I already made a post on here but am compelled to make another...

I am a 23 year old female

I have not been officially diagnosed with SFN, however the symptoms seem to be such. I have constant bilateral sensations in my hands and feet. It feels like pinpricks, sometimes intense burning, sometimes like they are falling asleep. It does seem they do fall asleep easily. Its pretty constant....way worse at night and worse with heat and humidity. It seems to be in my calf muscles as well...and I feel like they get sore much more easily these days.

This happened near the end of last summer....went away from about early November until April. It just disappeared. I dont know why. This makes me wonder if its autoimmune related because it "flared up."

Getting help from the doctors here (Canada) is not easy. My GP thinks im crazy or something. A neurologist did an MRI of my head and neck, and because its normal just dismissed me. I checked out normal and strength tests and the stand neuro exam. I also had that test where they electrocute you and measure it. That was normal too. My basic blood, Lyme, as well as the neuro tests were done almost a year ago and all came up normal.

My only other problems are that I have problems storing Iron it would seem as my stored iron is always on the lower side. I also have chronic idiopathic constipation since I was 17. I worry that its related to this problem as I feel like all my nerves are just shutting down. This sounds like hypothyroidism to me honestly, but my TSH is always good. Im going to try and get my doctor to check T3, T4 and reverse T3...even if I have to beg her. I am also gonna try for other tests...see if I can get my liver/kidneys test as well as glucose. Hopefully a CBC as well and maybe she will refer me to someone who check for autoimmune issues.

I am taking B12 even though the blood test shows good. This is because I heard something about the methylation cycle being screwy in some people......and they need active B12

Does SFN always get worse? Does it sometimes just stay at a certain point and then not progress? Mine went away for months.....is this a common thing?

My biggest fear is not being able to do fighting....which I have taken up recently and love it more than anything ever....

I also really enjoy running...and I want to learn archery and other survival skills......and I cant help but worry about this affecting my strength. Being physical is like the one thing keeping me sane in my life the past few years and I really do not want to lose that ability.....

I have been paleo the past couple years and his had helped feel much better over all. The past 6 months or so I have been slacking a bit though.

I recently am trying to integrate the paleo autoimmune protocol with the Terry Wahls protocol to see if I can heal that way.

Yeah...i just wanted to share all that. If anyone has any advice Id love to hear it!!!

Questionmark:

I'm relatively new to this myself. But I've been doing a ton of reading, and from everything I've found so far SFN is a very unpredictable disease. Sometimes it comes on quickly then stabilizes, sometimes it is progressive, and sometimes it can be reversed. Most people seem to find something that helps, but quite honestly it seems that the chances of fully reversing it aren't that great.

As you may have already figured out, the key to treating SFN is finding out what is causing it. But there are so many causes, and so many tests that need to be run - most doctors will rule out the major ones with a few basic tests, then just label it "ideopathic". You have to keep pushing for additional follow ups and testing, but appointments usually take so long to get...

I have had to limit some of the activities I really enjoy doing because of pain in my feet. I can still do just about anything I used to, but many things just aren't fun anymore because it hurts too much to do them.

But, we are all human, and humans are good at adapting. We find diets, supplements, and medications that improve our symptoms. We find new ways to do things that don't hurt as much. We find new things to do for enjoyment that don't require the same physical demands, etc. The main thing is that you don't allow yourself to give up.

May I ask.... what type of fighting are you doing?

Females typically weigh less, have less muscle mass and thinner bones than males. Males with their higher bone mass also have thicker and stronger tendons.

Sudden jarring motions to body, displaces the insides temporarily which then spring back (hopefully). While females can learn various fighting modes, I think their bodies are not designed for this long term. The soft tissue will sustain injury and take a while to repair (usually at night). If this is slow and you continue to jar yourself, then you will accumulate scar tissue in the tendons and muscles.

While it is common today for women to engage in contact sports more, there is still little said about the potential for long term injury. Stretching or compressing nerves will cause them to react and send warning messages. There are many nerves inside and connected to tendons.

Many times with PN symptoms one needs to look at their daily habits and what they are doing. Your activity may be triggering a process that you are unaware of, but your nerves are sending messages to moderate it or stop it. We get male posters here who overdo their exercise or who do extreme things. We had a fellow who had terrible hand/palm pain, and once he stopped the extreme push up routine he was doing, he did heal up.

Each person has his/her own genetic make up for body type, bone type, muscle type etc. And each has a breaking point. We are not all the same. You might find going to a sports medicine physician helpful.

I am doing krav maga but ive only been doing it for a couple of months. I dont think it the cause of my problems. I also bike everywhere. It seems to me that it makes little difference what I do when it comes to my symptoms. I had the flu last week and lied in bed all week....but my nerve thing was at its worst. When it comes to fighting I dont think I have to worry about the nerves in my feet too much, my hands maybe. However my problems are much greater with my feet. There is not a whole lot of impact on my feet at Krav. I eat a very good diet and I am trying to support my body as best I can so that I can do fighting. At the end of the day there is nothing that works better for my mental health, so it would kill me to stop going.

So you bike alot.... that could put pressure on the sacral area, and also the ankles. Both places are prone to compressions.
When you lean forward on the bicycle you place some tension on the wrists. Females seem more prone to compression in the wrist because of the hormone fluctuations and fluid retentions we seem to get. (birth control pills will make this worse).

People don't like it when I suggest changing lifestyle for a while to see if that changes any of the PN symptoms. But really, it does work when the person has been cleared by medical testing which shows little or nothing.

I started with my PN when I was around 30... I am now 68...
I used to do lots of sports (tennis, bowling bike riding), and stand 8+ hrs a day in my job,
and thought it was just stress. But when I became pregnant, it flared so badly, I couldn't do anything with my hands. I had EMGs then and the doctor found I had lost 80% of my hands' motor actions, not to mention the searing burning pain.
It improved some after I delivered, but only responded later to thyroid replacement therapy. That fixed about 80% of it. I can still get flares. I can only do 15 minutes on a recumbent bike, and not do any resistance on my lower legs.

It was pretty insidious... but I naturally stopped doing anything that seemed to aggravate things. I had to stop crochet work permanently to save my hands.

I've found braces help with flares, but I do not strain my hands today and are careful to protect them. The new magnesium lotion by Morton has been very useful too... I sure wish I had it back then when I was such a mess.

That Krav business.. will eventually stress your shoulders also. So be careful with it.

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you've been through the mill will all this!

I tried quitting the biking for a while last time this happened. It didnt seem to help at all. The think is I also get tingling in my lips/face...which is the only thing that makes me think its not the biking. Ive been biking to get around for the past 8 years......partially because I cant afford transit. I did suspect the bike too originally. Ive had EMG studies done in my hands and feet...they came back perfect. This leads me to think I have a metabolic issue.