Jon,
Ill or not, you made a good decision.
Lessening your stress and spending time with family will always be the right choice in life and I respect you for not waiting until you were ready to drop before making the decision.

When I got ill, I Had to make the tough decision of stepping down from a mgmt position( that I loved) and went back to a staff decision. It was so difficult to make that decision but I wasnt being fair to the folks in my department or to my husband. I stayed in staff position for a year then ran out of short term disability benefits time and was forced to "retire" to full time disability.

Jon, if you think that one day you may be unable to work full time, please look into your companies disability policies. I was so naive, I did not realize I would lose my job because I was working a less than full time schedule. I thought I could move to part time permanently but my company policy did not allow it. If hired for full time, Inhad to work full time. Once I was first sick and fell into the short time disability category, I did not know I was on a disability continuum. Now, this was a huge company, your company may different.

Thanks for keeping us informed.
Diandra

Down more weight, blood work mighty. My B12 was 1000 despite a three week break from supplementing. I think it is safe to knock that off the list of issues contributing to my neuropathy.

My A1C is now 5.7. I am rather thrilled with that. Back, back, back it was unsightly. I'd hate to misquote, so I won't.

My primary sees no point in a punch biopsy, as we treat nerve pain the same. I ran with that crack in the door pointing out that it is not enough and I am doing Herculean work. It appears pain management may be the next step, though I see my neurologist at the end of the month and between seeing him and work changes I'd like to see how that shakes out first.

I don't quite understand what else he thinks I could do. I understand that prescribing "heavier" substances invites scrutiny, but it is not as if I have not attempted to address this with everything I have.

I want more quality in my life. If that means stronger medication, I can accept that at this point. I think my rant is becoming increasingly circular. First and foremost, I'd like the biopsy. While I understand this all could still be related to my diabetes it doesn't smell that way to me.

Anyway..
Frustrated, buzzing, burning with a side salad of shooting pains,

Jon

Your A1C is great Good for you !

And I would ask for the skin biopsy because it can tell you quite a few things. It's also good to have a confirmed dx. I really needed that when I had to file for SSDI. Not sure I would have been approved without it. Also needed a confirmed dx for my peace of mind. And I was relieved when I got it even though it was really bad. No A or C fibers left in my foot and that was the 'good' foot....lol. I cried because I was so thankful to finally know what was causing me all this pain.

After reading many posts on here about the trouble people have getting a skin punch I was very lucky. My symptoms came on quick at the beginning of May 2013 and I had the biopsy on Sept 10th 2013. I had seen the foot and ankle Dr once and he thought it was SFN. I called and asked for the test and he did it the next week.

The Dr that did the punch biopsy, PCP and my neuro kept telling me I needed pain mgmt. Took me a year before I gave in and went. Now I know I should have gone when they told me too. I had this thought in my head that all pain mgmt. offices were pill mills. Boy was I SO wrong. Best decision I've made.

Debi from Georgia

His thing is I have confirmed long fiber neuropathy via emg/ncs. I think it is worth knowing there is more, if there is.

if that is what you want that is what you should get. Having a skin punch biopsy now at the least would set a base line for this period of time against which future skin punch biopsies could be compared to determine your progress in either healing or progressing in the disease.

I am now finishing my third week in my new position.

My stress is dramatically reduced. I regularly was passing out after work. This week Wednesday was the first time happened since the move. I am "pleased" with this. I didn't expect the world to flip. In many ways it has, though.

I was offered my choice of desks. One is a window seat overlooking Lake Erie. I watched the sun set the most beautiful magenta last night. It was like a pad of butter on a hot potato of the horizon, sinking and sliding down. So peaceful.

The weather jumping up and down with high winds has challenged me physically. My left ankle refused my attempts to rotate it this morning, like a petulant child at the toy store it was.

So it goes.

I fully grasp how difficult it is to put stress and anxiety to the side while dealing with this brutal illness. I marvel that I was willing to bang my head against the anvil of strife, stress and pain for so long without making the adjustment at work.

I credit the work ethic instilled by my parental units, but I should have used the good sense they bequeathed as well. Better late than never, I suppose.

I encourage everyone to make any change possible, large or small, to improve your life and condition.

I did have to leave early last week two days- forgot that until I was wrapping up- but this condition does that, eh?

I plod on, wishing you all the best.

Jon