Well, I posted that I was going to make a trip down to Maryland and get a Magnetic resonance neurography of my neck and brachial plexus in the thread below.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread173833.html


I got the results back and most everything was normal except something on the brachial plexus:

Findings:

Bilateral Brachial Plexus nerve roots appear diffusely hyperintense with asymmetrical prominence of the bilateral C8 nerve root at the lower interscalene triangle just before trunk formation.


I had my Neurologist call Dr. Chhabra who read the MRN and reported the findings to get his interpretation on my results.

I spoke to my Neurologist and he didn’t really offer me much of an explanation of the findings and basically told me whatever is going on is on a molecular level and just work with pain management. I asked about my DRG and he said they would have to perform another MRI for that. I was kind of upset about that.
I really wasn’t happy with the response I got from him so I called Chhabra directly and I am glad I did. He told me I defiantly have a Neuropathy in my C8 nerve root as it appeared very bright on the MRN which is a sign the nerve is inflamed or damaged. I asked him about my Dorsal Root Ganglia and he said it was good. DRG was right size and looked normal.
He did recommend I get another MRN in 6 months to make sure it doesn’t get worse. There would be a very small chance the nerves might be getting inflamed by small cancer tumors but it’s unlikely.
I told him my medical history and he said IVIG might be an option that you haven’t tried. I spoke to my PM doctor about it in the past so I will have to run it by him again. All my blood work came back clean except some slight elevated proteins in my spinal fluid so I am not sure if IVIG will help. HE said its not TOS and a nerve block would not help.


I at least have proof that I have PN and I’m not thinking this thing up. I strongly recommend if anyone out there has burning or other neurological pain and EMG’s, blood work, and MRI’s come back clean ….
Do yourself a favor and goto John hopkins and get an MRN.

Dr Chhabra is who read my MRI/MRN of the DRG and found bilateral enlargement and increased signal consistent with ganglionitis from my (already diagnosed) Sjogren's.

JH knows what they're doing. Ditto to your comment encouraging others going there if they get the opportunity and desire more answers.

BTW, just in case some wonder...the scan was covered on insurance (both medicare & secondary).

I never thought you were "making it up" at all.

And I do hope you do not have cancer or an invasive thing going on.

I am on day 3 of my experiment with "low dose" diphenhydramine (Benadryl). 2ml every 4 hours during the day, which is about 5mg.

There are things on Google from around 2007 about using this for MS and other autoimmune issues (which some PNs are due to).

It is early days still, and the children's Benadryl tastes terrible and lingers in the mouth like zinc lozenges do. The cherry flavor doesn't help the taste much...ick ick. Sort of destroys your appetite...so maybe I'll lose some weight with it all.

This is the Google search for Dr. Steinman if anyone wants to read about the low dose antihistamine treatment.
http://www.google.com/webhp#hl=en&sc...w=1280&bih=811
I see he even applied for a patent for it. But more recent papers seem to be lacking. There is a person on some forums and MedHelp claiming his wife's MS improved with this intervention, though.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...06300261904498 It is supposed to help with mitochondrial functions, and is below the level where side effects would be noticeable.
I'm going to give it a go. So far I seem to have a small bit of more energy, etc. Enough to get me thru Costco and WalMart more easily. Last two nights I slept much better too. But that could be a coincidence.