My initial primary symptoms before the weakness were twitching and cramping too.....are these your current symptoms? If so, maybe it's these symptoms with no other cause that lead to the paraneoplastic panel being done?
I just assumed it was a regular part of the neuropathy work up when my doctor ordered it.

I was having some twitching but to be honest I've had benign fasciculations for years.

I had it off and on randomly, before it went haywire in januarary, where i was having the twitching frequently in one setting, it appeared the same time my other neuropathies appeared, in januarary.

The single most useful thing for twitching is magnesium.
You can try SlowMag twice a day or topical mag like
Morton's epsom lotion. Magnesium calms muscle tension
And improves circulation to muscles.

Note that BFS and CFS fasciculation syndromes often produce tingling and numbness. So does Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. In general the presence of fasciculations and neuropathy due to the same underlying cause is rare according to my neurologist.

I thought I read somewhere the folks with BFS often have small fiber PN.

Oh well chalk it up to another odd variant in my physiological makeup.

I have watched the net over the past years, develop the term
BFS. It is not a diagnosis but only a descriptive term used for the symptoms.

During this time the studies on magnesium intake in the diet have paralleled the BFS term... up to 70% and maybe more do not get the RDA of magnesium from the diet. Or they lose it quickly thru lifestyle choices. Caffeine and alcohol increase magnesium excretion, and so does glucose intolerance and diabetes.

In fact heavy daily exercise may deplete it more, since magnesium is used by mitochondria to make the membranes of those energy factories more efficient. It is also used by muscles along with pyridoxal, to metabolize carbohydrates.

from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17172008

A good resource to help athletes consume more magnesium from foods is:
http://www.slowmag.com/
This dosage form was developed with doctors in mind, when the oxide form that was historically used before was discovered to be useless as a supplement. However, this dosage form remains over the counter, and does not require a prescription. The average dose is one tablet twice a day.

In fact more and more discussion is available now on the net along with studies to show that heavy running habits, are not as healthy as people used to believe:
http://www.latimes.com/science/scien...202-story.html

This might be due in part to the heavy requirements the body has for magnesium, and since most people don't even get the RDA, the extra load needed for heavy exercise creates the potential for damage.

We have seen in an extended family member, who was a pilot in the Air Force, and is now retired and a commercial pilot.. who did his running as part of his fitness routine... he has had to have both hips replaced recently (and he is only in his 50's.)
The wear and tear he has experienced has this price for him.

There are many more articles like this on the net:
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31095384

So moderation is the key, and also paying attention to the nutrients you need to exercise safely.

I was tested for this. Came back with positive antibodies to acetylcholine ganglionic receptors. Did a PET scan that was negative for cancer. I don't think pareoneoplastic testing is done in an initial neuropathy workup, but they think about it when other causes are crossed off the list.

Interestingly, I have had benign muscle twitching for about 6 yrs, along with both SFN and length-dependent neuropathy for the last 13 yrs. Taking magnesium does take the frequency down a few notches.

The twitching and cramping were my initial symptoms, followed a little later by "perceived weakness" in the legs. At one point I had convinced myself I had a motor neuron disease. When the EMG tests pretty much ruled out MND, the neurologist ordered the paraneoplastic panel as kind of a "shot in the dark", since there were no other neurological signs, and paraneoplasm (particularly certain lung cancers) can apparently cause the twitching/cramping symptoms. Over time, the weakness seemed to resolve itself and the twitching/cramping were being controlled by Gabapentin. Just when I started to think I was OK, the burning feet started, and now I'm scouring this board for answers.

There was a study that investigated whether BFS was essentially a symptom of SFN :

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content...tracts/P01.139

The bottom line was that: "Many patients with BFS exhibit a significant decrease in SGNFD or ENFD, with the SGNFD preferentially affected. Small fiber neuropathy should be investigated as a potential cause or contributing factor to BFS."