Hi Terri,

I'm so sorry you are having such a time of it. Only you will know when it's time to throw in the towel. It's a very individual thing. I know when I couldn't take the pain anymore, the worst thing for me was that the depression set in very hard. Not being able to work anymore was the worst. I loved working and being with the people in the public areas. But, I just couldn't take the pain anymore. The pain and not being able to work made me so depressed, so if you don't have any depression issues, watch for that if you decide to stop working.
I'm glad your kids are old enough to take care of themselves. They sound like great kids.
Take care,
Linda

When and if a PNer reaches the point where applying for Social Security disability is near I strongly recommend that Mike Finkelstein be contacted at:
mike3736@hotmail.com His telephone number is 1-718-966-3736. Mike resides in the Eastern Time Zone so consider that if you call.

Mike has helped a lot PNers get their SS disability and very often on the first try. I'm pretty sure some of the folks here have used his advice and I'm certain some from the old BT forum and TNA site have. Mike does not fill out the forms for you but will guide you all the way through the process. He knows not only what to include but perhaps more important what NOT to include.

Mike does not charge for his expertise but if he were to get me through that process I would certainly give him a nice stipend once the approval was obtained. He is legitimate in every sense of the word and I have personally met and visited with him when I made a trip to NY. He came all the way into NYC to meet with me and we had dinner and talked the night away. I belong to this and a couple of other PN sites so Mike and I remain in touch. I'm certain that Rose will verify Mike's letitimacy as well as Mrs D, Glenn, David, and maybe Lisa Jane and a few others here. Why does he help? Because he too is a PNer, understands the problems, and simply enjoys being of service to his fellow man/woman. Simply put, Mike is the real McCoy.

So, I stongly recommend everyone reading this write down Mike's name, email address, and telephone number and keep it handy. And Mike...if your reading this - thanks for all those you have helped and blessings upon you, my friend.

Just my two cents - without Mike's advice - even with my attorney - I'm pretty sure I would not have gotten the SSDI - agree with Dan 100% He had suggestions that the attorney I dont think had ever thought of - and they heped tremendously!

If you have a very aggressive type of pn, it is really not likely to be the ordinary "idiopathic" that most people on this board speak about.

"Idiopathic" pn is an indolent syndrome. It advances at a slow-moderate pace, and while some people have awful pain early, the pn doesn't usually march up their body this quickly.

I am suspicious that you might have a pn which can be found to have a cause.

While you say you have had many tests, it is not at all clear to me that you have ever looked at the charts I've posted on www.lizajane.org, and compared the tests with what you've had to see if your work-up is as complete as your doctor claims.

I'd like to encourage you to take a look there. If you have an immune cause for your pn, you would benefit greatly from IVIG, and the whole thing might be ended and reversed. I assume you have had a really good work-up for B12 deficiency and gluten intolerance, but that's just an assumption. Many people have been told that they don't have these problems, but when they get a hold of their lab tests results and post up here, they find that people who are very expert can figure out that the doctors were not correct.

So, please, please, before you give up on ANYTHING, ask your doctor for copies of every single test that was run on you. Then make yourself a "chart" and share the results with us. This site is unusual in that it has people here who have made it their business to get well-educated on various types of neuropathies, who are more expert than most neurologists who are "generalists".

Please.