@nkhan1958, @johnbishop, Good evening Nazir Kahn and welcome to our wonderful world of sharing experiences and supporting each other. I am very impressed with the care provided by Mayo Clinic Rochester and therefore I can only assume that your diagnosis of small fiber neuropathy was made after you had a skin test to measure the density of the small fibers in a small sample from your leg. If so, then we have the same condition, one in which our small nerves are starting to struggle to keep up the work they do for us. As I understand it, when that happens and they are unable to "communicate" or do their job well, the only thing they know how to do is send back pain signals. Since my diagnosis, my journey into the world of chronic pain has been rapid and intense. At this point, I am focused on controlling the level of pain and discomfort so that I may live my life without constant discomfort. Here is what I have found to be helpful, expressed in terms of my daily regimen. 1. Sleep in if you can and enjoy the morning's moments without pain.
2. Take a hot shower hitting all those suspect areas....hands, feet, and other muscles. 3. Turn on some beautiful music and do 20 minutes of gentle yoga stretches and strength building exercises followed by 10-15 minutes of meditation focusing on relaxation and awareness. 4. Ease into your day without a focus on productivity or anxiety-producing efforts. As I learned, anxiety produces pain which produces more anxiety and then more pain. Depending on where you are in the development of SFN, you may want to add medical marijuana to your coffee. A 2-1 level works for me the entire morning. (I can explain more if you choose.) . 5. Give your body permission to rest. If others are around, simply say, "My body needs to rest now." 20 minutes and you will feel stronger and have less anxiety. 6. Evening time, depending on how much activity you had during the day, should be a chance to prepare for sleeping. I again use my form of pain control. 7. After talking with your heath professionals, you may want to use a couple of medications or their equivalent, gabapentin, and nortriptyline. I take them only at night about one hour before bedtime. And finally, if the tingling in your hands and/or feet is intense, try getting a lidocaine cream compounded for you by a pharmacist. It is topical and yet it lasts just long enough for you to drift off into what should be good healing sleep. Don't give up......you can find the quality of life that you deserve. Best wishes, may you have pain free moments, hours, and days to enjoy. Chris
I have neuropathy more advanced than anything yoga, showers, or resting could mitigate. It used to feel like tingles, now it's red hot fireworks shooting up my legs 8 or 10 times per second and it keep going until I take gaba or lyrica and wait for it to take effect. It gets worse when I rest, the pain subsides while I'm walking and running. It has worsened in a short amount of time, 6 months. Peggy