Peripheral Neuropathy
 

Hello:

My name is Paul and I am 42 years old. I started to lose feeling in my feet in Feb of 2011. By July of 2011 I had no sensation in my feet and they both hurt really badly. I went to my neurologist who did tests where they put needles into the muscles in the feet / calf etc. and run a current to see how much nerve “damage” there is? I was diagnosed on that day. They sent me for blood work to see if I had diabetes and I don’t. The other day I did a blood glucose test to see if I had pre-diabetes and again the bloodwork was excellent. They now want me to go for a nerve biopsy. My question to everyone here is, who has had a nerve biopsy and how bad is it?

Thanks,

Pau

it isnt easy to answer your questions because you have put down very little information here about your peripheral neuropathy and what type you have and suspected causes. A nerve biopsy should be a last resort and should only be used in certain limited circumstances. it is basically used for a confirmatory diagnosis and will not reveal a cause. it does however cause lasting damage and usually numbness and sometimes pain in the area where the sural nerve was cut. you can look here and get an idea of what type of testing you should be getting for your type PN.

http://www.lizajane.org/

Hi Paul

I started off similar to you, in the feet, although mostly in the right.
I had a nerve biopsy. They took a sample from my left ankle.
It was a fairly straight foward proceedure, but they did have some difficulty finding the nerve for some reason. When they cut it, I certaily felt it, even though it was anesthetized.