Peripheral Neuropathy and Autonomic Nerves

[rebekah]

I had an EMG and nerve study test yesterday, as recommended by my new rheumy. I've had peripheral neuropathy for probably about 8 months now, which I've known just from the numbness/tingling in my right leg and foot, but my doctor never had me get tests and just went based off of the symptoms I told her. She wants me to get more tests done to check my autonomic nerves since that may be the cause of my high resting heart rate, if those nerves are affected. Has anyone had the autonomic nerves affected or know what tests are usually done? My new doctor prescribed me gabapentin, so I started that this morning... hoping that will help with the pain soon.

[NikkiNicole]

I've often wondered if I am getting, or have, peripheral neuropathy. I get this buzzing in my left leg. It starts at my knee and reaches down to the bottom of my foot and will pulse onnnnnn adn then offfffff, onnnnn and then offf for several hours. It doesn't matter if I'm standing, sitting, walking, I can feel it. It's like there's a giant cell phone on vibrate inside the lower part of my leg. I can't stand it. I feel it mostly in the foot.

[drz]

I have had PN for years from diabetes and Wegs made it worse. I had the nerves tested twice in my legs and feet, a rather unpleasant experience. If you lose nerve function elsewhere like in digestive system it can cause other problems, or even more serious are the nerves controlling the heart.

The feeling of neuropathy in the legs and feet change and evolve as the nerve damage increases. For me the sharp stabbing pain decreased as the feet became more numb. You need to learn to check the feet often and have doctors check them often to measure the severity of neuropathy. A tuning fork is the standard way to measure degree of neuropathy.

[chrisTIn@]

A tuning fork is the standard way to measure degree of neuropathy.

What do you mean by 'a tuning fork'?

[rebekah]

Thanks, drz. I had EKGs, CTs, xrays, and an echo and those all came back normal when trying to find the cause for my high HR. So my heart was ruled out, but over a month later it's still high. Just sitting in the library yesterday it was 128... definitely not normal for me. It hasn't come down at all the past month, at this point it seems like it might be the autonomic nerves affecting my HR, but it just sounds scary to me. I feel it's one thing after another with me medically, just a break for one day would be nice, but I'm sure we would all love that.

Christina, a tuning fork is a two pronged fork shaped like a 'U' and made of metal. It is used to see if the patient can feel the vibration. Based on if you can feel it or not, and for how long the doctor can determine if you have PN and how severe it is. (Correct me if I'm wrong, drz...)

[Debbie C]

My heart rate often is high,even after anxiety pills. I never thought anything about it until I read the other thread on how this effects your brain and heart. Now this gives me something else to wonder about. You're right Rebeah, it is always something. There can't just be 1 good day when nothing goes wrong.

[drz]

Thanks, drz. I had EKGs, CTs, xrays, and an echo and those all came back normal when trying to find the cause for my high HR. So my heart was ruled out, but over a month later it's still high. Just sitting in the library yesterday it was 128... definitely not normal for me. It hasn't come down at all the past month, at this point it seems like it might be the autonomic nerves affecting my HR, but it just sounds scary to me. I feel it's one thing after another with me medically, just a break for one day would be nice, but I'm sure we would all love that.

Christina, a tuning fork is a two pronged fork shaped like a 'U' and made of metal. It is used to see if the patient can feel the vibration. Based on if you can feel it or not, and for how long the doctor can determine if you have PN and how severe it is. (Correct me if I'm wrong, drz...)

They ask how long you can feel the tuning fork vibrating when they touch different parts of your feet. They used to say tell me when it stops. Now it say it stopped before you asked. I used to feel it all over for a few seconds. Now I can feel it only slightly in some parts of my feet and not at all in other parts.

[chrisTIn@]

Thanks, drz and rebekah! Quite amazing kind of investigation. Is this the same kind of tuning fork that they use in music lessons?

[drz]

Thanks, drz and rebekah! Quite amazing kind of investigation. Is this the same kind of tuning fork that they use in music lessons?

Might be, but I never had music lessons so don't know what they use.

[rebekah]

Thanks, drz and rebekah! Quite amazing kind of investigation. Is this the same kind of tuning fork that they use in music lessons?

I do believe they are the same, though I think they're different frequencies... I never used one to tune my clarinet though, only the tuner or by ear.