PolyNeuropathy va. neuritis

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kureforcrohns@sbcglobal.net - 24 Oct 2005 14:50 GMT

Again, I will not pretend to know very much about these conditions, but
having neuritis some time back, will relate how it was treated. Not by the
doctor, but by a suggestion from a friend. Don't know if Neuropathy is the
same as neuritis, but the symptoms are similar. It begins with the nerves
feeling strange in the feet and the sensation crawling up to the waist.
The doctor knew immmediately what it was, for which I was very grateful.
Wondered if the tingling and some disability would reach the breathing
mechanism. The doctor tested for diabetes, (negative) and asked a
hundred times if I was a drinker. (He would be more likely to be a
drinker than I). He gave me a prescription for a tranquillizer, seeing how
neurotic I was and said to take Thiamin every day. He suggested I be
admitted to the hospital, but I declined as did not know what that could do.
The friend suggested using a heating pad, and that was the defining
treatment. Used more than one heating pad at a time, as the neuritis
encompassed so much of the body and slept with the pads on lowest heating as
it took hours at a time for any improvement. Also, using the
tranquillizer at the same time as the heating pad may have allowed the heat
to penetrate better as other times using the heating pad alone didn't seem
to help. Never determined what the cause was, so I took it to be viral.
Most of the neuritis was brought to normal, ex cept for one leg where the
thigh becomes numb at certain times and no amount of penetrating heat seems
to help.
This is a treatment that does seem beneficial for neuritis as the nerves are
only inflammed, don't know whether it would benefit neuropathy, as the cause
may be different and the nerves are in a different condition. Also,
using a heating pad is not recommended for diabetics.
Not a doctor, so best to consult one if any condition of the nerves is
experienced.
I think best to keep warm in the chilly and cold weather, if one is
susceptible to the nerves being affected.
Gail

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Sue - 24 Oct 2005 17:12 GMT

Gail,

It seems like you have put a lot of time into your post and that you
are sincerely trying to offer help. So genuine thanks from a reader of
this forum!

Yet I am curious as to why all of these questions and comments about
"neuropathy" are being addressed on a dental forum. Even IF you all
suspect that your problems are related to Hg poisoning, doesn't it make
sense to pose medical questions to MEDICAL professionals?

Why aren't these being discusssed on a medical forum?

As far as the suggestion of being admitted to a hospital, that was
likely in an effort to perform more tests so that the physician could
gain a more definitive diagnosis for you (i.e. uncover the cause), not
as much to alleviate your acute symptoms.

Sometimes that is the only way a doctor can effectively address a
chronic ailment.

In your case, you declined hospitalization and decided to try home
remedies. Hey-no problem. Great!

And I am glad it is getting better for you!

Yet you continue to guess at what may have caused the problem, and you
admittedly "do not know too much about these things."

I am not trying to be cruel or heartless, but I really am not sure what
you and others expect from the medical profession.

Now that your symptoms are subsiding, great, but the cause may never be
known. The cause may or may not have been uncovered if you had been
admitted to the hospital.

Yet in my estimation the physician was doing the best that s/he could
to treat you in the best manner possible. (JMHO, from the sound of it).

As a former practicing medical technologist (one who performs all of
the clinical laboratory tests on patients), I can tell you this:

The only way that a physician can make a definitive diagnosis is by
uncovering enough evidence to support this opinion. Even then, a
physician often cannot be certain. It is not an exact science and
physicians are not gods.... although patients seem to expect them to
be.

(LoL.. ok I agree, and yet Drs. also think they are gods)

There are a few jerks out there (doctors with REAL attitides), but most
are just doing their jobs as best as they can (as per my experience
working in the field ).

Anyway, I am glad you are getting better.

Sincerely,

-Sue

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kureforcrohns@sbcglobal.net - 24 Oct 2005 18:21 GMT

Sue.

The neuritis was long ago in the past, and fortunately all is healed except
the one leg thigh that is not bothersome, but did not heal entirely. Does
not hinder any movement. I would not have brought up the subject of
neuropathy, except for your post on diabetic neuropathy. Just thought
that I would speak of the different causes of neuropathy, and I think
neuritis is one of them if they do act similarly. I know what I was told
helped tremendously, and thought others may benefit from the treatment.
The doctor was very knowledgeable and he had no hesitation in saying it was
neuritis when told of the symptoms, so I saw no need for further diagnosis.
Thiamin is very important for neuritis. There are no medical forums like
sci.med. I think physicians would never try to diagnose anything by these
means. If there were, I would be flooding them with the theory of Crohns.
At any rate, it was not my intention to bring up neuritis, but since the
subject came up, I thought it may be appropriate to say that neuropathy and
neuritis can be caused by a multiple of causes and that some may benefit
from knowing that heat helps. And of course, it never occurred to me
that poisoning or anything else may have caused it. Hope I was not out
of line with the post. Sometimes other conditions crop up on this forum,
so if we have experienced that particular illness, we tend to chime in.
Gail

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Sue - 24 Oct 2005 19:43 GMT

Gail,
Thanks for explaining. I have a friend who suffers from Crohn's. That
can be a tough one when it flares up. Take Care -Sue

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