Living with Neuropathy - Welcome to the group

Hi @eep, I am so sorry you are having so much pain. I have had only a few of the things you have had, but I was having muscle spasms in my back that hurt like that a few months ago. My doctor tried 5 days of muscle relaxer medication, but it didn't help. The spasms were so strong that it felt like the bed bounced under me. Ice was the only thing that did. A month later, he gave me 10 days of the same medication, and it was like a miracle. It did not cure my back problem, and I still had a backache. It was only that the muscles in my back quit trying to protect me by making every movement so painful. Good luck. I hope you can get at least a little relief. Mary

Hello, I have loss of sensation on the left side of my body. Facial down to toes. Both feet have that "numbness sensation as well" Sometimes. my right hand and fingers. Nerve test on November 18 showed no damage to nerves (?? so then why are my nerves not working properly). One nerve they noted was slightly out of whack.

My PCP is not concerned. She told me that she has several patients with a lower B12 than I. My B12 was 203. She has me on 1,000 mg B12 a day. My neurologist whom I met on August 18 (symptoms started August 8) did some blood tests and ordered a brain Catscan (I have a piece of metal so no MRI). Catscan was fine. Then told me I'm probably focusing on the numbness too much. "Don't think about it so much and it might go away".
They both have been told by me that I am a vegetarian. We are at MUSC in Charleston, SC.

So, I'm starting to take 2,000 mg a day on my own. I've heard from others in FaceBook groups that I should probably be taking 4,000 mg a day of B12 since I cannot get the shots through my PCP.

I have pulmonary sarcoidosis which my pulmonary doctor says is in remission and now MAC has showed up in my sputum again - a different strain - and they asked for a repeat sputum before starting any treatment.

I requested B12 shots from the start - I prefer to be aggressive on treatment so it does not get worse and hopefully I can recover from this numbness. PCP said No to that and Neurology agreed with her.

Also have had a barium swallowing test, stomach emptying test as I feel full right away but apparently my stomach is a fast dump. Had an endoscopy and all is fine. No idea if I'm lacking intrinsic factor or what else.
I asked PCP to explain the flags in my blood work and she replied "this is what happens when patients can see their records". She was very condescending.

I just started reading Could It Be B12? An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses
Book by Jeffrey J. Stuart and Sally M. Pacholok

I could really use some feedback and guidance.
What do I do?

I started out doing a few things for balance. My body so messed up it's difficult to exercise. I have both knee replaced, I have a bad back, failed surgery, I have both shoulders reverse replacements, my right one done 4 times. I have a plate and some pins in my left wrist, and I have my right femur broken in two places in the last year. Exercise??? Not an easy thing to do when you can't stand and balance. I've tried some chair yoga, that wasn't easy either. I also have fibromyalgia my body hurts everywhere. I'm lucky I'm still moving. And of course exercise isn't my favorite thing to do. If I thought it was worth while, I would have kept it up. I get shooting pains all over like electric shocks. I have a particularly bad one where they took bone marrow out of butt. Sometimes, I'm sitting and all of a sudden I have to scream in pain, because the shocks hurt so bad. i get a lot of strange looks from people when that happens. Right now I think it's affecting my bowl and bladder. Having problems going to the bathroom. What's next? I can't wait till God says come with me.

@phoenix29412, My best advice is to keep doing what you are doing - asking questions. I would be a little irritated myself if my PCP was condescending when asked a simple question which is part of their job to explain to their patient. I might be condescending right back and ask - would you rather I look to Dr. Google to find my answers? Then explain that you want to learn as much as you can about your health so that you can make more informed decisions.

Here's a good article on B12 deficiency with reference links to studies that you might find helpful.
-- 9 Signs and Symptoms of Vitamin B12 Deficiency:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-b12-deficiency-symptoms
Also, here are a couple of "tools" you may want to add to your working with doctors arsenal:
-- Tools for the Visit: https://patientrevolution.org/visit-tools
-- Communication Barriers: https://patientrevolution.org/barriers

Thank you John.
In my frustration I do use 'Dr. Google", as a resource and source of information when I feel as if I'm fumbling in the dark. Right? My husband is a cancer researcher and every piece of information I find my husband always asks me "Where did you find that? What source?" so I always also look up Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic as well.
I've joined several FaceBook support groups where real people are trying to deal with similar problems. It's heartbreaking.
I'm going through my medications trying to weed out ones that may be contributing to depleted B12 (perhaps the main culprit for this left side sensation loss and tingling).
I'm taking 2 tabs of methotrexate (down from 4) a week and my husband said that the people with neuropathy and methotrexate are taking much bigger amounts.
My GI doctor put me on Prilosec (a proton pump inhibitor which I am NOT taking and Pepcid. I have very sporadic reflux. No appetite although I do get hungry once in a while. Lost smell and taste years ago and am on Marinol - it helps me to force myself to eat.
I'm frightened that it is a malabsorption issue. Intrinsic factor?
Thank you for the resources. And thanks for listening.

Hello, I have loss of sensation on the left side of my body. Facial down to toes. Both feet have that "numbness sensation as well" Sometimes. my right hand and fingers. Nerve test on November 18 showed no damage to nerves (?? so then why are my nerves not working properly). One nerve they noted was slightly out of whack.

My PCP is not concerned. She told me that she has several patients with a lower B12 than I. My B12 was 203. She has me on 1,000 mg B12 a day. My neurologist whom I met on August 18 (symptoms started August 8) did some blood tests and ordered a brain Catscan (I have a piece of metal so no MRI). Catscan was fine. Then told me I'm probably focusing on the numbness too much. "Don't think about it so much and it might go away".
They both have been told by me that I am a vegetarian. We are at MUSC in Charleston, SC.

So, I'm starting to take 2,000 mg a day on my own. I've heard from others in FaceBook groups that I should probably be taking 4,000 mg a day of B12 since I cannot get the shots through my PCP.

I have pulmonary sarcoidosis which my pulmonary doctor says is in remission and now MAC has showed up in my sputum again - a different strain - and they asked for a repeat sputum before starting any treatment.

I requested B12 shots from the start - I prefer to be aggressive on treatment so it does not get worse and hopefully I can recover from this numbness. PCP said No to that and Neurology agreed with her.

Also have had a barium swallowing test, stomach emptying test as I feel full right away but apparently my stomach is a fast dump. Had an endoscopy and all is fine. No idea if I'm lacking intrinsic factor or what else.
I asked PCP to explain the flags in my blood work and she replied "this is what happens when patients can see their records". She was very condescending.

I just started reading Could It Be B12? An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses
Book by Jeffrey J. Stuart and Sally M. Pacholok

I could really use some feedback and guidance.
What do I do?

My mother was sick in 2018, diagnosed with everything except Poems. Finally went to Mayo Clinic in 2021, diagnosed with Poems. We just started revelmid (spelling may be off). Now she been taking it for only a month off and on as required I guess, she has suddenly broken out with a skin rash all over the body lie hives. Is this related to Poems, cause everything else has been ruled out

Hello Sally (@sallymagint), welcome to Mayo Connect, we are so glad you found us. This is a great place to ask questions, share your story and learn about others with similar health issues and possible treatments. Neuropathy can be difficult to comprehend sometimes due to number of different types, diagnosis and possible treatments. It's pretty awesome you have found some experienced specialists that are helping you. That is a big step.

Do you have a diagnosis you can share?

Mine is idiopathic small fiber peripheral neuropathy plus a few more issues. I have to share a story about the idiopathic diagnosis. I was at a Minnesota Neuropathy Association that had 3 different speakers. There was a short questions and answers session after each speaker. The first two speakers were asked the same question - how many people around the world are affected by peripheral neuropathy? The first speaker said the number was around 20 million or so. The second speaker said including China about 80 million had some form of neuropathy. The third speaker, an 80+ year old neurologist who still had a small practice and is doing research at the University of Minnesota to develop a inexpensive test to determine if you have peripheral neuropathy, said "in deference to my younger colleagues, idiopathic was named after the idiot neurologist who did the diagnosis. If you live long enough everyone gets neuropathy because the nerves will eventually start dying off". He drew the biggest laugh from the crowd.

Hoping for some answers for you.

John