Hi Sara,

Sorry you have to be here, but hopefully you'll find some comfort in communicating with fellow sufferers.

My journey has been different than most it seems, and I can't even be sure what I've experienced is progression as I never got an SFN diagnosis 30 years ago. I won't go into all the gory details, but here's the gist of it...

Back in the mid-80s when I was in my early 20s, I started experiencing bizarre neurological sensations in my left left leg. It varied from buzzing to pain, but was always accompanied by twitching. Doctors could find nothing back then, and my neuro called it "nerve root irritation."

At one point over the past decade, I ran across the term "benign fasciculation syndrome," and self-diagnosed myself with that.

Late in 2013, however, things took a sudden turn for the worst. Three different things happened with me medically that could have been the trigger, or none of them may have been involved at all. I won't go into that. What happened was that the neuro symptoms jumped to my right leg, and I started feeling milder symptoms all over. I also started experience the classic SFN burning sensation in my legs and feet, and also the zapping nerve pain. Sleep was very difficult.

My all-over sensations are ones of a buzzing that abates when when I move (i.e, engage my motor nerves), and I also have these bizarre "rushes" of sensation in various body parts at different times. My left side is more affected than my right.

If what I had in the 80s is indeed part of this, it took almost 30 years to progress. The only definitive progression I can cite since Nov. 2013 is that I have the classic SFN sensation that I've seen described as my socks being bunched up between my toes on my right foot. I still have sensation in those toes, I'm just feeling something that's not there. That developed about 6 months ago.

The one suggestion I have is to look into alpha lipoic acid as a supplement. My symptoms dialed back a notch once I started taking it. The zapping nerve pain isn't that big of a problem anymore, although I still have the plethora of other symptoms.

Jane