jnb82
04-11-2001, 01:21 PM
My daughter, now 20, has experienced intermittent periphial neuropathy since the age of 14. She now has water retention and irritable bowel syndrome. Are these connected? She has been tested for diabeties recently and had a Cat Scan of her affected leg at 14 . What tests does she need and what diseases could cause this?
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Robert2
04-23-2001, 07:02 AM
I was hoping that someone else would answer this for you. But, since they haven't, I'll give it a try.
My daughter, now 20, has experienced intermittent periphial neuropathy since the age of 14. She now has water retention and irritable bowel syndrome. Are these connected?
Probably not. Peripheral Neuropathy can result from a number of conditions. It can be disease, a birth defect, diabetes, even exposure to certain chemicals. That it is intermittent might suggest a pinched nerve somewhere. Your daughter needs to ask lots of questions to determine the exact nature of her illness.
The cause of IBS is not clearly known yet. It's rather like some little thing irritates the bowel and it becomes inflamed. Some medications can cause the water retention also. If her IBS is really bad, there are medications that can give some relief. She might want to see a specialist.
I have found that, during an IBS flare up, if I go on a clear liquid diet for a couple of days followed by a bland diet for a week, that seems to calm it down. It's a tedious balance because the affected has to avoid raw vegetables and fruit, but still eat a balanced diet. If that weren't bad enough, just when you think you've got it beat, it goes the opposite direction and you get severly constipated. IBS isn't just an illness, it's a lifestyle.
She has been tested for diabeties recently and had a Cat Scan of her affected leg at 14 . What tests does she need and what diseases could cause this?
My daughter, now 20, has experienced intermittent periphial neuropathy since the age of 14. She now has water retention and irritable bowel syndrome. Are these connected?
Probably not. Peripheral Neuropathy can result from a number of conditions. It can be disease, a birth defect, diabetes, even exposure to certain chemicals. That it is intermittent might suggest a pinched nerve somewhere. Your daughter needs to ask lots of questions to determine the exact nature of her illness.
The cause of IBS is not clearly known yet. It's rather like some little thing irritates the bowel and it becomes inflamed. Some medications can cause the water retention also. If her IBS is really bad, there are medications that can give some relief. She might want to see a specialist.
I have found that, during an IBS flare up, if I go on a clear liquid diet for a couple of days followed by a bland diet for a week, that seems to calm it down. It's a tedious balance because the affected has to avoid raw vegetables and fruit, but still eat a balanced diet. If that weren't bad enough, just when you think you've got it beat, it goes the opposite direction and you get severly constipated. IBS isn't just an illness, it's a lifestyle.
She has been tested for diabeties recently and had a Cat Scan of her affected leg at 14 . What tests does she need and what diseases could cause this?
Cissy1
05-09-2001, 11:58 PM
I'm far from an expert on Peripheral Neuropathy, but I'll tell you what I have experience. I am a diabetic. I was diagnosed last August and have had good blood sugar readings for the last five months. At the same time I had a pinched nerve that went on for five months. I was trying all conservative treatment I thought might work and we don't have insurance, so as you can imagine-was trying to keep costs down. However surgery was performed at the end of last November, successfully. The back was recovering just fine, but the legs were getting worse. My orthopedic doctor sent me to a neurologist who at the first consultation has diagnoses Peripheral Neuropathy. He won't however confirm it until some test he has ordered come back. He has ordered blood tests to check for a vitamin B 12 deficiency, folic acid deficiency, thyroid function, as well as a few other conditions that might have the same symptoms. I also have to have an MRI to check what the back is doing and a nerve function test. I don't know if this will help, but I thought you might want to know there are other tests that might be considered.
karenortwein
05-10-2001, 03:12 AM
Ask about a test for celiac disease. There are a lot of site on the net concerning this disease, just put it into a search engine. The symptoms can be varied, but it causes a vitamin B deficiency and that can cause numbness. Also IBS can be really a symtom of celiac. Hope this expands your thinking!!
Take care!
------------------
cookie muncher
Take care!
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cookie muncher
Oldguy
05-20-2001, 12:33 AM
Hi Cookie Muncher,
___It's spelled coeliac,and it is an inherited disease where a person is allergic to Gluten. This means stay away from grains forever. If this advice is ignored, the intimal tissue in the small intestine will be damaged making pickup of B's, and other nutrients, inefficient. The serologist can check for glutin antibodies to see if this is correct. I put in a reply to Woodrunner about B deficiency...if diabetic, best read it. Diabetics are notoriously low on B's...especially B6. Add folic acid to the supplements to complete protection against homocysteine. God bless...
Oldguy
___It's spelled coeliac,and it is an inherited disease where a person is allergic to Gluten. This means stay away from grains forever. If this advice is ignored, the intimal tissue in the small intestine will be damaged making pickup of B's, and other nutrients, inefficient. The serologist can check for glutin antibodies to see if this is correct. I put in a reply to Woodrunner about B deficiency...if diabetic, best read it. Diabetics are notoriously low on B's...especially B6. Add folic acid to the supplements to complete protection against homocysteine. God bless...
Oldguy
deeratpond
05-27-2001, 04:43 PM
Hello Oldguy,
Wow, I don't quite know where to begin!!
My husband has been treated for about 4 years for what the Dr. called Sensory Polyneuropathy. He has numbness, tingling, and pain from his neck, his back and down his arms, hands and legs. He also has muscle weakness. He has been taking Neurontin now for about 6 months, which he is not sure helped any. In fact, his neurologist told him that he should try not taking it for a while and see if he misses it. If he finds no change, then he doesn't need to take it anymore. My husband just had a MRI test done... after all this time. The MRI reveals that he has a pinched nerve coming off his spine... and that he has disc fragmentation and there are disc fragments that are pushing up against the nerves. His neurologist wants to do a series of injections.. using cortisone and anti-inflamatory drugs. He thinks that will lessen some of the pain that my husband endures every day. The pain is excruciating. The Dr. does not recommend surgery at this time, saying that he is not certain that surgery would help improve the nerves. However, he didn't rule it out!!
This morning on the Today show... a Doctor Ian Smith was discussing Lyme Disease and the effects and symptoms. One of the symptoms he mentioned several times... was neuropathy. He said that Lyme Disease can mask itself as Neuropathy because it effects the nervous systems. It can cause nerve damage, and numbing of the nerves. In reading some links on Lyme Disease.. one of the key terms is Radiculopathy... a disturbance in the nerve that causes shooting pain. It emanates from the spinal cord. Sciatica is a good example of radicular pain; it starts at the spinal cord and radiates down the leg.
I am wondering if this may or may not have any relevance to people with neuropathy, or nerve type damage.
My husband is not diabetic. However; he has a history of diabetes in his family...
There are so many thoughts and beliefs about people with neuropathy... if there is a cure and where does it originate from??
Are there any clear cut answers that you may know about. My husband is going to have the injections done.. starting in June. He is so tired of the pain and not being able to do the things he enjoys. He is a retired professional firefighter, and was very active all his life. This has been very difficult for him... and he is scared of the progressive nature of this disease. Any thoughts you might have would be appreciated. Thank you, Shirley
Wow, I don't quite know where to begin!!
My husband has been treated for about 4 years for what the Dr. called Sensory Polyneuropathy. He has numbness, tingling, and pain from his neck, his back and down his arms, hands and legs. He also has muscle weakness. He has been taking Neurontin now for about 6 months, which he is not sure helped any. In fact, his neurologist told him that he should try not taking it for a while and see if he misses it. If he finds no change, then he doesn't need to take it anymore. My husband just had a MRI test done... after all this time. The MRI reveals that he has a pinched nerve coming off his spine... and that he has disc fragmentation and there are disc fragments that are pushing up against the nerves. His neurologist wants to do a series of injections.. using cortisone and anti-inflamatory drugs. He thinks that will lessen some of the pain that my husband endures every day. The pain is excruciating. The Dr. does not recommend surgery at this time, saying that he is not certain that surgery would help improve the nerves. However, he didn't rule it out!!
This morning on the Today show... a Doctor Ian Smith was discussing Lyme Disease and the effects and symptoms. One of the symptoms he mentioned several times... was neuropathy. He said that Lyme Disease can mask itself as Neuropathy because it effects the nervous systems. It can cause nerve damage, and numbing of the nerves. In reading some links on Lyme Disease.. one of the key terms is Radiculopathy... a disturbance in the nerve that causes shooting pain. It emanates from the spinal cord. Sciatica is a good example of radicular pain; it starts at the spinal cord and radiates down the leg.
I am wondering if this may or may not have any relevance to people with neuropathy, or nerve type damage.
My husband is not diabetic. However; he has a history of diabetes in his family...
There are so many thoughts and beliefs about people with neuropathy... if there is a cure and where does it originate from??
Are there any clear cut answers that you may know about. My husband is going to have the injections done.. starting in June. He is so tired of the pain and not being able to do the things he enjoys. He is a retired professional firefighter, and was very active all his life. This has been very difficult for him... and he is scared of the progressive nature of this disease. Any thoughts you might have would be appreciated. Thank you, Shirley
BoneBurner
08-10-2001, 01:25 AM
Hey There Deeratpond...cute name..:-)
A 'lil light went off in my head when you mentioned lyme disease. I've been making regular visits to the docs to see about my left hand (especially left ring finger) not functioning and they've stuck 'degenerative joint diease in my 'files' and also neurothopy...radial? ulnar? Today I had a second nerve conduction test done and the doctor asked me if I had gotten a cold at the time that I first noticed disfunctioning.(which I hadn't) and then proceeded to say I had a viral nerve infection..?? He's fowarding the test results to my neurosurgeon. But, in actuality all my joints ache. They also have me on neurontin.1800mg a day. my conclusion is that maybe Lyme diease hasn't been looked at..South Texas doesn't have a lot of cases of lyme diease. Anyway, I think I'll ask my doctor.Are there spesific tests for lyme disease?
Thanks for lending a bending ear,
Bone
A 'lil light went off in my head when you mentioned lyme disease. I've been making regular visits to the docs to see about my left hand (especially left ring finger) not functioning and they've stuck 'degenerative joint diease in my 'files' and also neurothopy...radial? ulnar? Today I had a second nerve conduction test done and the doctor asked me if I had gotten a cold at the time that I first noticed disfunctioning.(which I hadn't) and then proceeded to say I had a viral nerve infection..?? He's fowarding the test results to my neurosurgeon. But, in actuality all my joints ache. They also have me on neurontin.1800mg a day. my conclusion is that maybe Lyme diease hasn't been looked at..South Texas doesn't have a lot of cases of lyme diease. Anyway, I think I'll ask my doctor.Are there spesific tests for lyme disease?
Thanks for lending a bending ear,
Bone
fatcat
08-28-2001, 09:19 PM
Boneburner,
Can you tell me about the nerve conduction tests you had?
I tried to go thru SSEP but it was too painful! Can I be given sedatives?
I have had the MRI's but, oh , it gets crazy.
Thanks!
shelley
Can you tell me about the nerve conduction tests you had?
I tried to go thru SSEP but it was too painful! Can I be given sedatives?
I have had the MRI's but, oh , it gets crazy.
Thanks!
shelley