Good evening @laureen6844, and a special welcome to Connect and the members who struggle with the symptoms of neuropathy. There are quite a few different types of neuropathy. Only SFN (small-fiber polyneuropathy) can be determined by a skin biopsy. This is a simple skin plug that is sent off to one of the few places where the examination of the makeup of a single cell can be determined. Mine was .09% if I recall.....meaning that there just aren't enough nerves in a particular cell to make sure the limb or body part can carry out its assigned job. Without enough presence to do their job......the only thing that happens is that the brain sends back a pain signal.

........Kind of a simple explanation but in the right direction. I mention it because SFN is responsible for not only pain but also some pretty severe failed attempts at sending the right signals.

I am also regretting that you were disappointed with the relationship with your clinician, a neurologist. On the contrary, my neurologist was all over it. Medications with goals for pain reduction. Careful guidelines for gabapentin dosages were preceded by a process of Shared Decision Making........which is a format for making sure that there are no stones left unturned and that you as the patient were an active participant. Feedback needs to be accurate. Medications and treatments like MFR need to have a compliant patient.

And finally......I will attempt to highlight my life partners stroll down the avenue with restless legs and what I call "sleep starts" or twitches in other areas of the body. He started on gabapentin and is now beginning his daily medications with another medication. His first "alert" on his cell phone is at 4:30 p.m. That means he gets started earlier and before sleep becomes a lost cause.

Finally, both of us actively pursue medical cannabis solutions and share our experiences with my MFR therapist and Jay's specialist.

Our efforts are mutually supported and while not at all welcome in our private world, are tolerated with the help of our teams. We both go to every appointment together to take notes and make sure that all the issues are on the table.

I notice that John mentions the multidisciplinary approaches he has encountered. And we support you giving it another go.

May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.

Chris

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