Your B12 looks to be fine, its just some doc's will say 300 is normal which its not, its low , jeez, it took me 3 months of B12 Cynocobalamin supplements to get my b12 score up to around 700, i think i must have been running on empty
I didn't realize how old you were but it still won't hurt to get a Glucose Tolerance done, its normaly more for people over their 40's and are overweight & don't do a lot of exercise, but there is no golden rule that fits all, its best to cover all possibilities.
all the best
Brian

--but given your age, and the fairly rapid appearance and progression of your symptoms, two things come to mind: toxic exposure, or autoimmune reaction.

I would be very interested to see your results on the Athena test you reported, but that test is far from complete as reagards antibody tests.

Have you had any of the connective/vasculitic antibody tests for the anti-nuclear antibody and its variants? These antibodies are often found in the autoimmune vascultic/connective tissue disorders, and neuropathy due to vasculitis can flare up fairly quickly:

http://www.neuro.wustl.edu/neuromusc...tml#vasculitis

I'd also suggest you look both at teh Liza Jane spreadsheets at www.lizjane.org and Dr. Latov's clinical research paper (in our useful sites section) on serum tests for neuropathic conditions:

http://www.questdiagnostics.com/hcp/...eralNeurop.htm

This will give you some idea of the number of autoantibodies that may result in neuropathy--this is one reason that searches for a cause are often long and expensive.

Hon.

I know it's hard with college, parties, socialization. but do me a favor AND STOP ANY DRINKING RIGHT NOW.

Take the B-12, don't eat any sugar, (or anything with preservatives).
Do the Hippocrates Diet. Look it up on the internet. Yesterday I was told to go to a website called Raw for 30 days. It tells you all kinds of foods to avoid diabetes, reversing diabetes. Not that you have diabetes BUT you obviously have something going on with your peripheral nerves.

So you'll get your sugar tested. AND NO MORE DRINKING.
No smoking either (hope you don't smoke).

But there is one vice you can still do. Start canoodling!!!! (Safely)

lol
Melody

A person who is attempting to recover from a nerve problem, whether B12 deficiency related or not, should aim for at least 1000 on their test result (and that should be with no B12 being taken for at least a few days before the blood sample is drawn).

Better yet, just take the 1000 mcg per day (or more) and never ignore it.

rose

Hey guys,

I went to GNC yesterday and bought some Alpha Lipoic Acid 300, Fish Body Oils 1000, and more B12. I've done some reading about these three things, and hopefully they will help. At this point, I'm at a loss as for what to do so I'll try anything.

And, oh yeah, no drinking.

Alcohoh to excess can cause PN problems,usually over a period of time.
The medication to treat Aids causes PN..Gook luck. Sue

Hi guy,

Well, in trying to think about what sorts of things might be causing your problem.

First, about the HIV scare: people who do get HIV get sick. That is, initially (as I understand it) they maybe just feel like they've got a cold, or not-so-bad case of the flu. Have you been sick? (There *are* other viruses in the world, as you've said.)

About other possibilities. You can try doing a Google search using the terms "peripheral neuropathy" and "differential diagnosis." Look at the Cleveland Clinic page, and some others. Usually they have boxes with lists in them; look down the page and check out those out.

About you personally. Was anything else happening, other than the HIV scare, before this?

Are you athletic? They spray pesticides on sports fields. Pesticides and neuropathy; well, think "Lou Gehrig" as the max example.

What part of the country are you in. You mentioned testing for Lyme disease. It takes a while for antibodies to develop . . . have you seen a rash, or any red spot (that gets bigger with time)?

Arsenic, as pointed out by MrsD in another thread, is a prime suspect. There is arsenic in those green-colored wood products. If you were working on a construction project or anything similar, consider chemical exposures.

Do you take any kinds of medications? There are lists of neuropathy-causing medications at those websites.

Do you live near a coal-burning power plant? Have you been playing on the banks of the Carson River during your entire childhood? (It's an EPA SuperFund site, for mercury, that will probably never get taken care of . . . )

Do you eat seafood? You can look up "domoic acid" and also look up "ciguatera poisoning." See if those get you anywhere . . .

And FWIW, I wouldn't rely on doctors to find answers either. I've seen what they have to offer and am totally not impressed. If they were even half as good as they should be, the greatest amount of discussion on these lists would be "who is the best doctor . . ."

Yes, it's certainly true that alcohol to excess will cause neuropathy.

However, there should be other clues -- because most people who can't handle alcohol get mean, or manic, or otherwise act different (as in 'slightly or very deranged').

So the neuropathy would be one clue. The personality, with and without alcohol, could be another.

Hi NTLegend,

Thanks for your reply.

To answer your questions.

1. Yes, I was sick in the time following my HIV scare. HOWEVER, I have been tested past the window period and according to numerous doctors it really shouldn’t have been a factor for me anyway. Apparently, I spent a lot of time freaking out about a very very low risk encounter. So I’ve pretty much ruled that out.

As for me personally, nothing was happening before this. And that goes for physically problems as well as mental ones. That’s what sucks so much. At this time last year I was worrying about my senior prom…now I’m wondering if I’m going to be able to walk correctly next year.

As for being athletic…not too much. At least nothing that would bring me in constant contact with pesticides.

Geography- I live in Rhode Island, but go to school in Syracuse. I had a Lyme test awhile ago, but am thinking about having another one to be sure. I’m also trying to find a lyme specialist.

As for meds,

I took Ceftin for a week but stopped because it gave me a rash. Then I started taking Doxycycline. However, initially, I didn’t see any problems with the doxy. I was put on Gabapentin for my neuro issues but haven’t taken it in 4 days and I don’t really notice a difference.

I don’t eat like any seasfood.

Thanks for your help thu sfar.

Well, to me it sounds like arsenic. Which is available in drinking water, and sometimes in ordinary food (like salads, etc.). Pesticides. Playground equipment and other 'weather treated' wood. Some medications, believe it or not. It's odorless, tasteless, etc.

Here is an old description. But good descriptions are hard to find, so please consider reading this:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/pic...4&blobtype=pdf

It's a .pdf file of a page -- it's necessary to scroll down about halfway, in order to find the title ("Chronic Arsenic Poisoning Masquerading as Pernicous Anemia").

Surely there are other possibilities, but check this one out . . . just in case.