Good afternoon @joypalmer1, I notice that Amanda has reached out to some other SFN (Small Fiber Neuropathy) members. I didn't see my name......so I am kind of butting in here. However, there is one easy way to validate the SFN diagnosis and that is a simple skin punch biopsy. It just takes seconds and then is sent to a special lab where the number of nerve cells can be counted, My result was .09% which is considered severe. I also have the standard burning and pain as well as the other symptoms of tingle tangles. (that's what I call them).
The cause of my SFN is trauma to include quite a few falls, accidents, and surgeries. You will also hear from @johnbishop who has SFN but only numbness and tingling. Each of us has physical challenges in different ways.
And now for your other question......and that is about COVID. I have had all of the vaccines and boosters without any SFN reaction. However, right now I do have COVID....the newest variant. Why and how I got it I don't know. I do know that COVID on top of SFN is quite a tough challenge. Today is day 13 and I am beginning to feel a bit better and may be on the road to recovery.
Would you mind sharing what treatments and medications you are using or have tried. That would be helpful.
May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris
Thank you for reaching out. My neurologist has been discouraging me from doing the skin biopsy for several reasons. He said he is pretty sure that’s what I have, so why do something invasive that isn’t necessary. He also said if it comes back negative, that doesn’t mean I don’t have it, it could just be that it didn’t show up in the piece they took. So I thought I wanted to do the test to know for sure, but am now pretty confused if I won’t know either way. I just recently found out this might be the diagnosis, so I haven’t tried a lot of things yet. I did try acupuncture, and that didn’t help. I am also taking a 5000 mg of Vitamin B12 every day. I guess I could have SFN without pain and burning. I’m just fearful of what is to come and how fast the progression will be.