also one more symptom is that sometimes clothes irritate my skin (especially on the side of my stomach/around hip) almost like i have a sunburn that my clothes are hitting , but once again this isnt a constant thing

Hi Boiler, call any local dermatologist office in your area. When u call let them know u need per your neuro a skin biopsy for small fiber neuropathy does the lab they use test for this or so they have a lab they can send it too? Most derms are familair -but make sure your not wasting your time. The biopsy (punch biopsy) takes less then 5 mins no pain. Most likley they have to ship it to a lab that performs neuro-testing.Your symptoms are classic. Its not uncommon for your emg or nerve conduction test to show normal and abnormal. Do you have it in the family? Have you been tested for diabtes,thyroid,sarcodosis? You should be able to get into a derm pretty quickly ---u just want to request the test get sent to both the derm and the neuro. The test is 85-90% accurate. Most labs take about 3weeks to get the resutls back to DR. Hope this helps a bit.

mg - i will def look into dermatologists (i have one for acne maybe someone in their office is familiar with it). small fiber neuropathy doesnt run in my family however my grandma has idiopathic large fiber neuropathy (and has for 30 years). i guess i am just unsure if my symptoms match because some days (or weeks) i am almost symptom free (for instance this week the only symptoms that i have really had is sticking pains through my legs when i exercise) but then other weeks (last week i had tingling through my entire body when i exercised and also had alot of skin irritation on my side)..can symtpoms really be this variable? also i feel like reading other people's symptoms they seem to be much much worse than what i am experiencing (believe me i am happy that mine seem mild)...anyway thanks again for your help!

oh and to answer your other question: i started this process with a HUGE panel of blood work which i am sure included diabetes and pretty sure included thyroid test (my mom and grandma had thyroid cancer) , not sure about sarcoidosis but it was a very extensive panel

Hi Boiler ---mine were mild and and off and on too. Turned out to be thyroid issue. I still get symptoms ---use to work out like crazy and looking back when I did I had and numbness and tingle sensations .The other thing I noticed my back was always itchy. I felt like I had posion ivy but no rash. Now not so much I had neck surgery and having problems with shoulder since fusion so I walk my dog alot. I know for a fact listen to you body---you get a gut feeling when something isnt right. Please keep me updated Boiler on lab results --as I would like you to get to the root cause. Best wishes always!!

mg- thanks for all the advice...so did your skin biopsy come out abnormal (if u dont mind me asking)/do u have SFN or was the thyroid problem the source? also how did they discover the thyroid problem?

No problem yes it came back postive for sfn---but the root cause which there always is --- just a matter of finding it-- turned out to be thyroid. Then a year later I got dx with melanoma that was discovered because lymph node in my groin swelled up. I also had two moles removed in that time came back postive and were conisdered very invasive...7mm and were very deep went thru all the layers of the skin. I had two surgerys for that and they do a procedure called snb where they test lymph nodes they took out 27 in my groin 7 came back postive for melanoma. I had treatment for 1 yr after surgery so far no evidence of disease. Then in 2010 I thought wow my cancer may have spread to bones in my spine I was in alot of pain turned out my c5 thru c7 were herniations and pressing the spinal cord so i underwent acdf surgery. The reason Im telling u all this is each thing that went wrong with me I knew something was going wrong in my body. Learned the hard way you have to be your own advocate. Sometimes docs would look at me say you look so good and healthy, fit. Please what does that have to do with anything---always suprised instead of them hearing what your patients are telling you. I would have saved alot of time and suffering looking back. Now my G.P never even thinks twice of anything I say. LOL

i know exactly what you mean when u say that a doc will look at you and say that you look healthy. i am a very active 19 year old so i feel like my osu neuro doesnt completely take me seriously when i told him of my symptoms so i am worried that if the biopsy reveals nothing then he will not want to look further. however hearing that you had similar symptoms to mine and a positive test makes me feel a little less crazy!

Boiler---Dont let what I been thru scare you. Most people from what i read if they have it most times its from glucose issues pre-diabtes etc---which if it turns out postive u want to know(trust me) to lesson and treat symptoms why your young and avoid any further complications. For example if u turn out to be pre-diabteic you can reverse it with lifestyle changes of diet and working out. If thyroid u take meds before it become a major problem. Your doing yourself a favor by looking into and not ignoring how you feel. Im a little older then you --- Im kidding I much much older but age doesnt matter. Please keep me updated OK??? Please dont be scared by my story.....promise. Everyone is diffrent even with same diseases!!!

mg- i will DEF keep you updated I promise. I am going to look into/call dermatologists today (so that I may be able to get this done over my winter break) and I may look into redoing blood work becase when i had the first time my symptoms did not include as many SFN symptoms. Dont worry I know everyone is different. I will let you know thanks so much