I have the buzzing vibrating feeling. It is mostly on my left side. I hate it. It comes and goes. It is not as strong as it was a few months ago. My neuromuscular doctor says this is a typical symptom for people with small fiber neuropathy. He didn't look at me like I was crazy at all.

Welcome Maryoochi.

I'm glad your doc recognizes this, but it does makes me sad. I keep hoping that I don't have SFN but I seem to have every symptom in the extreme. I keep hoping this is just going to go away! I can't handle this. I don't want to live like this anymore. I have my biopsy next week. I'm scared of the results.

Hi Canagirl,

Sorry we strayed off topic, but sometimes Posts organically link to other subjects.

Anyway, I shake. Legs, hands and arms and head. When I'm a passenger in the car it can be so violent it makes the car shake on it's suspension when standing still.

It is with me all the time, but is made much worse in times of immediate stress.

Dave.

A while back there was a thread about fasciculations, in which I posted a link to a study that did skin biopsies on a number of people with "benign fasciculations" - and found that a high percentage showed decreased nerve fiber density. The implication is that fasciculations were a essentially a symptom of small fiber neuropathy.

Since my symptoms started as fasciculations, I previously spent a bunch of time on a BFS forum. The people with benign fasciculation syndrome frequently complained about buzzing. (And, I occasionally feel some buzzing as well.)

The "official" symptoms listed on the BFS forum include: Frequent muscle twitches (fasciculations or fascics), generalized fatigue, "pins and needles" sensations, migrating numbness, muscle cramping and/or spasms in the affected areas (usually the feet and calves), muscle aches and stiffness exercise intolerance, headaches, and itchiness. Often the symptoms will get worse at night, or during periods of sickness or viral infections, stress, or overexertion.

Although they don't specifically list burning, pain, or buzzing - many of the members report those symptoms as well.

Then there's the other name for BFS: "Peripheral Nerve Hyperexcitability Syndrome".

Typical prescription treatments for BFS are anti-epileptics, antidepressants, and anti-spasmodics. Non-prescription treatments include epsom salt or dead sea salt soaks, dietary improvements, magnesium supplements, etc.

Any of this sound familiar?? After spending time researching both "conditions", I really wonder if BFS and SFN are really just slightly different manifestation of the same disease.

Ragtop,

In all your reading about BFS, do you know if it's common/uncommon or unheard of to just have it in just one part of your body, like say your left leg?

Thanks.

Many of the BFS'ers talk about "hot spots" - an area that has the highest concentration of fasciculations. But, for many people the hot spots move around and I would say that very few had the symptoms limited to one specific area. Again, like SFN - the symptoms can wax and wane, change location, etc.

Ok, thanks. I ask because I've had neurological symptoms in my left leg since 1986. It consisted of paresthesia and twitching mostly, but was confined to my left leg for 27 years. Then on Nov. 10th, 2013, I woke up, and everything changed. I had classic SFN symptoms in both legs and other neuro sensations body-wide.

I'm so weird.

Is the BFS diagnosed by skin biopsy? It sounds pretty much like the same thing or maybe just one level below since it doesn't have the extreme shooting pain type of neuropathy.
It really sounds the same. Ive never heard of BFS.
This is interesting to me. I have always had hyperexitabliliy of my nervous system, but never this pain, spasms, twitching and autonomic dysfunction anything like this.

Ragtop,

I am familiar with the bfs forum. My first symptoms were twitching and vibrating and they lead to the bfs forum. It's actually how I heard of sfn. When I started to get more symptoms and in particular the burning I came across a few posters that ultimately received skin biopsies that confirmed sfn. Drs ( I think ) use it as a bail out. One neuro said I have bfs and refused to entertain the idea of sfn. As health girl pointed out bfs and sfn seem very similar. If they are so similar it seems ridiculous to me that neuros would put people in that category without biopsy to rule out sfn