1. < Neuropathy

New to this forum, please help me, have SMALL FIBER NEUROPATHY

Posted by alladria @alladria, Mar 19, 2019

Hello
I just found this website and have a question. I would appreciate your help. I'm sorry for my English, it's not perfect.
It's been a year since I'm having pin and needles sensations mostly on left side of my body, but sometimes on the right side but not much. Firstly I could feel it only in my left foot, now I can feel the buzzing, burning and tingling in my knee, around my left eye as well, my heart is also behaving strangely lately. My doctor ordered MRI of my spine which showed that L5-S1 disc bulge is pressing the descending S1 nerve root. I also had a skin biopsy performed. Epidermal nerve fiber ( ENF ) studies showed borderline low ENF densities in the left calf and thigh with minimal perivascular chronic inflammation in the calf and negative stains for amyloid. Is it possible that the pinched nerve in my spine is causing Small Fiber Neuropathy ?
Thank you very much for any help.

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salsa | @salsa | May 3, 2019
In reply to @jager5210 "I'm curious. Doctors swear by epidurals. I had 3, 2 were guided. Best effect lasted less..." + (show)
@jager5210

I'm curious. Doctors swear by epidurals. I had 3, 2 were guided. Best effect lasted less than a week. I'm guessing I've talked to well over 20 people who have had epidurals for back pain. No one reported any improvement. I wonder what the experience is in this community.

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i have had 8 epidurals, only one did not work, the others provided relief for quite awhile, but in the end it only masks the issues, eventually symptoms come back, but I would say they have been beneficial for me in the long run

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markmoran3 | @markmoran3 | May 3, 2024
In reply to @dwilkin "These are hard to know. I have cysts and lesions in and around my lower spine...." + (show)
@dwilkin

These are hard to know. I have cysts and lesions in and around my lower spine. I have small fiber neuropathy diagnosed via a skin punch test. In my case, I had similar symptoms in different joints. Consider any trauma to your body via viruses, surgery or bacterial issues to see if those may have contributed to your current symptoms. In my case, I had a malabsorption problem from abdominal surgery 7 years ago and the lack of vitamins/minerals that are absorbed in the lower intestines resulted in nerve damage. It took 4.5 years of doctors to get the proper diagnosis. Now that I know the underlying cause, I can address it. I’m getting better. Small fiber nerves can regenerate. It ain’t easy but if you find out the “why” you have a shot at reversing it. The odds are not great and many cases are ideopathic, but I can tell you it can be solved. Best of luck and I hope this helps. Btw, cut out sugar, gluten and dairy. Very inflammatory. PS. The back problem could be it. Welcome to the journey 🙂

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How did u find out malabsorption? I question this and my vitamins sre normal

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catmac444 | @catmac444 | 4 days ago
In reply to @johnbishop "Hi @alladria, welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I have idiopathic small fiber peripheral neuropathy. I have..." + (show)
@johnbishop

Hi @alladria, welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I have idiopathic small fiber peripheral neuropathy. I have no medical training or background but do believe that it's possible for a pinched nerve to be the cause of small fiber neuropathy. Here's some information about nerve damage that discusses the subject a little.

Autonomic dysfunction and small fiber neuropathy from cervical injury
-- https://www.spine-health.com/forum/discussion/79014/pain/neck-pain-cervical/autonomic-dysfunction-and-small-fiber-neurapathy-cervical-injury

You may want to join the following discussion and meet other members who are discussing small fiber neuropathy.

> Groups > Neuropathy > Just Diagnosed with Small Fiber Neuropathy
-- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/just-diagnosed-2/

Have your doctors discussed or suggested any treatments to help with your symptoms?

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Can you repost that link? It doesn't take me to the forum.. just the main page.

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1 reply
Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | 4 days ago
In reply to @catmac444 "Can you repost that link? It doesn't take me to the forum.. just the main page." + (show)
@catmac444

Can you repost that link? It doesn't take me to the forum.. just the main page.

Jump to this post

Not sure why but the article seems to have disappeared from their website and I'm not able to locate that specific one again. I did do a search on the link above and found a good list of articles and videos when I did a search using "small fiber neuropathy from cervical injury".
https://www.spine-health.com/search?keys=small+fiber+neuropathy+from+cervical+injury
You might want to play with different search terms to find something more specific.

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CaliGirl1 | @jyoung1963 | 4 days ago

I also have SFN. I also had a terrible pinched nerve in my arm for 9 mos. until it finally healed. I have read and heard from others that a pinched nerve can lead to SFN. I’m not absolutely sure, and need to study this further. But possibly, yes.

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suetex | @suetex | 2 days ago

I have SFN and will share my expirence so take from it what you will. SFN is discovered by a biopsy which gives pretty definative results. The cause of the SFN can be more of a journey. Mine was cased by Sjogren's Disease which is autoimmune and causes the body to attack itself in many ways. SFN was one of my ways without symptoms until later when I developed foot cramps delux. Which I cured (so far) by putting a pillow to lift up the blankets from my feet. I didn't expect it to help but it did. Go figure. The Sjogren's will take an exprienced rheummy or a knowledable doc. You will have (likely) a history of other autoimmune diseases. I am recieving infusions of IvIg every 3 weeks for the Sjogren's which is all they have at this time. Fortunently, I am old enough (and how!) for medicare. There are biologics in the works.

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