I have wondered if my Neuropathy came from an unknown foreign virus that nearly killed me. I was sick for 2 years, diagnosed with the 'flu' a dozen times, then chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Toward the end, there were days when all I could do was lay in bed and moan and groan - the pain was everywhere.
I became so weak that sometimes all I did all day was pick up my daughter from school.
I told every doctor I had but none of them knew what to do. When I told the Hormone Doctor, he drew 2 cases of vials of blood and had his lab test me for everything under the sun. They found cytomegalovirus and a virus that no one had seen before but there was a lot of it and it was actively replicating. My adrenals and immune system were so worn out from fighting the virus that they were dangerously low. My doctor suggested that I take the results to my Internal Medicine Doctor who could prescribe heavy anti-virals for the cytomegalovirus. There was no known medicine for the mystery virus but the anti-virals for the cytomegalovirus might kill the mystery virus too. I also went to Santa Barbara several times where a doctor took the blood out of my body and ran it under ultraviolet light and put it back in (it kills viruses).
My Internal Medicine Doctor went out on a limb and prescribed Valcyte, plus other medicines to beef up T-cells. In about a month, I started feeling better. My doctor said I had been about 1/2 an inch from dead. The hormone doctor gave me human growth hormone to build muscle back up - I went back to the gym, started running and working again, and finished raising my daughter.
We stopped the Valcyte after about a year and tapered off the other medicines. Doctors said that the virus never really dies, remnants of it stay in the body and if I get the flu or a lot of stress, the mystery virus can start replicating again. They told me to get a flu shot every year so I do. I am careful to try to avoid getting this Chinese virus that's going around because I'm sure my body doesn't want it!
I'm reading your experiences with viruses and Neuropathy with interest.
Peggy