Hi and welcome.
Small fiber neuropathy is a type of Peripheral Neuropathy. A punch biopsy will only confirm that you have SFN. Unfortunately it's really not the culprit as it doesn't give you the cause for your symptoms, which is what you are after.
I don't know what tests your neurologist has done so far, but there are a bunch that should be done imo. Numbness or loss of feeling is most commonly associated with some type of nerve damage, irritation, or compression, so MRI(s) would be helpful anyway, but more so since you had a back injury. There are a number of other reasons and possible diseases (not trying to scare you) that could cause it. Your doctor needs to rule out whatever they can as soon as they can. That way you have the chance to be able to treat the cause rather than medicate the symptoms.
Many people never can find the cause for their symptoms. It's not the end of the world. There is a wealth of information that can be searched here to help you with supplements, drug therapy, diet, etc.
I do not have loss of feeling as part of my SFN but that doesn't mean it's not part of the disease. There are many members that have SFN as well as other types of Peripheral Neuropathy. Hopefully some will chime in.
I received so much information from members on this forum a few years ago. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be very active now. I wish I had more information to share. You can try using the "Search" feature that's located on the blue scroll bar on the top of the "Peripherical Neuropathy" forum. I spent many hours reading posts when I started.
I hope this helped!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lgregs
I am in the process of being diagnosed with Small Fiber Neuropathy. I had a biopsy last week and am still waiting for results, but based on my symptoms and discussion with my neurologist it is the likely culprit. My symptoms are numbness, tingling, itchiness, pain, etc. like "normal". But one thing that's really throwing me off is the loss of sensation. For some reason, I only have major loss of sensation on the LEFT side of my body. From the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. It's like there's an imaginary line down the literal middle of my body. I have a left hip injury due to this and I walk kind of crooked. It's to the point where I've noticed I can taste better on the right side of my mouth compared to the left. I do have some sensation loss on my right foot, but between the two sides it's like night and day. What I want to know is, has anyone else heard of or experienced this? I had a lower back injury back in 2012 (on the left side) that was never really dealt with, and while it did get better it still hurts from time to time. I'm thinking about maybe getting a lumbar MRI, but wanted to see if anyone else had dealt with this symptom. If you've read this far, thank you! I appreciate any and all help.
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