Thanks John,

I have not used Google Scholar, so that'll be fun to explore!

As with everyone else, it's a long story. I'll keep it brief.

It's been going on about 4 years (I'm 51); when I first got treatment, they assumed my foot/leg pain was a pinched nerve, and I got a steroid shot into my spine. I then got two infections... the timing was too much of a coincidence, so it led to a flurry of evaluations. I was also trying to track my pain to see what if anything helped/hurt... I was hypervigilant, which was awful.

In any case, about a year and a half in, I had my first small fiber neuropathy diagnosis via skin biopsy.

I feel like I've had every blood test on the planet; mostly normal. DNA normal too. Recently, I had an out of range lambda/kappa in my urine. That spun up another round of deeper diagnosis, and it looks like I'm just at the start of kidneys not working as well as they could.

The only thing the blood tests ever turned up was that I was not covered for pneumonia. I've had the vaccine and it "took" almost as well as they'd like, but I didn't retain as much coverage as the doctors would have liked.

The thing is, you never know what's related. And, all the different medical investigations take a lot of time, which has an impact on work.

Anyways, I have a rash below my knees/elbows, pain/tingling/numbness below knees and elbows. I have some hand limitations, though tests for strength and such don't show weakness. The pain is really bad. I'd say I'm usually at a 5 or so. My muscles are always sore (mostly legs / hips, but also hands). Acupuncture helps. Gabapentin makes me suicidal. I've tried cymblta (helped, but the help wore off while the side-effects did not). I've tried medical marijuana. Nortryptaline (?). Now I'm trying lyrica. I'm also on something for my kidneys.

I get really tired from the constant pain. For example, on weekend days with my young kids if I start with them at 8AM, but 2 or 3, I need a nap. And I have a hard time walking because of aches.

It's hard because the family doesn't really understand.

And, about a week or two ago, I noticed a heavy tread on my left foot and wonder if that's the start of "foot drop".

To top it off, I'm a world-class athlete. I'm struggling mentally with facing losing that, and I struggle to train the way I'd like.