I have trouble with titles, but I am trying to ask those of you who are more experienced with PN than myself -- does PN strike for 15-30 minutes, then go away?

In the last couple of months I have had sudden, severe pain hit the back of my foot, the bridge on top, my ankle area, my hands (especially the left hand), I have a "tooth ache" about 1/3 of the time (dentist took xrays, some weird machine that circled my head, he fixed my "bite" and so on, pain is still there) -- and the pain can be the upper or lower left side of my mouth, rib cage hurts at times, right thigh muscle hurts ....

When these pains strike in my feet, I can't bear to put weight on the afflicted foot. Too painful. I use my forearm crutch or crawl to the couch to lay down.

My left hand hurts a lot. My little finger feels like it is broken. Any touch sets off a very severe pain surge. I can't even tear a sugar packet in two when at a restaurant, it hurts too much to pull the paper apart. AND my left hand feels weak at the same time.

I feel like I need to use the bathroom a LOT. Never mind if I just had a normal BM, my system tells me to go again. It is so bad I now take my laptop with me.

Thanks to MRSD's help, and a half mg of Mirapex, my RLS seems to be contained and not bothering me now. Thank You Lord for that.

With over a hundred different PNs, I don't see how they can narrow it down. Maybe one medication works on most PN problems? It is 2:31am and I haven't been to sleep yet. I woke up yesterday at around 4am. At night, I wake up in pain. My rib cage one night, my
left hand another night, my neck hurt another night. PN? Who knows.

So do any of you have pains that don't last all day? 30 minutes? A tooth ache that is not a tooth ache? When I feel an unusual pain now my first thought is, "Is THIS PN?"
A year ago I would have attributed it to old age. I am not in pain all the time, just enough of the time I don't know what to expect each day. Strange disease.

This caught my attention. Have you ever been tested for celiac/gluten intolerance. This is an intolerance to wheat, rye, barley, and often times oats. Many gluten intolerant people also have neuropic symptoms. Gluten is poison to those of us with this intolerance. I also have PN, when I went gluten free, I slowed the progression tremendously. Many of those who go gluten free, in time find they no longer have nerve problems. Often times gluten will cause the random symptoms. Also, many celiac/gluten intolerant, the only symptom they have is the PN.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15610706

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=4003

http://millercenter.uchicago.edu/lea...y/celiac.shtml

Gluten? No, I have never thought of it. I will look into it. My wife has me eating Nut-Wheat bread or something like that. Think of Rainbow bread with gravel in it. I eat several slices a day.

I went to sleep this morning, around 3am. I had my oxygen on, using my Ventilator, so it can breathe for me when I quit breathing. That is normal in my world. But about 3:50am my upper left side of my mouth felt like it was on fire with pain.

It sounds melodramatic, but the pain was so severe I could not stand it. I tried very hot water on a wash cloth and that helped a little. I am detoxing off Opiates, so the Oxycodone that would relieve this pain completely is off limits. I am NOT addicted to opiates, I never even missed them when I quit. My body was somewhat dependent on them, but I haven't had any in over four months. And I haven't desired them one time....that I can remember... until about 40 minutes ago. That level of pain requires relief. Quickly. Heat helped. I took two extra strength Tylenol capsules (500mg each) and two 325mg enteric coated aspirin. PN? My pain with PN or Fibromyalgia (whatever this is.....) has never been that severe before. As I sit here trying to understand what happened, I might hazard a guess that I opened my mouth and the air flowed out ... across those teeth. Perhaps irritating the nerves???? The Dentist said my teeth, gums and bones look fine. No reason he can find for me to have a tooth ache.

Thanks for the gluten suggestion. I feel like I was draining the swamp until about 3:50am, now I am up to my "bottom" in Alligators. IF this is PN --- ouch. I don't want it.

I just looked up Statin Drugs and I don't think I have ever taken any. I am still waking up...
no wait...I really didn't get to sleep yet. I think I was thinking of "Gluten" or something like that. DUH.........

i can relate to much ...

i too get those crazy intense "hits' of pain bodywide--
neuro DX: SFSN (small fiber sensory neuropathy) = pain & weakness; dysautonomnia =dysfunctions ( others may be able to share more or better explain -- PN and/or other systems that may be involved)
also allodynia & other hypersensitivitys


i also have "Fibro" Dx and other central pain disorders-- since head trauma accidents, injurys.
and ON & TN (Occipital & Trigeminal Neuralgia}these nerve pains, problems are the worst, most debilitating for me.

wondering if your 'teeth aches'--could be TN or some type of cranial/facial neuralgia??
hope NOT but ... wondering; these nerve pains problems can be difficult to DX and treat.

good luck
hope u find answers, relief Soon...

why are you stopping taking opiates if they help you with the pain?

I've had this..mine don't last 30minutes tho.

I get "pains" where I have had arthritis issues. Right Knee,
right thigh (MP), left ankle, sometimes my neck.

Your hand may be a stress thing from using the crutches.

Also reducing the Mirapex may be giving you a withdrawal syndrome. Drugs that affect neurotransmitters (Mirapex affects dopamine), tend to do that for weeks/months after decreasing or discontinuing.

You could try Salonpas patches on your hand. I find they work well for me for my hot painful spots. Get the ones with methyl salicylate in them (they make other kinds), for best results.
They are inexpensive--the small ones. You can cut them for fingers/toes.
this one:
http://www.salonpas.us/salonpas.php

On that website is their new stronger patch, but I haven't found it yet in stores. This newer one looks really nice to me..but is much more expensive too. This new one is FDA approved...a big thing these days for OTC products.

dilfo,
You've got a lot of issues,not all of them necessarily PN related.
As for shooting pains, par for the course. Usually brief tho. I call mine
"The gremlin that darts out from behind the baseboards
and jabs me with an ice pick..... hard !".
Cramping in extremities, aching, feeling bruised-either on the surface
or deep in the bones, stinging, burning, buzzing, fire ants crawling, etc.....
all (&many more), have been reported as PN sx.

thanks for the info. After only getting a little less than an hours sleep last night, I am having trouble staying awake.

The Carbamazepine is what my Neurologist prescribed. It has not helped a whole lot yet....... can't type...too tired right now...more later.......

About you teeth pain. Why not try a sensodyne toothpaste. Don't laugh. I know what you're talking about. 19 years ago I had a back tooth (deep cavity) filled.

Well, after that, any time the weather changes, or it rains, I'm in hell. I ran to the dentist (and for me to run to a dentist, you gotta know I'm dying), and I said "pull this tooth it's driving me crazy". He took x-rays. found absolutely nothing. I do have TMJ by the way. He said "well, TMJ can manifest in a toothache but I can't find anything wrong with you.

So (and this was 19 years ago). 1995. I'll never forget that year. Everything went wrong in my life. But not to digress.

The dentist gave me antibiotics (just in case). And in 5 days, the pain went away. I didn't connect the weather thing. I just knew the pain went away and I felt fine. So the next time it happened I phoned the dentist and said "the back tooth is starting up again, can I have a prescription for the same antibiotics?" He said "fine". So I went that route (again, never noticing the weather.

So when it happened a few months later, I went to another dentist demanding that he PULL THAT BACK TOOTH. Again with the x-rays and again he found nothing. Then my gums began to get sensitive (AND THAT'S WHEN I DISCOVERED THE WEATHER CHANGING.)

I began brushing with de-sensitizing toothpastes. Made a world of difference.

Oh, and this is interesting. I once had the same pain in the back of my mouth on the other side. But it couldn't be a tooth-ache because I had no tooth in the back on the other side. I said "what the heck is going on"? It was raining outside.

That's when it all came together. I remember asking a dentist. Could his be inflammation? and he shrugged. See, they don't know it ALL, now do they? Sometimes we have to come to our own conclusions.

And I do have neuropathy (well-controlled by Methyl B-12). I'm a diabetic.

Now I've been checked. I have no sign of diabetes in my mouth, in my eyes, etc.

So whatever happens when it's damp outside, well, who knows.

So try brushing with some de-sensitizing toothpastes. Keep doing the hot compresses thing. You might never find out WHY this is happening. You probably have absolutely nothing wrong with your teeth but it's a nightmare, this I know.

I'll never forget what else happened to me in 1995. I got Bells Palsy. Oh m god, the pain in the nerves on the left side of my face, well, that pain did me in for 2 weeks. Then it went away. I did the hot compresses then too.

I'm lucky, I only have a lowered eyebrow as a reminder that I have bells palsy. I have a friend who has an eyelid that reminds her every day that she had Bells Palsy.

So you take care, try the toothpaste and try and jot down if you get any flareups and if it's weather related.

That's how I determined my flare-ups.

Melody