN: If your nerve conduction test showed you have carpal tunnel syndrome, that is your diagnosis. Your nerve conduction test is not normal or negative if this is the diagnosis. This is a good test for distinguishing these two conditions. It is possible to have rare kinds of neuropathy with a normal nerve conduction test- this is why it is important to have an interview and exam with the test minder