Test Suggestions & Advice Please
 

I won't say my doctor has been unhelpful since I began experiencing bilateral foot pain/neuropathy symptoms the past 3 months, but he is obviously not as aggressive as I would like to be when it comes to finding an underlying cause. So I'm seeking the collective knowledge of the community here for suggestions to help my further investigate this myself.

Symptoms burning/tingling in feet/lower legs, foot sole pain, bunched socks, walking on rocks feeling , vague (but intense) foot ache when standing, feeling of raw skin on soles, occasion numbness in big toe, cold feet.

Blood Tests already performed include
-Treponema Pallidum IGG + IGM (Negative)
-Random Glucose (98)
-TSH (1.64)
-B-12 (>1000)
-Vitamin D 25-Hydroxy (26)
-CBC (All Normal)
-Serum Potassium (4.5)
-Creatinine (1.07)
-AST (21)
-ALT (16)
-HGB a1c (5.1)

I have since started taking these (so any resulting tests would obviously be tainted by increase supplementation)

-Acetyl l Carnitine
-Alpha Lipoic Acid
-Benfotimine
-Methycobylamine
-B Right Complex
-Fish Oil

Me: Otherwise healthy 33 y/o male. Periods of heavy alcohol use over 12 years. Occasional nicotine use 10 years. Mother mentioned feelings of burning feet on occasion (nowhere near as bad as my symptoms from what she described) Average Diet, sometimes very healthy, other times lots of sugar. Positive Tinel sign on top of left foot.

Long shot theories the past 6 months:
-Moved to new home and had many mosquito bites over the fall
-Had Flu Vaccine about 5 months ago
-Was on Zithromax 6 months ago (prescribed by dentist)
-Did lots of ice/heat/strecthing therapy (for what I was told was plantar fasciitis, only to make symtoms worse)
-Work in healthcare and am around a lot of sick people (contamination)

Just trying to figure out what tests may be useful so I can make sure the doctors are looking in the right direction. Any input would be much appreciated. Trying to rule some things out or at least head in the right direction towards the cause of my neuropathy symptoms. If I can think of any other things that may be suspicious I'll add them to this thread. Thanks.

So this all started AFTER your flu vaccine?

Rapid onset is not common with alcohol induced PN....a long history such as yours would have warning signs I would think before things fell apart the way they are now.
But rapid onset may come from a toxin, drug, or vaccine.

You really need the magnesium lotion. Much may be revealed when you start using it.

A positive Tinel's sign suggests compression. Either too tight socks, or too tightly lacing shoes over the instep.

I have Tinel's on both feet still, and wrists. If I twist my hand a certain way or try to lift a heavy object, or open a jar, I can get a shooting pain in my thumb, index and middle finger.
I wear carpal tunnel braces to bed sometimes, but do not need them usually during the day.

Supplements take a while to get going. And stopping the alcohol may cause a rough patch until your metabolism changes in the way your liver processes food. (The liver processes alcohol a special way which lowers blood sugars and prevents spikes).
People who quit drinking often have sugar cravings until this metabolism changes accordingly.

Can't remember the time frame between the flu vaccine and the neuropathy but it was probably about 2 months from injection to the onset of symptoms. I'll see if I can figure out an exact date. Not blaming it, but trying to rack my brain for anything over the past 6-12 months that was new or unusual in my lifestyle.

I first noticed the burning pain after wearing some new shoes at work for a few hours. The shoes didn't feel tight when I put them on but by the end of the night I couldn't wait to get them off. Not sure if it was a cause or symptom.

The pain with this seems to be progressing rapidly. Some days worse than others, but really hasn't given me much warning. 3 months ago I felt perfectly fine. Just today I was having trouble walking around the kitchen and barely able to stand more than a few minutes at a time due to intense foot ache and burning.

Funny the foot with the obvious Tinel sign (left) hurts less than the one where I can't quite pinpoint any obvious Tinel (right). The symptoms and pain morph, progress, and regress hourly and daily (which doesn't sound uncommon for PN)

I'm really having trouble pinpointing a cause at the moment. At first I thought it was tight shoes but that seems unlikely after a few hours of wearing shoes. Then I moved on to alcohol as the next obvious culprit, but your saying that it doesn't normally progress fast?

I'd really like to have a good idea before I see my GP again or a Neurologist so I'm not going in unprepared and end up wasting everyones time.

Never took many medications. Occasional OTC or Norco/Percocet/Naproxen for pain. No other recent recreational drug use.

I've been using epsom foot baths for the past week, but I'll try the magnesium lotion as well. Heck, I'll try anything at this point!! Thanks MrsD for helping me investigate this. I'm going to start googling flu vaccines in the meantime.

Have you had a fall? Even a minor no pain at time one?
Just asking as I had a trivial fall 2 days before my rapid onset and that is what my DR is banking on for the cause (I do have history for damaged disk).

All my research backs up the rapid onset is not disease related normally but injury or toxin related.

Also do you have a referral to a specialist? I'm still waiting the 90 days for that so am not currently having any treatment other than the drugs.

Too tight of shoes can really do a number on you. found that out the hard way.

I bought some that fit nice but then when some hot weather hit, my feet swelled up and I was away from home so couldn't change them, wasn't long after that I acquired plantar fasciitis..
luckily my chiro was able to help with adjustments and his trusty low level laser..and suggested arch supports- all helped and 6 months later all fine.
I still use the arch supports as they feel good..and so many shoes have very little of it..

If you haven't come across it yet, this site has some suggestions:

Peripheral Neuropathy: Differential Diagnosis and Management

Some also find Liza Jane's Charts helpful.

Doc

I have assembled some links on a Vaccine injury thread here:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread163906.html

Googling use keywords like "vaccine injury + flu vaccine" or
just "vaccine injury"

Some people are very prone to vaccine injuries and others less so.
These reactions are thought to be autoimmune in nature.

I don't recall an recent injuries just prior to symptoms. Haven't even really been noticeably sick in the past year that I can recall. My white blood cell count was 4.2 the first time I saw my GP (a week after symptoms started)

I do have a small painful cyst like bump on the sole of my foot (podiatrist didn't even know for sure what is was) I thought maybe it could be the sign of something viral, but white blood cell count was on the low side of normal.

Thanks all for the leads. I'll browse the links and see if anything clicks. I'm really stumped at this point, but plan to keep investigating.

Can you please tell me more about this magnesium lotion?

Just type in "Morton" to our search engine here...I've posted about it many many times. It is very very good.;)