[lwm_rn]

Hello...I had posted earlier about my husband's recent diagnosis with PN and his workup. I had said he only had problems with numbess in his feet. Well, we have now been up all night because he is having terrible sensations of having a needle sticking into the top of his foot. This is occuring only in his left foot and is intermittent, occuring ever 30 secs to a minute. He also just had his spinal tap on Friday and is still having bad neck pain mainly when he stands up. I know this is likely normal but I am wondering if the pains in his foot could be a complication from his spinal tap, nerve root irritation?? Or is this just the beginning of his neuropathy pains?? When does it get to the point where he should start taking meds for this.....

Thanks...Lisa

[MelodyL]

In my opinion, his neuropathy is showing its true colors.

I do not think the pain in his foot has anything to do whatsoever with the spinal tap.

Neuropathy presents with various symptoms, including numbness, shooting pains, stabbing pains, tingling, ants crawling on your skin, etc. etc.

Something is going on in his body. I hope the spinal tap results come in soon.

How's his headache doing. Is he taking something for it?

Melody

[mrsD]

This may be temporary. I have had shooting zings, that last a day or two.
And they go away.

Same with the feeling of bugs crawling...I'll get one here and there.

The stress of all this sudden medical interest in him, and the spinal tap may have really upset him, and this stress typically magnifies most PN type symptoms.

For me stress is a big issue, so it does not surprise me that he has more symptoms now.

I'd suggest you read some of the posts here.
The B12 interventions, thiamine, metholated rubs for topical use, Lidoderm patches for severe pain. Choosing new footwear. All of these can have a positive impact to lowering symptoms.

I have had PN since my early 30's (due to a misdiagnosed thyroid condition).
While it is better now than then, it still bothers me, but I have found that proactive interventions that reduce discomfort help alot. One has to learn to live with it, however. One thing that really helps is auto-relaxation (auto hypnosis) to minimize the impact of the discomfort. Psychologists teach this, and even physical therapists in some rehabs. (I was offered this for a leg injury, and they were surprised I already knew how to do it.)

Just the thought that this is "forever" might be stressful to your husband.
So it is important to put it in a perspective that allows for minimal discomfort daily. And this is a "job" of sorts, one can not avoid.

Good luck.

[lwm_rn]

Thanks....I was worried it was the neuropathy. I was wondering if the physical stress from the continued neck pains spurred it on. I found that if I distracted him, he wouldn't react so badly to the pain. It also helped if I rubbed his foot. We are waiting for a call back from the neurologist.
Is there something I can go get over-the-counter to help with his pain. Is it worth taking B12 and such if he wasn't deficient in any of this in all his labs.
He's still taking tylenol for his neck pain, and I have tried the caffeine deal but nothing seems to be helping. Just laying down. He missed out on most of our son's 2nd birthday party yesterday.

Lisa

[MelodyL]

Hi Hon:

You have lots going on in your life right now. As far as his possibly being B-12 deficient, the normal blood test for B-12 in the body, well it is not correct. Rose, our resident B-12 expert, as well as others on these boards, will attest to that. The range for B-12 is too broad.

If a person has neuropathy (as I do, and I have diabetes), well my B-12 level was over 900 and I had pins and needles, vibrations, zapping and burning. I bought the Methylcobalimin version of B-12 (got it from iherb.com). and I take one losenge under my tongue evey morning. Each losenge is 5000 mcgs. See where the megadosing is happening here??

You can pick up a bottle of B-12 at your local drug store but it will contain another version of B-12 which is cyanocobalimin and your body has to convert it to Methyl in order for it to do any nerve repair. Our bodies do not store enought of B-12.

So I have been taking this Methyl -12 for over 4 months now and the difference in my zips, zaps, and burning, well, it's been dramatic.

However, it did nothing for my husband and because he's not the patient type, he said "you take it, it seems to work for you".

Yes it works just fine, except when I got stressed, like I did for the past two days. I had a flare-up. That's what stress can do to a person with neuropathy.

Now you have not found out why your guy has neuropathy. You only know he has these symptoms and he just took a spinal tap. Will it do any harm for him to take Methyl b-12? No, not at all. Will he have the same dramatic results I did??? No one knows. That's what happens. What works for some does not work for others.

If his pain becomes to intense I'm sure he will be prescribed some Neurontin or Lyrica. It interrupts the pain signals.

First you take care of the pain, then you worry about why you have neuropathy. That's the credo of the people here on the boards. Many things can cause neuropathy, from MS, from Guillian Barre, From Charot Marie Tooth, Alcoholism, diabetes. etc. etc. See what I mean? So many things can cause it. Sometimes, we never get to find out. That's why we do the Methyl B-12 (which is known to repair cells and nerves and is really good for the body.

But if you think you can go and speak to you doctor and tell him "hey, if he takes Methyl B-12 and the people on the neuropathy board said it works for them", well be prepared to be shooed away and the doctor says "oh, I don't believe this". I get this all the time, and I'm living proof that Methyl B-12 worked for me.

I just have to watch my stress level.

Stress is a killer.

So you hug your little baby and you kiss your guy.

Here's hoping you get some answers.

[rose]

Hi, Lisa.

They've already made my case about the B12.

Best wishes to you,

rose

[HeyJoe]

Hi, I agree i think it is PN flaring up because of the stress of the spinal tap and all that goes with it and also because of the resultant pain he has in the neck causing it to flare in the feet.That also happens to me, i broke my toes recently and it set off pain in the other foot also. Its just our brains interpreting the damaged nerve signals. So, if he has a pain in his neck, the brain could be interpreting the garbled signals from his foot as pain also. I also agree with taking B12 and B1 and if the pain keeps up , getting an interferential therapy unit.

[fanfaire]

Regarding neck pain and/or headache following a spinal tap: he should lie flat for a few days to give himself a chance to recover. Have him follow up with his doc if this doesn't clear up in a few days or gets worse.

I had a spinal tap once that gave me horrendous head and neck pain whenever I stood up. It got to where I was vomiting from pain. I ended up in the ER, and they did a blood patch, and that fixed me right up.

fanfaire

[dahlek]

lie flat for at least the day of and day after the spinal tests....To not do so guarantees that a headache will happen... I'm going to look up those prep tests I'd read about [umm, after I'd had the tests and got that headache?] That headache is in my top ten headaches ever for sure. You are not crazy?

Well, it's small comfort to say that YES those shooting, electric shock like pains are 'normal'? Well, they are and they can get lots worse if the doc doesn't get those spinal results soon! They always take forever! But they are usually sent cross country to reliable labs and these labs know their stuff. [BTW expect 'insurance glitches' from all this -my tests were sent to the 'other' coast where they didn't 'recognize me in their plan...stuff that happens, call your local ins co and hope you don't get a 'brain-dead' person...you know or will know what I mean...takes heaps of patience and time to sort it all out]. I hope your good person can read all this, and all past posts and stickies and learn that it's not crazy pain. IT IS PAIN! Get it diagnosed and treated as best possible....it's not something that gets an easy fix! Good thoughts! - j