I spent ages replying to this post only for it to disappear into the ether!

I think mine is classed as immune mediated because I have a long history of autoimmunity and raised inflammatory markers plus paired oligloclonal bands in my spinal fluid. Still I'm passed from parcel to post because nothing else shows up in my immunoglobulins or other immune function tests.

Re onset - mine could have been slow or acute depending when it actually started. Prior to sudden onset of RA symptoms I had experienced heat flushes in my arms/ wrists for about a year. I assumed at the time that these must be a faulty wired menopausal feature. But suddenly one morning my wrists were excruciatingly painful and my soles burnt so badly when I touched the floor that I could barely walk to the bathroom. Then came many months of acute Polyarthritis which was accompanied by flashing pain in my hands that would have me gasping.

Now, two years on RA has gone away but the small fibre neuropathy continues to rage and progress. So I really can't say whether this constitutes an acute onset or not. All I know is that I suffered 45 years of severe eczema and episodes of rhinitis and total alopecia but overnight this disappeared with the start of my menopause. It has never returned. So I'm optimistic this might go away in the mysterious manner in which it arrived.

My RA upped and left after two years of taking cytotoxic drugs. Now I'm left with this widespread SFN which covers most of my body apart from my tummy - and I am resigned to living with it for the time being. I am used to feeling as if I've been rubbed everywhere in deep heat/ chilli powder with ice cubes - and topped off with ants nest sprinkles!

But in the back of my mind is always the expectation that it will disappear as fast as it came one very fine day. Everything else has so why not this?

I have the occasional few days where it recedes to just a numbness with faint tingle and I rejoice quietly and hope like hell this is it. Only for it to come rudely back like an uninvited guest