I'd like to say that I am an ex-smoker. I had given it up for years when I had my baby. But oddly enough I started smoking again 6 months before my PN. I noticed very clearly that everytime I took a puff, I was in extreme pain. I definately noticed without a doubt that a puff of my ciggie would make my PN hurt 20 times more.

I stopped right away cold turkey and have not smoked in 2 and a half years now since onset of PN.

I am not certain if my PN was caused by smoking,none of the doctors I have seen advised of any connection.

My neuro did say that smoking is a vasoconstrictor,and when I took a puff I was most likely depriving nerves and cells of oxygen which could cause elevated pain??? I honestly don't know.

Mark- the worst affected area for PN on me was my face and head by far. My eyes would ache, and I would get sparky shocks in my eyeballs all day long. Nightmare like pain in the beginning. then it moved down my arms,torso,back,and finally legs and feet.

Hi Mark and welcome to this forum,
I use to drink beer and i could guaranty that if i had a couple of beers about 1 hour later my feet would start burning like hell, same with a heavy load of sugar from sweets or even icecream would start of my burning a lot worse than normal, i don't drink any alcohol these days and try to not to be tempted with sweets.

With your up comming tests, the Nerve conduction test and the EMG was a piece of cake for me, but others here say the opposite, i suppose its up to the individual we are not all the same and perhaps who is performing the tests may make a differance, i don't really know, the thermal testing [Quantitative Sensory Testing] was a walk in the park too, that's the one that tests responses from your small nerves, here is a bit about it that may interest you. http://www.medoc-web.com/qst.html.

With smoking, well everyone is not the same just like how an EMG hurts some and others it doesn't, there is good evidence its no good for you, but i have smoked for nearly 40 years, i have no intention of quitting, i know i am silly but i have had a 98% recovery from PN so who knows really, if i give it up now perhaps the last 2% recovery may happen sooner.
No preaching please.
Brian

Hi there I had an MRI of the brain and cervical spine and they were fine. I would really like the rest of my spine checked because of the lower back pain that I have but I don't want to tell the neurologist how to do his job...

Like I say smoking does make the symptoms worse, about 10 days ago I smoked about 10 ciggarettes and in the evening the pins and needles in my feet were much much worse and my face was more numb and I also started getting really weird sensations around the joints in my hands/hips/ankles/lower spine it wasn't pain ,it almost felt kind of ticklish,it made me want to squirm,very hard to explain.

Alcohol also makes it worse, I have never been a heavy drinker nor a really heavy smoker but at this rate I am going to have to give up smoking (have already stopped drinking, I have had 3 drinks since april and each time the PN got worse so stopped altogether now), although im so stressed at the moment that I keep getting the urge to smoke, its a catch 22 situation...

Hi there I did have a brain and cervical spine MRI and it came back clear,which surprised me quite a lot as I have never really been a heavy drinker or smoker BUT I did abuse substances for a period of time (which has now stopped, needless to say) I am not that young, im in my 30's.

I have also had some blood work done, I know there was an extensive amount of testing done in june, they took 4 or 5 vials of blood from me, unfortunatly I cant remember which tests they did except the one for B12 and another for autoimmune ,the rest I really cant remember.All these tests came back clear as well. I also had some blood taken 2 days ago and on the form im sure it said 'peripheral limbs or peripheral system testing' .

Hi to everyone else who has posted on this thread. I am feeling overwhlemed with the response and I am sure I will get to know some of you more

Not diabetic and I smoke.

I'm with you Dahlek. I don't apologise for being a smoker.

The question I've been pondering lately is all the chemicals in cigarettes besides the nicotine. The post I made the other day about the trip to visit my daughter...that was one thing I forgot about. I didn't smoke in their house so I was smoking much less than I usually do. I won't say exactly how much but I'm a heavy smoker. So it followed, in my mind, that perhaps my PN is induced by those chemicals in the cigarettes??

My doc gave me a script for Chantix. It works differently than Zyban (Wellbutrin) and is much more effective. I'd get the prescription filled in a heartbeat if I could afford it. 230.00 (if I recall correctly) for 30 days and then there's a refill to pay for. Medicaid won't pay for it. I don't even have that much to live on every month! A carton of cigarettes here in Virginia is still only about 25.00 for a name brand. 18.00 and some change for the brand I smoke. My doc says it's cheaper in the long run to quit and the 230.00 is probably about what I spend a month on smokes. Right. So it's a catch 22: If I stop smoking so I have the money to by the Chantix...well that makes a lot of sense doesn't it? I wouldn't need the Chantix to begin with! Sometimes her logic escapes me.

ETA: Duh! Silly me! Welcome, Mark! My pain is all in my feet. And as you said, compared to many I'm very blessed in that my pain levels are nowhere near what other's are.

I was wondering if you would be able to explain how your PN came on,which body parts were affected first,second,etc...

Where is your PN the worse, is it purely sensory,motor, any autonomic issues, mixed etc...

Were you ill before it came on with any infections,viruses, do you have any other medical conditions?

I think if you can paint a clearer picture of the initial presentaion and circumstances, it might be easier for people to offer more targeted suggestions and ideas.

Just wanted to say I am a smoker and my B-12 leves were absolutely fine. I had every test imaginable done and TWICE and all tests were negative. I am not a diabetic either. So, my guess...because I am a "spiney" is that my neuropathy is more a compression type and/or radiculopathy. The PN went away in my hands after two fusions. Now it is back? And why? Probably because I have irritated a nerve root again and the peripheral nerves are mad! The same thing is going on with my feet...but I have lumbar/sacral problems too.

Also, never was a drinker and never abused any substances other than smoking. So, I look to my spine as a cause for most of this. And all I do is to take Klonopin .5 mg once a day and one Vicodin a day. This keeps it all tolerable. Other than that, the spinal injections I get from time to time help tremendously!!! The nerve(s) get calmed down and then the PN calms way down too. And I would take supplements other than the Calcium with D I already take but I just don't as I have various reasons for not. But basically, no amount of supplements is going to rid me of the arthritis compressing on nerve roots and/or stop the neuropathic pain because of it.

I do think though that if I were to stop smoking it would make a difference.

Mark, it would help us all understand what you are going through if you could tell us in a short narrative what happened. Something like--I'm a 45 year old guy who was perfectly well until.....when I developed a funny feeling in my toes....over the courseo f the next____days, the symptoms changed in such and such a way. So far, the tests that have been done are_______(AND GET THE RESULTS FOR US< PLEASE). My doctor thinks I have _____and plans______- I take xyz meds. I drink xyz amount of alcohol and use xzy drugs or have been exposed to xyz toxins.

My family history: My mother...or father do or do have anything like this...or wahtever.

Those of us who have been here a long time really care about the numbers and specifics. There are people here who have made themselvse quite expert in different aspects of neurological disease and neuropathy.

And you probably know I've posted a list of tests for neuropathy on lizajane.org. Please check it out so you can help guide your own diagnosis.

I'm not sure what you have at all. My guess is the cigarette thing is a red herring. It sounds like you might have some sort of inflammatory neuropathy, or fibromyalgia, but it's not at all clear yet.

In the meantime, do stick with the supplements. The lipoic acid and carnitine cannot possibly be hurting you, just as fish oil can't hurt, or B12 and folate.

You might have lots of fluctuations with coincidences which don't mean a lot.

I, for one, can't for the life of me figure out why I get better or worse, except for sinus infections. That's the only certainty.

It isn't B12 levels that are low in smokers. They have been shown to have less methylcobalamin.

I agree with Liza Jane. Well chosen supplements are a good idea for anyone with neuropathy. It is doubtful that cigarettes or alcohol caused it, and if a person does not want to quit or can't, there's no reason not to give your body goodies to compensate for toxins and possible depletions.

rose