Originally Posted by Apex Clipper

I've had PN symptoms for over a year now but just recently obtained an "official" diagnoses from a neurologist, so I have joined this forum to see what I can learn from others who also suffer from this.

It's been discouraging to read on various medical sites how many forms of this disease remain idiopathic. Nonetheless, coming from a technical background I'm used to troubleshooting problems and take that approach to any problem in life which is do some research, don't assume but actually test where possible and with all due respect never rely 100% on any one persons opinion of the problem even if they are a doctor.

At this point I've had an EMG which revealed normal large fiber activity so I've been told this is small nerve neuropathy in feet and hands. I've had multiple blood tests which my neurologist said were unremarkable. I just obtained a copy of these tests and noticed the B6 level was over twice the upper range which my doctor did not mention. But then I read a post here that suggests a false B6 reading may not be that unusual so it's hard to know what's real on that.

The question I wanted to ask is about the appearance of the hands and if anyone else experienced this. At the height of the PN symptoms I had a sudden change in the fiingerpads at first. They developed a pruney appearance as if I had been in a pool for a long time. Loose skin as if there were air pockets under the skin as opposed to a normal fleshy fingerpad. Pressing against an object left an impression on the pads for an abnormal amount of time, as opposed to springing back normally. Within a month striations appeared on the skin further down the fingers. All of this was in conjunction with pins & needles in the fingertips and an abnormal sensitivity to cooler temperatures.

I have asked three doctors about this change of appearance in the hands and I'm getting something of a deer in the headlights response. One said he's never seen anything like that, another basically ignored my question and another tried to tell me it was normal.

My apologies for making this long, I'll try to be more succint in the future :~).