Walking is beginning to be difficult

Posted by gen55 @gen55, 3 days ago

In the last 4 months I have suddenly found it very painful to walk. As I walk, ive noticed that my legs feel heavy and actually hurt to where I have to sit down a few minutes to rest. Do any of you have this issue? I'm guessing that the neuropathy is progressing which scares me at this point.

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I've been having difficulty walking or standing for more than a few minutes for a few years now. I have osteoarthritis in my hips, knees, neck, and lower spine, along with idiopathic poly neuropathy in my feet. The pain and numbness have stopped me from doing the things I used to do around the house like yard work, and I no longer have any physical endurance. It's maddening.

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Profile picture for joanland @joanland

Yes, walking has become difficult to the extent that I'm thinking of ways to get groceries brought to the house that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I find I can ride an exercycle w/o the difficulties of walking.

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@joanland I use the Walmart shopping app and pick up the groceries at the drive up. No charge for that service.

And for $100 a year- the Walmart Plus will deliver groceries and all other orders for free. I tip the drivers though.

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Thanks for the suggestion. I occasionally get items delivered from Walmart; if I order above a certain $$ amount delivery is free. Walmart is sufficiently far away and parking is so difficult that I hesitate to drive there. Being able to pick up the groceries at the drive-up would eliminate the need to park, but it doesn't move the store any closer and traffic has become so horrible since the town became known as a "great place to live." It was before so many more moved here.

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It's worrying, when one's legs no longer want to do what they've always done.
I was diagnosed with axonal neuropathy two years ago - electro-conductance tests - and I began to have walking difficulties last year. We went on an eight mile walk, and by the end of it I could hardly drag one foot in front of the other. OK, I'm in my 70s, but it wasn't a matter of being tired, it was more than the legs had just given up for the day.
Since then we haven't done any long walks. A couple of miles, no problem, and I wouldn't say it's got any worse but it's in the back of my mind that I can't walk as I used to, plus I have the wobbly walking problem that many of us share.
We all experience neuropathy in our own way, I'm thankful that mine is mild compared to some.
What I would suggest is daily leg exercises to strengthen them. It's a nuisance having to put aside time for that, but it need not be anything radical, just a steady routine every day. If you Google, you will find lots of self-help in that regard.
For me, two reps of twenty toe stands to strengthen the calves, squats although I have to be careful of my knees, and stretching. Maybe ten minutes. Nothing, really. Probably I should do more...
The other thing some us have to watch as we become more, ahh, mature... is becoming portly. That is distinctly unhelpful to our legs.
All in all, sorry, no magic answer.
The other thing I would say though is that neuropathy does not necessarily progress in a straight line. Again, it varies for each of us, but mine has not progressed upwards past the knee, the night cramps I was having have gone - for the time being - and my walking is no worse than it was a year ago.
Perhaps the exercises have helped.
In the end, we have to help ourselves, because once the diagnosis is confirmed, there's not much more the doc can do.
Wish you well.

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