Hi, My name is Mat and I am 70 years old. My experience with PN started in a roundabout way. Some years ago, I was taking a small daily dose of antibiotics for a low grade bladder infection and I developed a prickling sensation all over. I attributed the prickling to a rare side effect of the antibiotic. I stopped the antibiotic and the prickling slowly went away.
I was referred to a neurologist. The neurologist didn't have any good answer for the prickling. He ordered brain MRI's which were normal for my age. I mentioned to him I had had a slightly painful spot on my right foot between my big toe and toe, which had turned to numbness and spread to the undersides of my toes on both feet. In addition, I was experiencing some burning in my feet. He told me it was idiopathic polyneuropathy.
Eventually the burning got worse and seemed to follow a daily pattern like Restless Leg Syndrome; painfree in the morning and increasing in intensity until late in the night. The pain was alleviated by moving my feet similar to restless leg. The Dr prescribed Gabapentin, which was effective. Over the years since, I have had to increase the dose.
Since then, the sensation of having toes (proprioception) has gone away and the numbness is continuing to spread. The burning is also getting worse but the Gabapentin does help.
In my office visits, the Dr checks where my sensation of vibration ends on both my hands and feet. He also checks where the sensation of coolness ends.
From this I surmise I have both large and small fiber neuropathy. I have also noticed bouts of feeling hot and needing to shed clothes or bed covers, so I suspect autonomic nerve system involvement too.
I do not seem to have balance or strength issues. I can walk, run, or hike mountain trails with no issues, other than not being able to sense the terrain under my feet as well as I used to.
I have fears of having increasing pain as I get older and losing all sensation in my feet and eventually my hands.
I hope to see how others are doing and what I can expect.
My Dr keeps telling me everyone is different, therefore He can't tell me how fast things will change or what kind of impairment or discomfort I can expect.