by a neuro who wanted me as his patient [but didn't believe I had what I'd been diagnosed with] to have the sural biopsy... He referred me to his mentor, a neuro dept head [not the neuro #3 I'd first seen and had diagnosed me]
This second neuro head was pretty much sceptical that I an an autoimmune neuropathy, saying that: patient he sees who have this are in wheelchairs. I replied: Maybe because I got treatment IN TIME I'm not in a wheelchair? He ultimately agreed with me and my conclusions [and my docs''] that I'd met essentially 9 out of 12 evaluation criteria for diagnosis and treatment. AND that a sural biopsy wasn't necessary. BTW Most insurances do NOT cover this procedure as it's now considered too risky anymore-except in the most confounding of situations. Punch biopsies are going to become more common soon, trials are almost done about this, And I've read that somewhere in AU they are doing tests/trials for this procedure [can't remember where tho! Durn].
One thing to keep in mind about any nerve tests is IF you are comfy! Too hot or too cold can skew your test #'s...Here is a site:
http://www.onecallmedical.com/PDFs/E...0ISSUE%205.pdf
I'd had one Nerve conduction test early in the Am...The room was very cold...my feet were rapidly turning blue...The doc gently 'rubbed' my feet. I alternately ahhed at the warmth of his hands and almost squirmed/screamed from the rubbing of those hands. He had a space heater put into the room, but I suggested that a hairdryer on lo might be safer and easier to use in the long run..Not had a test since then...But at least my feet were tepid for the test? Now that is for regular nerve tests. I've not had the temp.threshold test either. I 'passed' good or bad all the key ones for diagnosis. AND I think I'm grateful I didn't have to do the more well 'unique' ones! Good thoughts and pain-free moments! - j