I agree with en bloc. A short course of steroids could provide useful info, and it would be very unlikely to cause any permanent problems.

If it is inflammatory, you could have a better idea of what's happening, and possibly other meds to try that aren't steroid related.

A response to AlkaSeltzer can suggest that you have soft tissue damage/inflammation. Any NSAID may also work. Arthritis can compress nerves, and by reducing the arthritis, the nerves may quiet down.

Do you have dental implants? You keep mentioning IV steroids for your dental work... that is typically not common.
Did you exercise while having the dental work done? People who have infections or viruses, may drive the organisms into the tissues with too much activity. It is best to rest well when ill.
This happened to a gym teacher of my son's in high school... he
worked out too much while ill and drove the virus into his pericardial sac and almost died. (he was in his early 40's)

But it is possible if you have implants, that your body is reacting to them as a foreign object. We have had posters who reacted to joint implants..knee and hip... in the past.

Hi Tunaboy,

I get numerous autoimmune manifestations, a diagnosed arthritic autoimmune prob, mild psoriasis, uveitis ( both autoimmune), now the most lovely addition of diagnosed SFN. All are highly active and debilitating sometimes at the moment and my crp and ESR keep coming back normal. I think it was already mentioned that bloods don't always have inflammation. I have all this active autoimmunity and bloods show nothing at all. Naproxen does however alleviate the rheumatic pain greatly. That's an anti inflammatory drug. You see how confusing it can be?
I went for a one off corticosteroid shot in the backside after asking for it. It didnt help the neuropathy pain. That doesnt mean the neuropathy is not autoimmune. I understand certain neuropathies will respond if there's inflammation there. If I were you, I would ask for s corticosteroid shot I really would. As others have said it may help you rule things in or out. I hhad no bad effects at all. No mood swings, hunchback or moonface! :-) I think you should really considerate it.

Before I was diagnosed with PN, my CRP was also flagged high at 5.4 MG/DL. (Under the reference ranges, it states <0.8).

It was a terrible experience. I had all of the classic debilitating symptoms and the first (non neuro) doctor I saw said blood work looks good, I look like the picture of health and to try to enjoy life more. I insisted something was terribly wrong, again explaining my symptoms and he laughed and told me to have a good day.

No dental implants. No I stayed away from the gym. From what i've researched, most metal reaction symptoms are mainly joint/muscle aches, fatigue, hives, etc. I don't think I have read about pn symptoms.

Anyway, thanks everyone. I am leaning towards giving the steroids a shot, but no longer than 2 weeks (including the taper). I'm just worried how functional i'll be. I hear one of the side effects is insomnia. I have an exam next month and need to start studying for it. Decisions decisions.

YES insomnia can be an issue. It helps to take the dose in the AM vs in the evening.

You think a month of prednisone will do permanent damage? Maybe start with 60mg and slowly taper. I see my neuro tomorrow.

Frankly, I don't think you would need a month to know whether or not it will help. Prednisone works quickly and you should know within a couple days if your symptoms will be improving.

Also, 60 mg is a hefty dose. How did the doctor write the script for this...60 mg for how many days before starting a taper??

I don't think a month will cause permanent damage, but again, I don't think you will need a month. Typically, you can take Prednisone (even a larger dose) for up to 5 days (some says 7 days) and stop without a taper. I used to get 1000 mg by IV for 3-5 days in a row and stop without a taper, no problem. It's when you exceed that 5-7 days that the body stops making it's normal production of cortisol and the if you stop cold turkey, your go through withdrawal syndrome because your adrenal can actually shut down or become sluggish and then your are trying to function without any (or less then optimal) cortisol in your system. And trust me, the withdrawal syndrome from steroids is NO picnic!!

So you should maybe talk to your neuro tomorrow and ask about the length of time (and dosing) to take for an appropriate trial. At this point, you may just want to see if it IS going to help...then you can look at a long term approach once you find out if it will help.

I'm only going off of my first neuro visit when I only had slight numbness and tingling in my leg. She prescribed me 60mg for 3 days, 40mg for 3 days, 20mg for 3 days, 10mg for 3 days, 5mg for 3 days. I figure now that my symptoms have worsened, I might need to be on it longer. But for now i'm gonna stay under 2 weeks and see what happens.

The taper she prescribed is appropriate and you will be able to tell if it will help you within this short time period.