Hello Everyone!

My name is Walt. I'm a 55 year old professional artist (oil painter) that has been dealing with idiopathic neuropathy for the last 5 months.

My doctor says I do not have diabetes after blood work, so I'm ruling that, however another Dr. said I could be pre-diabetic and be symptomatic .He cannot really give me any answers so I'm looking to others afflicted with this condition to see how you are best dealing with it from a natural perspective. I will not go on any Rx meds. They all have side effects that end up causing other health issues.

I have no insurance unfortunately so more extensive testing is not a possibility due to limited funds. I recently had my house tested for mold and the tests came back positive. I was wondering is there anyone out there that has heard of mold causing neuropathy. If so, did they move out of their house and find that the symptoms eventually lessened or ceased altogether?

Also has anyone gone through a complete detox to rid themselves of the toxins that caused the symptoms in the first place? If so what type of detox regimen did they use and for how long?

Any and all feedback is genuinely appreciated. Thank you and have a blessed day.

Walt,

Sorry you are going thru this and I hope you can find quick answers. I just lost my insurance and am feeling the brunt of it now so I feel do you because there are tons if test they could have done.

But, hav they done a glucose tolerance test to see if you are pre diabetic?
You can call lab to get prices and there is always payment plan you can do if needed.
There was an article on CNN about one doctor who went after getting uninsured the ability to pay very cheap
Prices. You go onlin select the test that your doctor wants done and the lab will fax your doctor requisitio. Thedoctor signs off on it and you pay same price as Medicare or Medicaid type. Very very cheap.
I am going to look for that link and get back to you. You can show that to your doctor and use that service.

Other than that do you have a clue as to what brought this on.
Recent antibiotic use may be.
Where are your symptoms?

There are some really knowledgeable people here who can guide you better.

Hope the best for you

Tulips

Here is the link. I don't think they have a lot o test available yet but thy
Might have What you need.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/08...iref=allsearch

Tulips

I think anyone with mold toxicity should seek help from an environmental physician.

Type into Google, "environmental doctor Boca Raton" and call some up and ask if they do mold toxicity.

Many people end up moving out of the home. I am not aware of specific treatments, sorry, as this is pretty specialized.

Sorry Tulips, I've not a clue for certain as to what brought this on. Mold though is the number one suspect. I've pretty much decided to move out of this house, plus I'm going to start a major detox program in conjunction with using a far infared sauna. There is a Dr by the name of Linda Rodgers who has written several books, one of which is "Detox or Die" a morbid title but it makes you think right. She has an extensive regimin that I plan to follow to the T.

I also should follow your advice and retest with the glucose tolerence test. I believe they preformed that sometime back.

Thanks alot and have a blessed day!

Walt

It's Detoxify or Die by Sherry A. Rogers, M.D.
(Not an endorsement - just a correction)


Doc

So did my first neurologist. My second advised me that blood work isn't always the best available test for diabetes, and ordered a glucose tolerance test. I think I would go that far at least, because if you are diabetic, the consequences may be much greater than the cost of the test.

So do the foods we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. 'Nuff said on that. Yes, meds have potential side effects. They also save lives, cure/treat diseases, and improve quality of life for the vast majority of people who take them as prescribed. Sure, you can point to some cases where some meds have adversely affected the health of a small number of people. But as with everything else in medicine - and life - it's a risk vs. reward equation, and should be evaluated intelligently on a case by case basis. There are some prescription drugs I might not take. There is only one that I have flatly refused. But the rest I have taken, and they have vastly improved my health/quality of life. Antibiotics have probably saved my life on several occasions. I tend to stick with generics that have been around long enough that there are fewer unknowns, but that's not an absolute either. I just do my homework.

This issue can, and should be, approached intelligently and rationally. There are numerous books & websites available by which we can learn about prescribed meds before taking them, discuss alternatives with our doctors, and sleep better nights.

Understood, but consider the risks. As others have pointed out, there are alternatives. AARP is another resource I'd check with for options.

I just googled neuropathy household mold and got a lot of false hits. I don't know the answer, but environmental cause is on my own list of possibilities, and I'll be looking into it further myself.

Doc

Hi Walt,
I went to 3 neurologists and one of them kept asking me how long I had been a diabetic? I told him I was not a diabetic. During his exam he asked me 3 more times about my being a diabetic.
My family doctor got the report from this neurologist indicating my results were mixed and he suggested more testing. Not with him I told my doctor.
I don't know if this helps in any way, but all Neurologists are not created equal.
I am on your side Walt.
David

Typically "diabetic" means elevated blood sugars.

But before this happens in Type II... there is insulin resistance, and quite a bit of lows... the low blood sugars also starve nerves.

So the more informed doctors will say that pre-diabetes, or what is called impaired glucose tolerance... can be a factor.

Watching sugar and fructose intake is very important then in the diet. Smaller more frequent meals, better protein intake, and good fats, will help to keep blood sugars in the middle zone and hence help your nerves.

Supplements for PNers:
B12 and Vit D testing... fix those first.
Benfotiamine, and acetyl carnitine have studies showing improvements. Alpha lipoic acid or the new r-lipoic acid have a long track record in studies to help also.

New members here are encouraged to read our subforum with all the information to help themselves as well.

I get the same thing. My main neuro at Hopkins feels that I am pre-diabetic
(high normal readings, consistently).
At other times I get "How's the prostate doing?"
(Because you have to answer a questionnaire for each friggin' visit
to all the different specialists & 'what meds do you take?' is on the paper)
I take a med usually Rx'd for prostate, but my PCP gave it to me for hypertension. No prostate problems at all ! But they jump to the conclusion right away. Jumping to conclusions- rather than trying to solve the problem by digging for it, is what many docs tend to do. I try to find docs who think outside the box, but its hard to find 'em.