No - I didn't get a skin biopsy - I don't have access to private care. The public hospital neurologist didn't order a biopsy so I don't have a definitive diagnosis of Small Fiber Neuropathy. But but given that pretty much everything else was eliminated and neuropathy can be secondary to auto-immune Addison's Disease (dx 2010) this is the most likely cause.

I just dug out my neuro report and this is what he wrote when I asked about the possibility of SFN: "... unfortunately if this is the case there is little we can do in the way of reversing any processes in place, and symptomatic management is par for the course." Don't you love it when they're all too happy to prescribe drugs with side effects without even confirming a diagnosis.

If you've eliminated other possible diagnosis and can get a skin biopsy then it could help give a definite diagnosis - but won't show the cause. I've not come across any info on the protocol of skin biopsy testing for SFN in NZ (they are routinely done for other conditions but protocols will differ). There has been some discussion on the correct protocol for SFN on NT. Here's a link to one thread:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...iopsy+protocol

You can use the search feature to find more posts on "skin biopsy protocol"

If you decide to get it done privately you may want to ask them about the protocol they will be using - it may affect the results and I'm not sure it's commonly done in NZ for SFN.

It's interesting that you mentioned doing two marathons in Europe before onset - any chance you got a tick bite (Lyme) there that you weren't aware of? I know of someone who recently became ill about a month after coming back from a short trip to Canada - she is now being investigated for Lyme as she went horse-riding while there.