@jesfactsmon and @johnbishop thanks for the welcome and interest.
As far as injuries which could have contributed to some of my issues, there have been plenty of "epic wrecks" but when the hip problems began they came out of nowhere and progressed very quickly. I also assumed that they were probably from years of "abuse and insults" to my body but the xrays and scans all showed that my hips looked perfect. No signs of arthritis or any types of injury related damage. That was the first time a doctor diagnosed anything I was dealing with as nerve related.
As far as brain fog/dizziness/fatigue being possible side effects of lyrica (btw, 150 mg twice a day) and/or Cymbalta (60 mg once a day), i am sure they add to it although i had terrible bouts of fatigue before starting lyrica or cymbalta. It is although difficult to trace the correlation exactly since I was not diagnosed with Celiac disease until i was in my mid 20s and, at the time, it had progressed to the point that I was very sick so the doctors felt that it was probably the reason I was having so many issues and that they would resolve as my body healed.
I did mention all the different issues I have had over the years....I would still be typing! Lol but without lyrica i have terrible spasms, particularly in my neck. I was getting botox injections to release the muscles enough to allow to at least hold my head straight until lyrica was started and it has been a miracle med for me. Without lyrica my leg jumps and twitches constantly. Sleep is virtually impossible no matter how exhausted i am and the neck spasms are constant so that is the one med i could never do without. Cymbalta us the low dose prescribed to help with pain. I have questioned how much it helps in the past and gone off of it but then I am plagued by awful, debilitating "brain and spinal zaps" Not sure how else to describe it.
As for info about this type of neuropathy. The technical name is Small Fiber Polyneuropathy. I guess in 2003 a doctor or scientist discovered a specific type of neuropathy. He (or a team) began researching and did a trial with about 400 people that had the specific symptoms they were looking at. If that group well over a 1/3 were found to have SFPN caused by diabetes, another portuon of about the same size had the neuropathy issues as a result of another underlying condition or illness. There was a very small portion that had the issues as a result of an autoimmune disease that was due to the over production of a specific autoantibody. It was not until 2017 that they were able to identify the markers and then develop a way to test for it. The test that "proved" my diagnosis was the TS-HDS Autoantibody test. The result was "abnormal" because my IgM vs TS-HDS was 21,000[H] and normal is <10,000
The punch biopsy was ordered to confirm the diagnosis and my results for that were "abnormal sweat gland nerve fiber density with abnormal intrqepidermal nerve fiber density" All 3 areas tested showed, "nerve fiber density is significantly decreased" with values of 4.3 vs norm of >7.0, 2.8 vs norm of >5.7 and 1.3 vs norm of >3.0. I guess those values are already kind of crummy and they will continue to decline with time. Treatments are aimed at trying to slow the process if possible and trying to minimize the effects.
This form attacks the nerves controlling all of my parasympathetic systems so basically everybone of my body's functions goes haywire from time to time.
Hope that you didn't fall asleep reading that!! Anyway, @jesfactsmon, you mentioned something about options you and your wife have found that help with energy. I would love any info you could share!!! I am so tired of being tired!
I hope that answered all your questions. I made notes to try and get to everything. I am really glad I found this site and plan on being an active member.
Also, I would love to get in touch with @jenniferhunter. I am accepting that jumpers is probably not the best discipline for me anymore and hunters is the direction I am looking to head
Thanks so much and look forward to hearing from everyone soon.
Megan