Connect
PN and handwriting …
Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I seem to recall one of my neurologists asking if I'd noticed that my handwriting had deteriorated. It seems he said that a worsening handwriting is sometimes suspected to be a symptom of PN. I do a lot of writing by hand. I've always prided myself on being able to write anywhere, anytime, without having to tote a 'device' along, ever vigilant to how long before the device's battery will need recharging. But all that aside, I have noticed that my handwriting, never a penmanship champ, has grown ever more illegible, even to me. More and more, I find myself in the middle of typing into MS Word something I'd written by hand only a few hours earlier and muttering, 'Huh?' A deteriorating handwriting is hardly PN's most devastating symptom, but, if true, it sure is one of PN's most curious symptoms. Has anyone else found themselves staring at something they've written by hand and muttering, 'Huh?'
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Neuropathy Support Group.
Connect
There is an exercise ball you hold and squeeze. It’s like playdougb and there are three different strengths. My deteriorating handwriting is due to into arthritis in my left hand (my writing hand). The key is to NOT stressing the joints but USING them to maintain strength and dexterity. I liked the game mentioned with the skittles. I’ll have to try!
Good morning, @loriesco
What you say is so true, or it has been true for me:
"The key is to NOT stressing the joints but USING them to maintain strength and dexterity."
I have arthritis in several of my joints; the most troublesome are my ankles, hips, and left knee. In the morning, they are real attention-getters. 🙂 What I've discovered (again, I should say, this may not be true for everyone) the sooner I get moving and the more I move, the sooner these joints will quiet down and let me get on with my day. In my book, arthritic pain that refuses to give me a break is more due to under-use than over-use.
Here's wishing you a good day!
Ray (@ray666)
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
4 ReactionsGood morning, @cheyne (and others),
Well, obviously, I'm not able to cool it totally with Connect. The day I post that I need a 'quiet' week (a no-posting week), here I am posting.
Connect is a powerful magnet; what can I say? 🙂
Ray (@ray666)
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsHi Ray,
Here I thought ANS had another spoke to it's wheel, shorter weeks!
Just experenced a 4 hour morning thinking and being 39 again. A sobering realisation of just how much ANS is crippling me. Obviously I made the most of every minute until it slowly creept back around late morning. Kind of forgotten what life used to be and could be like without Autonomic polyneuropathy in control.
Cheers.
I'd almost forgotten that I'd created this discussion in the summer of 2024 about PN and its effects upon handwriting when only this morning I thought I'd share an amusing bit of overheard conversation about how "mysterious" handwriting is in the summer of 2025. I have large-fiber PN, so no pain (thank goodness!), but lots of troubling balance issues. My neurologist had warned me that, among far more concerning sign of PN's progression, I might notice my handwriting beginning to deteriorate. I'm old enough to still do most of my writing with pen & paper. Yesterday, I was sitting, sipping my decaf, and scribbling away with pen & Composition notebook in a corner booth of a local coffee shop when I couldn't help but hear a kindergarten toddler ask his father, "What's that man doing over there?" That made me smile; a silent laugh followed when I heard the boy's father answer, "I don't know, Troy. Beats me."
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 ReactionsI have PN and have noticed the same thing, even in my signature.
My handwriting is not as good, but I don’t do so much of it anymore…use it or lose it. 😁
So true, William: use it, or lose it. I've been a writing-by-hand writer all of my life. I write in remote places. I don't want the intrusion of "devices." (I suppose only an old f*rt would put quotation marks around "devices." 🙂 ) I'm most comfortable with ghe company of only my notebook and pen. –Ray (@ray666)
Hi, mitfit (@mitfit). A fellow here on Connect some time ago told me PN had so eroded his once-legible handwriting that these days, when he's running out of checks, he orders twice as many as he used to because he knows he'll now––thanks to his PN––be tearing up twice as many checks as he used to. 🙂 –Ray (@ray666)
Boy, can I relate to that! Same here …