Wii insurance cover it?

Please tell me where you read about neuropathy and bowel and bladder issues being related to nutrition? I have all of the above symptoms plus some and have had three stomach surgeries. I am convinced malabsorption is an issue, but as has been said, doctors are not trained in nutrition.
Thanks! Sita

I would very much appreciate journal articles stating this!

Fred
Can your primary do a Mayo referral?

Hi @sita, I'm not sure what article was mentioned but there are a lot of them out there. What started me on my journey to eating healthier was a book I found – The Wahls Protocol by Dr. Terry Wahls. She has MS and was able to get rid of most of her symptoms through cellular nutrition. You can read more about her here – https://terrywahls.com/about/about-terry-wahls/.

No other remedies for pain or treatment plans. Undergoing another MRI next week.
My PC chooses not to refer at this time. If the Neurosurgeon comes up without any solutions after MRI review I will ask him to refer.
Thanks for your help

You can have your physician refer you to Mayo. There is a section on the Mayo website for that. I was able to refer myself to Mayo after 5 local surgeons missed the problem and wouldn't help me. I contacted them on the website, they called me and had me send in all the imaging (spine problem). A surgeon at Mayo reviewed the imaging and offered an appointment. The website also has a section to show what insurance they accept. I have heard it can be difficult to be seen there, but I got in. It was after 3 years of missed diagnoses, and that likely was a factor, and I had an issue that surgery could repair. You do need to go through proper channels and have them issue a patient number. I don't think walking in cold and waiting will work. Once you are a patient, you can wait for available appointments on a standby basis. You might try a neurologist outside of Mayo and see if they can refer you.

I recently had a biopsy and my Neurologist said that I had short fiber neuropathy, but when I saw the results, my skin fiber nerve density was OK. However, my sweat gland density was low. I am not sure what this means. Does anyone know?

Hello @cwallen9, welcome to Connect. I was diagnosed with idiopathic small fiber peripheral neuropathy but only through an EMG and I believe the skin biopsy is the more definitive test used. I have no medical training or background but I'm like you in that I like to know what results mean and why. I did find a few references that may help clear it up for you.

The Value of Including Sweat Gland Nerve Fiber Density (SGNFD) Analysis in the Neuropathy Work-up (P6.088)
— http://n.neurology.org/content/82/10_Supplement/P6.088

Diagnostic Utility of Sweat Gland Nerve Fiber Density in Small Fiber Neuropathy (P2.111)
— http://n.neurology.org/content/90/15_Supplement/P2.111

Epidermal Nerve Fiber Density – Normative Reference Range and Diagnostic Efficiency
— https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/774528

Are you able to ask your neurologist what the low sweat gland density numbers mean in layman's terms? Sometimes it may be the easiest answer.

John

Thanks for the input. I'm sorry to hear you suffer from small fiber neuropathy also. Is there any treatment for your condition? Any pain management medicine and/or techniques that help reduce the pain?

@cwallen I am somewhat fortunate in that my small fiber PN symptoms are only numbness and some tingling. I don't have the pain with my PN. I do take supplements that help but it's not a cure. Here is a link to the post on Connect where I shared what has helped me and how I found Connect — https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/anyone-here-dealing-with-peripheral-neuropathy/?pg=42#comment-65985

Just joined this group. I was diagnosed with sfpn about 1.5 years ago. It has been a struggle. This is the first forum i joined to maybe share info/ get info on this disease. I was confirmed via punch biopsy in 3 locations. I saw a couple of top NYC neurologists who did every test and they all came back negative for the cause. I guess i have been put in the idopathic column. That did not sit well with me. I was recommended a real smart imunnologist/ integrative DR that took 30 vials of blood to dig deeper. I was found that my b levels were off despite taking b complex for a while. I was also found to have a lot of inflammation in my body as well, lower d&k vitamins and the biggest surprise was high mercury level via urine test. I immediately had large metal filling removed and started chelation therapy. The dr put me on metanx ( my buddy wasnt absorbing b vitmains) and about 5 more supplements. Vitamin D and K, R- Lipopic acid, Anti inflammatory (curcimin/boswanna/black pepper), high quality EPA and DHA oil, and coq10. Well i started to feel better after a little while. I even came off the lyrica, which wasnt helping. Pain was a 9 and after a while i was at a 2 and sometimes forgetting about my discomfort for longer stretches of time. I had a good 6 months like that with a small flare up recently but even that only gets to a 5 from a 9. Long story short is keep pressing on with your search. I prob will never know the cause, but i did find stuff that was out of whack and prob contributed to this condition. If you find a good DR and get things inline , your can prob get better and start healing the nerves. I still feel some pain at times but i can deal with this if it doesnt get worse. I go back in a couple weeks to recheck mercury level and som other things. Good luck and i hope i can get some more good info off this site and learn some more.