Good morning, Margaret (@thurlibier)

My answer to your question (Does neuropathy in the feel cause weakness in the legs?) –– from my experience only –– is yes, yes, and yes again! Mine is large fiber PN, so I'm lucky to have no pain; my chief symptom (almost my only symptom) is poor balance, which, of course, leads to difficulty walking. I, too, used to walk a lot. Run, too. But I noticed that as the months passed, although I continued to go for long walks (I had to quit running when I received a knee replacement), my PN was taking its toll on my leg strength: my legs were getting weaker, never dramatically, but day by day, mile by mile. I'm still walking, but some of the pleasure is gone.

Welcome to Connect! I wish you the best.
Cheers!
Ray (@ray666)

Hi Margaret - I will echo what Ray said and absolutely, you are right. Fortunately, I have no pain, however, the numbness is at the top of my list which causes poor balance. I have both small and large fiber PN. Prior to having PN, I was a fast walker and now, much slower. I keep moving the best I can, and I'm hopeful it will slow down progression. Ed

Welcome to Connect Margaret! I’m in the same group as @ray666 and @njed , but I get extremely cold (& occasionally hot) feet & hands and have a little pain through my lower leg nerves that I keep managed with Gabapentin 3x daily. While my leg muscles are reportedly strong, the communication with my nerves is the big piece lacking, so it is hard to endure any long amount of walking.

Key to me to continued walking around is Physical Therapy. I must keep my legs as strong as possible to help compensate for the lack of nerve cooperation. I have exercises givens to me to do at home and return to office PT sessions when I feel I might be regressing or a shift in my PN might require a tune-up or readjustment. I’m fortunate that my insurance is generous with the number of sessions I can get per year.

A lot of folks on here have a lot of trial and error with vitamins that can help you. I think we all have to find what works for us. I like to take B12 supplements (not B6), a multivitamin, and a little dosage of Magnesium, and feel if I stop those, (or in the case of Magnesium, INCREASE the dose when I nonchalantly just grab any bottle from the store shelf) that I feel a little more tiredness or leg weakness. You’ll find a lot of discussions in this forum on vitamins and diet that might give you ideas.

I wish you the best in finding the right regime for you in keeping active while living with PN. Debbie

@thurlibier
Have you seen a neurologist for testing? You may need testing for small fiber neuropathy (skin punch biopsy), EMGs/nerve conduction studies, and possibly a MRI of your lumbar spine to see what may be behind your weakness. I have pain/weakness/numbness in lower back/hips/buttocks and legs due to lumbar degeneration/stenosis, neurogenic claudication, and small fiber neuropathy.

Hi, Margaret.... and welcome to Connect. Lots of great people here who can identify with your symptoms. Like Ray, Ed, and some others, I have numbness/burning/tingling in my feet ... and this, in turn, affects my balance. I first noticed my neuropathy a year ago after I finally went in to have a lumbar laminectomy to relieve stenosis in my lower back. The pain in my hips and legs had gotten so bad that I could hardly make it to my mailbox and back. The very next day after surgery when I stood up that pain was gone.... and I was able to walk again. Then, I gradually began to notice these feelings in my feet.... and some days are worse than others. I am thankful that I don't experience (yet) terrific pain like many others here do. I have noticed over the past year that my legs muscles, especially my calves, seem to be weaker. I can walk, but I tire more easily.... and of course, my feet always feel numb, so I do pay more attention to my balance. When I was finally able to get in to see a neurologist, he said he thought I was more likely experiencing radiculopathy, which means compression of nerves somewhere in my lower back that are creating the symptoms similar to small fiber neuropathy in my feet. Thanks to some good people here on Connect, I learned of supplements like R Alpha Lipoic Acid, Benfotiamine, L-Carnitine and Magnesium that may help with nerve repair, and I take those daily. I can't say for certain that they are making a huge difference, but I'm hoping they may help keep the symptoms from getting worse. Each of us is different, of course, and you have to figure out what is best for you. There is plenty of information about supplements discussed here on Connect... and I would encourage you to look into some of those if you have not already. Sadly, in my experience, as well as that of many participants hee, doctors don't seem to have a lot of solutions for these symptoms of numbness and burning and tingling. Doctors have given me Gabapentin, Nortryptiline and Lyrica at different times.... and none of those seemed to help, so I stopped taking them after a trial period. I did have a punch skin test done.... and a nerve conduction study done.... The skin test indicated that I had only the slightest signs of beginning small fiber neuropathy (thus the neurologist diagnosing radiculopathy instead) and the nerve conduction study did indicate that there is likely still some compression of nerves after they exit my spinal column and that is causing my symptoms. I've tried a variety of shoes to find what feels most comfortable for my feet, and there are discussions here on Connect about different shoes. I found some "barefoot shoes" on Amazon that allow my toes to spread out and they have a thinner sole that allows my feet to feel the ground better. They help me with the balance issues to a degree. But in summation, back to your question, YES, I do feel that I am developing weakness in the leg muscles, especially my lower legs. I wish you well!! Connect is such a great source of information and support!! Best wishes! Mike

Neuropathy can be difficult to deal with and there could be many causes. Please check out if you have Fibromyalgia - and sometimes bromelain supplements help with this. Raynaud's syndrome can also cause neuropathy. Neuropathy can happen, not only in the feet, but in the hands as well
Be very diligent with foot care - as one may not feel even a minor cut on the feet, which could cause an infection (hands, too). However, check with your health care provider. Also, if you have diabetes (high sugar levels from diabetes or from medication, diet, etc.) bring this up to your health care provider. If sugar is too high, it can cause neuropathy symptoms. Finding the cause of the neuropathy, as well as the treatment will hopefully help your symptoms. Good luck.

Hello @thurlibier, I combined your discussion with an existing discussion titled, "Legs weakness with Idiopathic Feet Neuropathy" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/legs-weakness-with-idiopathic-feet-neuropathy/ so the members discussing leg weakness symptoms could see your message and so you could read through their experiences as well.