--ANYONE with a documented small-fiber neuropathy that seems idiopathic--that there is not an otherwise "smoking gun" cause for, such as diabetes, autoimmunity, or blood cancers--ought to be tested for celiac disease/gluten sensitivity.

It's still not appreciated in a lot of circles--even neurological circles, in which neurologists should know better by now--that celiac/gluten sensitivity can lead to neuropathy and other neurological problems, either through direct autoimmune assault by antibodies to gluten peptides cross-reacting with nerve antigens, or by nutritional deficiencies as a result of intestinal malabsorption.

At the very least, one should get vitamin/mineral testing (by good, advanced labs that have the ability to measure cellular levels) and a gluten antibody panel.

I have been gluten free for about 10 months. I have read that it takes 6-12 months for vitamin receptors in the gut to regrow after being destroyed by gluten, and then another 2 or so years for nerves to regenerate; so I'm hopeful. It sounds as though you are on the right track.

Eliminating gluten has certainly helped my weight; easing up on fruit in the morning has also helped.
This morning, Dr. Mercola posted an excellent article on fructose, that includes a link to fructose amounts in common fruits:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...4_PRNLv2_art_1

Glenntaj -- as usual, you are right on target. The only comment I'd add is that the diabetic cause is usually due to gluten; as Dr. Davis says, lose the wheat, lose the diabetes.

[QUOTE=Stacy2012;947282]I got rid of all the simple carbs and will only eat complex carbs.

Simple carbs: all white flour and anything with white flour in it, including pasta, ALL sugar, all the junk food basically.

Complex carb: I will eat high fiber food, I take flax seed, and flax seed product.

Truthfully, I have given up bread pretty much completely. I will eat low carb fagita's instead of bread.

I personally only drink water, nothing else.

I keep my carb intake at 30g a day, give or take.

I will splurge ounce in awhile but not much and if I do, I am reminded right away why I don't. Friday night husband brought home chinese chashew chicken, comes with brown rice. I over did it. Usually I skip the brown rice or eat very little but I was bad and ate it all. I paid in spades that night. My feet burned so bad and NOTHING would help it. Ya. Not cheating again for awhile. [/QUOTE

OK now I am confused what is wrong with brown rice. I am gluten free also so I eat alot of rice all only organic

I guess I'm just so sick of taking capsules. As crazy as it sounds it is one last capsule I have to look at in my daily meds. I guess I have to get over that. I think I'll take it right before my shake. I love the idea of it being good for inflammation. Thanks again

Brown rice is a better carb than white rice however for me, it's all about carb counts and when i ate too much of the brown rice it raised the carbs too high for me and too many carbs in a day causes my pn to be worse.

It's two different subjects. 1) simple carb vs complex carb and 2) the effects of eating too many carbs on PN.

So, I simply ate too many carbs for my PN even though it was good carbs in brown rice.

But fact is, it is take out brown rice which means it probably really isn't that good. Just like minute maid instant brown rice is not really any good either.

Brown rice and white rice generally have the same amount of carbs per serving and the same amount of calories per serving as well. However, brown rice is better for you because:

http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-...have-less.html

Brown rice is a whole grain and white rice is not. Brown rice has more vitamins, minerals, etc. Eating too much of anything is not good.

Hi Kim! In trying to manage my own idiopathic SFN, I recently saw a nutritionist. I thought she'd tell me to try eliminating wheat or sugar or dairy. But the FIRST thing she said I must do is eliminate all chemicals and toxins. That means anything artificial in our food (hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin, artificial sweeteners like aspartame, etc.).

So I have not eliminated any food groups yet, but I've been eating a cleaner diet, free of chemicals or artificial additives. It wasn't that difficult--I had to throw out some salad dressings, grape jelly, BBQ sauce and snacks (I'm a salty snack-eater--now I stick with good ol' popcorn). I read labels more carefully, but haven't had to make any huge changes.

I do feel slightly better eating fewer chemicals, though my pain has not improved yet. Next, we'll focus on eliminating certain foods or food groups to see if it helps with the neuropathy at all.

All the best to you!
APJH

Hi Hopeful-

In regard to your post about eating the chinese dinner of chicken cashews and rice. Your dish could have contained texturized vegetable protein with the chicken which might have contained gluten in it. This is often found in chicken dishes at Chinese restaurants. If you have been gluten free for some time, any small amount of gluten cross contamination could have a very strong reaction. If any soy sauce (which most have wheat as a primary ingredient) was in the dish might have given you a big whammy of a response! Out of curiosity, how long did your feet burn for? Hope you are feeling better now!

It was me that had the chinese and I do not do gluten free, so it was not the gluten that caused it. For me it was too many carbs.

They burned all night. It was awful.