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Help me diagnose

Chronic Pain | Last Active: Jul 23 6:09pm | Replies (104)

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Profile picture for mmmerrimac @mmmerrimac

I'm sorry you've been going through this. Have you had a skin punch biopsy? My neurologist suggested it to rule out Parkinson's (I had many of the symptoms). The results did rule out Parkinson's, but they indicated small fiber neuropathy. As I understand it, SFN doesn't show up in EMGs, which I had had. Now we're trying to find out what has caused the SFN, but at least we have a focus, and the loss of the small nerve fibers explains a lot of the symptoms I've been dealing with over the years (severe pain in various parts of my body, fatigue, rapid heartbeat, etc.).

I live near Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and have been seeing a neurologist at their SFN center. Most doctors aren't familiar this problem, so you need to find the right specialist. I finally got somewhere by going to a neurologist, after years of seeing all kinds of doctors for a "constellation" of symptoms. Neurologists do specialize, though, so it's helpful to search for "small fiber neuropathy specialists near me".

Here are some links that might be helpful. Good luck!
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17479-small-fiber-neuropathy
Anne Louise Oaklander video on SFN


Good luck!

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Replies to "I'm sorry you've been going through this. Have you had a skin punch biopsy? My neurologist..."

Skin punch biopsy is not done at any hospital where I live. How is it done? And what do you mean by fatigue symptom? In my case, it feels like my lower legs have run out of all energy. Just my lower legs