Quote:
Originally Posted by Cliffman
Hi Everyone,
I'm new and wanted to say Hello. My story below....
Had a heart attack back in June of this year...was treated with stents that saved my life. However, I started to have pain in my left thumb several days after leaving the Hospital. A day later it spread to my right hand. As you can imagine this was quite perplexing. Several weeks later it spread to the feet and ankles. It's now been 3 months and I have the pain in most areas of my body with the exception of my face, back, chest, stomach. Sleep is hard to come by and I suffer from fatigue and extreme depression. Pins and needles, shooting pain, muscle atrophy, muscles in the thighs that move on their own. dry mouth and eyes, in addition to eye floaters.
I have been to several Neurologists. Blood work and EMG came up negative. Tomorrow I am scheduled for a small fiber skin biosy. My folate level is low but B12 shows 460. Having said that I am wondering if it's a b12 deficiency causing my symptoms but that's probably wishful thinking. I have read the book "could it be B12"?
Of course all of the above has changed my life to the point that I am no longer the person I was in the past. Soon I will lose my job and health insurance if I can not return to work.
Pain management so far has been Tylenol every 6 hours. I was given Gabapentin but have so far been to scared to try it especially given I don't have a diagnosis yet, although all the clinical signs point to Neuopathy.
Any advice would be well appreciated.
Thanks for listening.
Cliffman
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I don't know what a heart attack could be plenty to cause trauma induced PN. The muscle wasting was something I had and was told Amyotrophy was the cause. I guess that two things at once is not unheard of. Anyway the Amyotrophy includes a phase that is fast and scary and includes muscle wasting. Hang on to your job as long as you can because your symptoms may start getting better. Don't be afraid of the Gabapentin, it helps some and not others but is not as strong as you need if the Tylenol is not cutting it. If you need stronger pain relief you might have to get your Dr. to refer you to pain Management. In PM they can give you the strength of relief that will keep you from hurting badly. (hurting badly can drive you to depression) I have been taking Ambien for a couple of years and am currently trying to quit taking it. But sleep is essential for getting better so don't worry about taking sleep aids. Same way with pain relief you can always stop after you get better. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.