My Health Story

So this blog is going to help me keep track of my health history.

In 2003, I began to notice numbness and tingling in my feet. My right foot started the numbness first and has always shown symptoms before my left foot. I talked to my primary care physician (PCP) (Dr, Stephen Beeson) and he ran a few blood tests (I have no record of what) before telling me to wait six months and see what happens with the symptoms. I continued working (at Intel as an engineer, with a desk job with no access to chemicals or any environmental causes).

About a year after the numbness, the numbing continued, so my PCP sent me to my first neurologist, a Dr. David Wilkinson. He ran my first Electromyography (EMG) Study. He said result were inconclusive of any issues.

In late 2005, I began to notice a burning pain in my right foot and the numbness was now at a point of fully numbing my right foot and partially numbing my left. My PCP now ran a full blood workup with many tests including a lower back CT scan that all came back negative. We suspected a gluten allergy which would coincide with digestive issues that I had been experiencing for many years. We did full diabetic workups, a "Small Fibre" nerve test that was patented test sent to somewhere in Massachusetts, vitamin deficiency tests, and several other tests, but all came back negative. At this time I also began taking Neurontin and trazadone.

At this point I was officially diagnosed as Idiopathic Peripheral Polyneuropathy. I was also seeing a new Neurologist, a Dr. Max Duncan. He seemed like a good doctor, but his specialty was more strokes not neuropathy. He was not very helpful.

The paing progressed, and my PCP referred me to Dr Navnit Jayaram at Pain Management Consultants, Inc. They began my first use of opioid pain treatment.

To be continued...