Hello Group,

My condition is worsening and becoming a whole body pain and numbness, but I still remain grateful for the life I had. I saw a Neurologist recently. It is easy to second guess what happened, but I thought this information would be helpful for the group. Below are questions I had for the Neurologist.

Is Vitamin B12 essential to nerve health, if yes why?

Is Vitamin D essential to nerve health, if yes why?

Can Statins cause nerve damage?

Does the Cholesterol in the body create Myelin?

I have the diagnoses of low B12 and Low D. The excess weight causes diabetes and I am responsible for that, but the vitamin deficiencies perhaps should have been discovered with more regular testing, in my opinion. I asked for a B12 test about 7-8 years ago and it was very low. I have been supplementing since. Should I have been tested more often considering I had nerve pain before treating the diabetes twenty years ago? Some of my levels may have been low for some time.

I have been diabetic for 20 years and it is now in control. I am 61 years old.

The very day I was diagnosed, I got a prescription for Metformin and Statins.

He said Metformin won't cause low B12. But B12 is important for nerve health.

He said low D would not cause nerve damage.

He said Statins do not cause nerve damage.

Some Cholesterol is needed for nerve tissue.

He said the feet and hands are neuropathy, but the rest of it is Fibromyalgia. It feels the same to me. He says they don't know the cause of Fibromyalgia.

He says water exercise is the most important thing now. Nothing has helped me.

He thinks about once a year testing for B12.

He really would not comment on whether I should have been tested more often. But B12 and D only got low because I was not being tested.

I have done the research and it was well presented, but I can't prove anything and don't need to. I am thinking about future patients. He has a medical degree and I don't.

That's all for now and thank you.

Fibro is inflammatory disease. I have both fibro and neuropathy. Similar. I don't have diabetes. Feet/lower legs fingers neuropathy and now fibro all over. Arthritis as well. Joint pain, bone pain. Warm water therapy sounds good around now!!

I had sudden onset of low VitD in the past 9 months. Turned out to be a Parathyroid problem. (I highly suspect it was triggered by something). Vit D shouldn't just go low out of the blue.

How's your Serum Calcium do you have that tested?

Sorry for your pain. I feel it too. Middle of the night here and it's keeping me up every night lately.

I'm not a doctor. I'm just a patient but I can't say I find what your Neurologist told you very factual if you don't mind my saying and that's just talking about the D.

Just curious so have added on here - It's great that you were able to get your Diabetes under control. Have you tried an anti-inflammatory diet at all over the years?

I am not sure about Serum Calcium, but good blood work won't change much anymore. I am also sorry about your pain. The water therapy feels good while doing it, but there no long term solutions, I have discovered. I believe my questions were valid. I understand his reasons for his answers.

What statin are you taking, what dose, how long have you been taking it?
What was your cholesterol numbers before any med?
We have some older threads on stations and lipitor specifically if you want to explore those.. they may be many yrs ago....

I think lipitor played a part in my chronic RSI and now fibro also.

A Statin for about 20 years. I don't remember in what order, Lovastatin, then Simvastatin, then Pravastatin40mg, and now Atorvastatin20mg.
If I knew they could cause this, I would have taken my chances with a heart attack. I don't know who to believe now. I believe the doctor knows more that he would admit to. But business is business and that it more crucial for profit that what may be right for the patient. But I understand the reasons for it all. I had some nerve damage before treating diabetes. I think total Cholesterol over 250 to start. 6 months ago my Triglycerides were 400 and now about 150. Still very grateful for my life experiences. I have no proof that is what happened, but I am looking for answers. His answers were not believable.

JKPHOTO,
When I read your first post, I was worried that you totally accepted what your Neurologist told you.

You asked him good questions but the answers you were given seem to go against everything I understand to be so.

You're so young really. You don't have to accept what you've been told especially if you are already sceptical. I wouldn't like to tell you to do something against doctor's orders but I'm not really understanding his orders to begin with. Hopefully some of the other forum members here will join in with advice because I'm a relative newbie to PN.

Back 5 yrs ago or so there was a new study out that statins are not the fix all and that many did not need to be taking them..

Pubmed.com has many studies and related info..

The gist of it was, if you had actual heart issues or past heart problems or strong family history of heart problems.. then might be worth taking statins..
But not only based on a silly number..

Any Dr that stays updated on new info should know that information..

in 2003 or so my # was 350 and trigl was quite high - I took Lipitor per Dr plus that was the thing to do back then...
i got blurry vision, dumb as a post,forgot how to spell simple words and forgot many things... plus multiple RSI injuries during that same time frame...coincidence?

After off work due to RSIs I had time to start reading online about RSI and Lipitor complaints.. So I stopped taking it on my own after talking with the pharmacist.
I started getting my brain back & vision cleared up to normal after a short time.
Still have some RSI /fibro type stuff but I can manage it.
If Dr does my blood work I tell them I'm not taking any statins even if numbers are still high.
I do eat a lot less junk and mor healthy choices now.

My brothers all take statins but none take lipitor that I know of..

Jomar,
As you would know, the forum is filled with many posts from people who had problems similar to that. The New Members forum has a lot. Many are from early days when the forum started so some of the links sadly no longer work, but there is a lot of info if we use the search engine for "statins". More up in the PN tips etc. Some on NeuroMuscular and more.

I was looking for a good thread from the past to link -
Statins

i second what others are saying about statins. It's not just lipitor which causes neurological problems like PN but crestor and others too.

Low vitamin D is not good for your body in general never mind just peripheral neuropathy.

i would be very skeptical about the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy being in the feet and hands only and the rest is fibromyalgia. What testing did he do on the rest of your body that came to that conclusion? Did you have EMG/NCS to diagnose peripheral neuropathy in your feet and hands?

It is a good thing to get second and even third opinions from experts in the field.