Why should people with PN care about lyme disease, or finding out if they have it? Because those with chronic lyme wind up on neurological meds and have many syptoms like neurological conditions. Plus if you have lyme disease, you have the chance to get that treated and possibly get rid of your neurological symptoms should that turn out to be the cause.
I was diagnosed with lyme disease and PN - the very same summer. Neurologist said my situation was not involved with lyme disease, although he also told me - half of those with PN are diabetic, and for the other half, we usually don't find out what caused it.
The orthopedic guy, on the other hand (when I told him what the neurologist said), told me that my PN could very well be related to the lyme disease and that "not all doctors are right all the time."
So, what's the harm in a blood test? You might just get your PN cured! PN is like everything else.. in the end, you are the one that figures out what gets rid of it for you. Largely in part to looking into every possibility, doing a lot of googling and listening to the talk of regular folk with PN, long time sufferers like this place affords you the benefit of. If you can't get rid of it, at least you can get it into the "manageable range."
If you share a bed with someone who has had lyme disease or even if you never saw any tick or any bullseye like me... you could still have it. My manager at Long and Foster got it and she is not outdoor-sy, never saw any tick, was completely shocked.. she's more the glam city girl type, long manicured nails, hair perfect. My orthopedic doc said he was jogging in the city with his daughter and his daughter spotted a deer tick on his neck, Doc McDevitt says, "They're everywhere!"
They can hitch - hike into your house on your cats and dogs and wind up going after you.
Chronic Lyme Symptoms
Numbness and Tingling:
Numbness and tingling are abnormal sensations that can occur anywhere in your body, but are often felt in your fingers, hands, feet, arms, or legs.
Source: New York Times - Chronic Lyme Disease
http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides.../overview.html