Discussion of TENS:
Tens machine

TENS has a been a big relief for me.

Thank you very much David. I have a last question. Its common that in a neuropathy the only symptom is burning pain/ sensitive with no other symptom. Also a neurologist told me once that I didnt have neuropathy because neuropathy is legs and arms and I have pain all over (except in the head)

You're welcome.

Unfortunately, neither of those statements are correct. I mean, perhaps most people will have burning pain, especially with SFN, but that will certainly not be their only symptom. That's simply false. In fact, I barely have mild burning once in a blue moon, but have all sorts of other symptoms. If you read through the posts on this forum, you'll get a sense for the many different symptoms people experience with SFN or even plain old PN.

As for the second statement, if a neurologist made such an idiotic statement, then he/she is precisely that, an idiot. Neuropathy will most often present in the distal regions, so feet and hands, but not necessarily, especially in SFN. Mine is whole body and I'm not the only one on here with this presentation. There are numerous articles online, on PubMed, discussing full-body small fiber neruopathy (SFN).

Yeah , another doctor told me it can be pain all over with SFN , but the first I ask was because is my case (only pain and tendersness) and for that reason doctors think I dont have neuropathy. To have only this (as far as I know) and no other symptom. All blood works, MRI, EMG and they (neurologists) did me his clinical neurological test 1000 times and dont found anything. The other symtom was itch/ tender to itch on specific points but like you said once in a blue moon.

I also have asked for other symptoms but maybe its nothing to do with a possible neuropathy, no doctors care. Part of the body tender to cold (to touch), feet prone to cramps (to flex them), and lately I noticed red palms of hands when warm them up; and one day , with one hand feel water to touch hotter than it was really o.O

Btw I have a consultation next week, I believe It will be key.

So if is isnt common and may not have neuropathy or it is possible on some cases, the skin biopsy would be the final test i guess..

I'm not sure. But if you think SFN is a possibility, you will need to get the skin punch biopsy, since it's the only way to diagnose it. It's not 100%, nothing is, but it's pretty accurate/precise, something like 90/95% or some such thing. There are at least a few people on here with SFN and a negative skin biopsy, but most of us have a positive result. Good luck with your appointment.

I went to a well recognized neurologist of my country, and he said I have probably fibromyalgia and neuropathy.I didnt understand well what he said but he said is part of central sensitization syndrome and I have to take medication neuromodulator, go a psychologist and do sports but first he have to discuss the diagnostic with my main doctor. And I can have emotional issues in it. I didnt know that fibromylgia is a kind of neuropathy. Also I read before that psychogenic state cant cause neuropathy but could aggravate it. Sorry for my english and weird post but just stuff to complement the post

I'm not too clear on what's going on, but I will say that in my experience a diagnosis of fibromyalgia is a garbage bin diagnosis, so a diagnosis indicating that the physician just doesn't know what's going on. For a very long time, cases of small fiber neuropathy were misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia. The neurologist Dr. Oaklander has said that something like 50% of cases of the latter were actually the former. So if possible, I'd at least push for a skin punch biopsy, if you think you may have neuropathy that hasn't shown up on a nerve conduction study. But again I'm not too clear on what's going on with you. Either way, I wish you the best of luck!

Thank you man for the reply, and sorry for not to be that clear, I know what you said about fibro, I read alot of it and I dont have noone of their thender points or sleep problems and etc, but I tough he use the word as a concept, not as the rigid encyclopedic way, also fibromialgya in the present may be very different of what you read "specific tender points" " middle age women" "sleep problems" and etc, is something that is somewhat unknow and concept change year by year I believe, but he told me that he saw lot of people is similar cases as me (so that could be good for me) he also didn't charge consultation (by luck). The good thing is that i will have a medication to take soon, (he mentioned maybe "venlafaxine") But first he have to discuss better the diagnosis with my primary doctor (both of they help many people, and are well know on other countries, so at least Im in good hands, they look very serious and not stupid novice doctors lol, so im very quiet with it). I'm living a hell of this sometimes and try to distract my mind of this horrid pain by eating a lot or taking showers, or distracting and abusing the pc there are times I have to push a sensitive part of my feet (like a bruise feeling) to try to aliviate it or scratch my burning sensitive skin, while other days Im better.
its a sad state... And I live in Argentina and seems that here skin biopsy dont exist for evaluate nerves
I didnt understand very well what he said but i read before that a psychogenic state cant cause neuropathy just aggravate it, only can cause similar syntoms (but ther isnt a neuropathy?)

To close that he said that on "informatic terms" :

that he dont know if is the motherboard or the O.S but i have desconfiguration. and he mentioned that having pain in random parts of the body can correspond to a phenomen called "central sensitizazion". I suffered in the past more syntoms that never were too clear like sensitive to cold and tongue biting habit to lead in a horrod pain too so i have an history of anxiety and depression, also seems that didnt have a neuropathy symptom other than pain, altough the palm of my hand became red and bright when warm themp up.. Im 26 and lived half of my life with weird and bad symptom and did millons of medic visits for little bit, but a few things were resolved, after much insist, hopefully the nightmare ends soon..

Now Im feeling a "splinter feeling" in a part of my finger that was brushed just a bit with a screwdriver o.O T_T .....

Thank you and much luck to you too man...