Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Undiagnosed Symptoms Community
This patient support community is for discussions relating to undiagnosed symptoms, breathing difficulties, feeling cold, cough, diarrhea, dizziness, fainting, fever, indigestion, itching, nausea, numbness, pain (chronic), paralysis, rash, sweating, swelling, urination problems, and vomiting.
Viruses that cause small-fiber neuropathy
by RunningL8, Dec 15, 2005 12:00AM
I'm female, 44, a normal weight, normal bp/cholesterol, exercise regularly. At age 35, I woke up with severe "prickly" pain on the soles of both feet & the palms of both hands; after 2-3 days, the pain went away. For the year prior to that pain, I'd had recurring mild viral symptoms (slight sore throat, low fever). From age 35-40, every few months I had 2-3 day attacks of this prickly pain in my hands and feet, and I had a chronic low-grade fever.(During this time, doctors were running tests to try to figure out why I had a fever, but had mistakenly dismissed the pain in my hands and feet as an allergic reaction.) By age 41-42, the fever was better, but the pain in my hands and feet was becoming much more chronic. Finally I was referred to a neurologist, who ran an EMG/NCV, brain and spine MRIs, and dozens of blood tests--all normal; a thermoregulatory sweat test, however, did show mild small-fiber neuropathy in my hands/feet. Top PN drs. (in another city) could not find a cause for the s.f.n., so they called it "post-viral," but were not interested in pursuing what virus I'd had. In the past year the pain has been getting somewhat better, so perhaps the small-fiber nerves are regenerating (which I was told might happen). My q: Do you know exactly which viruses cause small-fiber nerve damage? I'd like to know what virus I had for so long because I'm recently married and would like to try to have a baby; my ob-gyn thinks this is still possible at my age, but it's hard for her to advise w/out a clear picture of what exactly was wrong with me for so many years. Thank you!
Post Comment
It might be worth your while to be checked again periodically for antinuclear antibodies that might indicate Lupus, because sometimes it can take years before it is diagnosed. I stress this, because lupus can cause fever, and with the fever being so long-standing, this is much more likely than a virus. Another thing which you apparently have NOT been tested for is monoclonal gammopathy, which can also cause small fiber neuropathy. Testing for that requires an immunofixation/electrophoresis of blood and urine. I have, unfortunately, both lupus and monoclonal gammopathy, as well as small fiber neuropathy with the symptoms you are describing. Like you, I do not have diabetis, either.
Another thing that can cause small fiber neuropathy sometimes is hypothyroidism. A few weeks ago I was finally diagnosed with that, too. And yet another thing that may cause this neuropathy is sleep apnea. Hypothyroidism can cause both obesity and sleep apnea. A study at http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v31/n2/fig_tab/0803418t1.html (International Journal of Obesity) showed that 26% of obese patients with sleep apnea had small fiber neuropathy. I am only mildly obese, but have sleep apnea, too. I guess my nerves just didn't have a prayer of a chance! I snored, but was convinced I did not have sleep apnea. It took a sleep study to prove it to me. It was at the severe level. At least now I am getting treatment for the hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's thyroiditis), and using a CPAP machine for the sleep apnea. The MGUS and lupus-CREST overlap syndrome are being monitored.
A word about thyroid testing. There has been an ongoing fight between the endocrinologists and the labs about what should be considered the normal range for TSH. If your TSH results come through with an asterisk, but within the stated range of normality on the lab form, it means that your results fall within what the lab considers normal, but not within what the Academy of Clinical Endocrinology considers normal. In that case, insist on a referral to a good endocrinologist! My diagnosis was delayed for at least 3 years because my primary care doctors were not informed on this matter! Had I been properly referred, from the start, I might not have gained so much weight, suffered so much lethargy, and developed sleep apnea. This doesn't even include the fact that the neuropathy might have been avoided.