G'day everyone. I have been absent from forum for a while. I have been busy planning my wedding the last year. I was worried about having a flare up do to all the stress I was under around that time but the big day finally came and everything went smoothly.

I have been ok for most part but I have noticed that most antibiotics flare my SFPN and very recently very sweet desserts do too. Not normal foods or pasta and bread. Nor dark chocolate or biscuits. But sticky date pudding and caramel slices which are like nothing but pure evil sugar have caused a flare on at least 5 or 6 occasions. I have no known allergies and I have non diabetic SFPN. I am 5'6 and 63 kilos in pretty good shape exercising almost daily.

My PN was either caused by thyroid/metabolic derangement's or gastritis/h. Pylori infection 9 years ago. I am currently in remission from Graves hyperthyroid.

It's only been since last Xmas or so where heavy sugary sweets have caused flares. It started with Christmas pudding, and I thought it may have been the rum in the pudding?? Then I was advised that most alcohol gets burned off through cooking. I was always able to eat what I wanted to but now I am wondering if this sugar thing is an ominous sign that needs to be reported to neuro? Does it mean I may be becoming diabetic?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hugs,
Aussie

Could be that the SFN is brought on by insulin resistance or a pre-diabetic condition? They are finding out that you do not have to be a full diabetic to get SFN. You could always try eliminating sugar and starchy foods from your diet.

--even those who do not have neuropathy caused by diabetes have reported sometimes experiencing exacerbations of symptoms after having consumed sugar, alcohol, or other foods high in simple carbohydrates.

Not quite sure why this is, although sugar and alcohol are known for being nerve irritants. It may just be that those with already compromised nerves are somewhat more vulnerable.

During my most severe acute neuropathy experience, I distinctly remember one major flare after a potluck pasta dinner. The experience was on reason I eventually went gluten free, though I have never tested positive for celiac on blood tests or endoscopy. I'm probably better off without all those flour products in me anyway.

Congratulations on your wedding!

Sugar is inflammatory in general and
Skews cytokines to the PGE2 inflammatory
Side of the fatty acid chemistry.

And as Glenn points out, leads to high insulin
Levels which lead to low dips after the sugar
Is moved around.. Sugar 'crashes' and this
Disturbs the nerves too.

Sugar is part fructose and many people
cannot metabolize this well, either.

My feeling is that if something does not
agree with you, you should avoid it.

As I've mentioned before, I'm one of those folks.

I've been tested for diabetes & related multiple times—always with negative results, yet my PN flares with sugar, sugar alcohols (found in diabetic candies & other foods), and white starches. It began with only sugar, and progressed to the others within a couple years.

Whatever it is, if it aggravates/exacerbates my symptoms, I avoid it.

Doc

One thing that antibiotics and sugar have in common are that they both play havoc on the healthy bacterial in the gut. At least that is my understanding. The gut is quite important for the immune system, and many believe that it is quite important in general for health. Most doctors do not have this understanding. There are a large number of nerves supplying the gut, leading some to call it the 2nd brain. Why the sugar causes a flair-up, I don't know, but something to think about. Sounds like you should avoid sugar, which would be great for all of us, but I am certainly not willing to do so at this point, so I understand. Good luck.
Ron

Hi Doc,
So can I ask you what you have as a treat or sweet now?
Thank you!!

Thank you Mrs D,
The wedding was fantastic! Afterwards we went to New York and it was absolutely the most magnificent city I have ever seen! I wish I could have stayed longer. I loved it!

Thank you for the info on sugar too!!

Hi Glenntaj,
I do remember you mentioning the flare after the heavy glutening. This is what's happening to me if the dessert is very very sweet. But I'm planning on changing my diet to avoid the flares anyways. As I mentioned I believe I had a 2nd assault of PN 2 years ago with a completely different pattern which put me in a worse off state for a while and I had to leave my job finally. But I started to cutout sugar yesterday and so far so good. Thank you!!

Thanks Ron,
I am also sad to give up sugar but I think in the long run I'll be glad I did. I wish you well on your journey too.