Discussion Board

About a year ago my husband began to lose feeling in the bottom of his feet. He describes it as feeling like his feet are "fat". At the time he was doing in-line skating for exercise, and thought perhaps it was from vibration of the skates. However, winter came, and when it was wet, there was no skating, and the problem continued. He went to his doc. A blood test for B12 deficiency was negative; he was sent to a neurologist. The doc may have done other tests also; I was so certain it was a B12 issue, that's what I focused on. At the neurologist, no reason for the lack of feeling was found; he was told, come back in 6 months if it continues. It has gotten worse. After reading that blood tests for B12 are not as accurate as newer tests, he began taking 1000 mcg of b12 2x/day, thinking that it won't hurt, and if it is a B12 deficiency, it would take care of it. Has not helped. He has given up coffee, wondering if that could be related? His next appointment with the neurologist is mid-April. Meanwhile, we are very concerned! What could this be? What should we try? My husband is 63, eats a plant-based diet, has a TC of 155, and is active.
Any suggestions

There are many possibilites, from structural impingement on nerves in low back to auto immune diabetes (aka diabetes type 1.5) showing up later in life, really quite a few. No way to tell without continuing your investigations.

Thank you Geoffrey
Did forget to say that his fasting blood sugar was tested 2x in the last month ....86 and 91. Had not heard of Type 1.5; am thinking his numbers make diabetes unlikely.

Structural impingement of nerves; could be. His body seems to make boney deposits in unhelpful places.

Appreciate your thoughts.

My father had similar issues. Might have him checked for spinal stenosis and bone spurs on lumbar and sacral vertebrae around nerve roots

Did the doctor check his vitamin D level? Vitamin E? Thiamine? Maybe he has an absorption issue.
http://neuromuscular.wustl.edu/nother/vitamin.htm

Here's a link on lumbar spinal stenosis
http://www.medicinenet.com/lumbar_stenosis/article.htm

AlwaysAgnes,

Thank you for the suggestions; Will follow up.

We visited with friends yesterday, who told my husband, "Oh both of us have that; it's just part of growing old, there's nothing one can do about it." Yikes!

Well, I've had issues in the past with my feet and with low vitamin D, so that's mainly where my brain went when you mentioned the feet. It's true, in our culture, pain and illness and medications are typically associated with aging. Doesn't have to be that way, methinks.

Your husband's problem may be to do with a B12 absorption issue. It sounds like you are informed that you can test in the 'normal' range and even take supplements and still have B12 deficiency symptoms. The range that we use in the west is actually very low and still allows for people to experience problems despite being told by their doctor that B12 is not the problem. Many people have absorption issues so taking B12 supplements does not help unless they get injections. If you want to investigate this further you could read 'Could It Be B12? An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses' by Sally Pacholok (your library might have it - mine does) and get the tests done recommended in the book to see if he really does have a B12 issue and get him injections if so (you can do this at home fairly easily and very cheaply if the doctor won't help because by their standards he's not low).

Does the numbness only happen (or get worst) with exercise? Or is it all the time?

j

Here's an update, after my husband has seen a neurologist, a podiatrist, and a GP again:

First the symptoms: His feet are painful when he's on them. They feel good when he's in bed. He has little feeling in his big toes, and pain in the balls of his feet when he is on them.

The neuroligist says he has classic neuropathy, and there is nothing to be done about it. The podiatrist wonders if it could be the result of compression in the spine, and offers to make orthotics to help with the pain. The GP thinks my husband is overly concerned, and is wasting money to get an MRI and a urine B12 test, but he's willing to make them happen, against his better judgement.

So next week.... there will be an MRI and urine test for B12. And I'll follow up and get the book by Sally Pacholok.
Thanks everyone for helping us think about this. We have to find a remedy for this situation!

Chiropractor? Sports medicine specialist? Neurologists have their tool bag, others have different tools and diagnostics in their bags.

Also, there are very safe supplements that over time can greatly help neuropathy. First step though for sure is finding the cause and eliminating any impingement or aggravating conditions.

I was just going to suggest the chiropracter, sometimes, an adjustment to help reline things can really help and relieve pressure where it shouldn't be! Do some research on chiropractors in your area since they're not all the same in helpfulness

I'm really lucky, my chiropracter is seriously awesome!

Good luck!

Do be mindful thought that like any and all practitioners, there are great Chiropractors and terrible ones and everything in between. If you don't notice significant improvement very quickly, time to move on.

Well, the results of the MRI are back, and my husband went back to his primary physician to discuss them. The doc's first words were "You were right; I don't often get to say that to a patient." And he shook my husband's hand. The doc's summary was that the MRI shows significant degenerative disc disease - multi level. The doc said he was very surprised to have my husband be athletic and active, with good posture, and have the MRI results be so bad. We will work on figuring out if there is a fix for this, and if so, when to move forward. DH will go back to the neurologist for specific tests of the nerves, and then see a surgeon. But, at this point, we're not sure what response will make sense.

Shoes with lots of cushioning are relieving some of the foot pain, for the present.

DH is not going to get the B12 test, now that there is such clear information that the spine is involved.

Nice to know a bit about what we are dealing with, but worrisome that this looks like something that will lead to surgery, with uncertain outcomes.

I urge you to read Dr. H. Gilbert Welch's book Overdiagnosed. He goes into a lot of discussion around scans and surgery on the back. It's a great read.
f1jim