Welcome @chawk, You are not alone. Many of us with neuropathy walk a little like Popeye. I also use trekking poles if I'm out for a longer walk. They help me keep a better posture while walking. Lots of folks with neuropathy searching for that magic shoe that provides comfort and a little stability. I go back and forth between my Orthofeet shoes which have more cushion for my feet and a wide toe box to my more uncomfortable shoes that let me feel the ground a little better but have almost no padding - Birchbury minimalist barefoot type shoes that seem to help my balance a little better.

There are some discussions and comments on what shoes are best for neuropathy. Here's a link if you want to scan through them - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/?search=neuropathy+shoes

Good morning, chawk (@chawk)

We have a lot in common. I was diagnosed with idiopathic neuropathy in 2022. To give it its full name: idiopathic large-fiber sensory-dominant polyneuropathy (a mouthful!). I also had a case of foot drop, but that was many years ago, years before the arrival of my neuropathy (as best I can tell).

What we’ve also got in common – what really made me zoom in on your post – is a history of long-stance running. I moved from LA to Denver expressly to run in my first-ever marathon: the then-called United Back of Denver Mile-High Marathon. (I finished, but oh, boy, please don’t ask how I did. 🙂 )

That was about the time I became a running junkie, not able to pass up a single citizens’ race, no matter the length, the whereabouts (as long as I could afford to get there), how I was feeling, or what else might be going on in my second-place social life (sad, I know). It wasn’t until the late ‘90s when my ortho doc slapped an X-ray of my right knee up on his lightbox and spoke those words we runners dread to hear: “Bone-on-bone.” A subsequent knee replacement brought my running life to an end.

Cutting to the chase: a good pair of shoes for us neuropathists? (Neuropathists? Is that a real word?) I’ve been searching for that “good” pair of shoes ever since I got outfitted with a titanium knee, but I never had much luck. (My current pair: Brooks Addictions, fitted with a pair of $$$$ orthotics; they’re “good,” but … ) (I loved your “ … but cover as much distance side to side as I do going forward.”)

That’s enough blah blah from me. I just wanted to say hi: one inebriated Popeye to another!

Cheers!
Ray (@ray666)

P.S. You have the medals; I have bureau drawers packed with racing events tee-shirts, so many that many boast of races I don’t remember running. 🙂