Ugh, maybe I'm clueless (or maybe your neuro is), but didn't you mention something about a positive glucose tolerance test??

Maybe your are pre-diabetic?? Are either of your parents a diabetic??

Lots of questions will follow, believe me. But for this guy to say "don't believe everything you read on the internet is just plain stupid".

Many people on these forums know a great deal about neuropathy. More than their own doctors do. Unfortunately, with so many people being diagnosed, many doctors just throw up their hands and hand you a pain killer.

So keep watching for responses to your post.

People here will help you.

Melody

OH, I SEE YOU POSTED TWICE AND OTHERS HAVE JUMPED ON BOARD AND SAID WHAT I SAID. See?? people will help you.

Hi Melody,

Thanks. Sorry for the double post. I Know it that many people on these forums know more about neuropathy than their doctors. I will respond in the other thread.

good morning. i merged the two threads.

welcome janonius.

Woops, glenntaj I meant to respond to you in post #6. Thanks for your help.

Jason,
You've come to the right place for frank discussions of SFPN, prediabetes, polyneuropathies, etc. There is a wealth of info on this site and as people have noted much of it is not generally known and or recognized. I looked up your doc @ UPenn, I'm not familair w/ him but I also go to UPenn and my experience has been much different and more positive. If you seek a second opinion I'd push hard for Dr. Mark Brown, the dept chair - his specialties are diabetic and prediabetic SFPN.
If you want pm me and we can discuss in more detail offline. I'm sorry for your plight PN sucks at best but it's nice to have someone in the same general area to talk with.
Best of luck to you.
Alkymst

I think that the only thing to do when a doctor treats you like that is to ditch him and try another. It is very stressful (for me) to try a new doctor out, but that is really the best option. I never go back to a doctor that I am not satisfied with.

To say I am not satisfied is an understatement. I AM FURIOUS. He basically said that I am lying about my symptoms.

and have faith that we ALL have been through the FOOD PROCESSOR called 'diagnosis'.
Two things I cannot underscore here are that: 1- NEVER EVER SAY: I learned on the Internet! Say that about 17 thousand times...rather said...I read at the NINDS website about X & Y tests being the norm...etc. Or from Hopkins or Cleveland Clinic or MAYO! That will make your docs know/KNOW you are reading from credible sources about SPECIFICS! and 2- SECOND OPINIONS! They are worth their weight in GOLD...I totally dumpted neuro #1 for #2- attitude and communication are essential for dealing with this STUFF and #1 did NOT have any tact AT ALL...nor empathy, nor [after I found the folks here] any real knowledge of this portion of the neuro world. I got a 2nd - 2nd opinion of #2 neuros' diagnosis which took things a step faster/agressively in the diagnostic quarters and I am grateful -ever so much for that! I've also seen 4 other neuros in relation to my issues and things are pretty much confirmed about ME. IF your insurance allows it, DO it...A second [or more] opinion office visit is CHEAP compared to the damage that could happen from improper/prompt diagnosis/treatments.

Read the 'Stickies' at the top of the page, click onto the links to other sites/papers/opinions etc. [in blue] and read lots of prior posts here. That way you will get a pretty solid handle that we are not a bunch of 'poor-me' back patters. Each of us has been thru that purgatory called Neuropathy to many different degrees and pain levels... I for one, not only 'feel' for you, but with you! And-that you got such a turkey of a first neuro, well, it really steams me! THAT is a doc that better get into THIS century and quickly! Nuff said? - and now get to work on getting a good doc and getting what YOU NEED! - j

Welcome to our board.

After reading your first post, I have some questions.

Did you have that glucose tolerance test at the same time you were on the Risperdal treatment?

How old are you?

How long were you on Risperdal? Long term use of Risperdal has been shown to cause pituitary tumors and increases in prolactin which is a hormone.

Are you overweight with abdominal fat? Risperdal causes weight gain.

When you had that GTT, you had both insulin and glucose run with each
blood draw?

Do you rest on that elbow alot due to life style habits? Work tasks?

Do you eat whole foods, and tend to be careful to keep healthy food habits?

What you do, what you eat, and what drugs you take or have recently taken, can impact alot on the nervous system.

Brian wrote you a great post on diabetes, and gives good advice. My take is that you need someone excellent to handle the diabetes (prediabetes is a silly concept) and get that under control. The ulnar neuropathy needs to be explained. Where is it from? The wrist? The elbow? It is NOT typical of small fiber neuropathy to get a neuropathy of a single LARGE nerve like this. That's more typical of compression. It's not even something that looks like it's from a spinal disk. So I'd want to know why the ulnar neuropathy.

In terms of the burning feet...You probably have your cause right in front of you, in terms of the diabetes, but if you want a better workup, it looks like you need another neurologist.

Many doctors are threatened by patients on the internet; others just don't realize that an intelligent person can distill out the good information from the worthless. If he hasn't looked at the net from a patient's perspective, he doesn't know. He doesn't sound like someone to have an ongoing relationship. Depending on where you live, you might a very good general neurologist (many of them are excellent), or another neuro who calls himself a neuropathy specialist. Or, I might be safe to just get the diabetes under control---as long as you have someone good and caring taking care of you---you can always go for more tests if it goes in the wrong direction after taking care of the sugars/insulin.

But I'm not sure that whatever explains the feet explains the ulnar symptoms.

It's possible to have termites AND ants, my own neurologist told me.