Living with Neuropathy - Welcome to the group

@jeraldrondo430
WOW! Good for you!!. On you go!

Good morning. I have numbness in my feet it feels like I am walking on gel pads and my legs are very heavy and feel numb. Sensation is hard to describe. This started approx 25 years ago

@bhintz777
Sounds like neuropathy
Your case seems extremely painful and I assume you have a doctor you deal with.
Have the doctor do an MRI
It may be something else.
Sorry

Hello @bhintz777, You are not alone. Best suggestion I can make is to learn as much as you can about the neuropathy condition and what treatments are available that may provide some form of relief. There are many different discussions in the Neuropathy Support group. I'm 82 now but my symptoms started in my toes and over the years progressed into my legs. I shared my neuropathy journey in another discussion here - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/310341/. If you haven't already scanned through the different discussions, here's a link that lists them - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/neuropathy/. You can also type in keywords and search the list of discussions to hopefully get some of your questions answered.

When I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy about 10 years ago I had never heard of it and went to the web for information. That was fruitless. My big question was what is going to happen to me. How do I prepare for the future. To not get any answers has been very frustrating. I was able to find and join a support group that met monthly and was coordinated by a hospital provided social worker. The sense of not being alone was amazing. Every member of that group was somewhat sad and very frustrated. Most suffered from diabetes which I don’t have, and the members were in a great deal of pain and on gabapentin and other drugs. Covid ended the support group.

@phyllisq That's how I came to find Connect. I was going to monthly meetings with the Minnesota Neuropathy Association in Minneapolis and was looking for a more local group to save me some travel time. Couldn't find one so stayed with the MN Neuropathy Association until they disbanded in 2018. During the interim I found Mayo Clinic Connect in 2016 and it was definitely a blessing. If you haven't already seen it, the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy has a lot of great information on living day to day with neuropathy - https://www.foundationforpn.org/living-well/.

@njfox
This question could be answered by anyone in this group. I don't know if I have neuropathy. My symptoms are that my calf muscles cramp and throb after a walk just a few steps even. When it is bad, my calf muscles look like an accordian or bellows, sucking in and out, if you can picture that. I had a couple of months relief after having a laminotomy, but then it all came back. Is that symptom considered neuropathy ? The surgeons say my symptom is atypical. I've had stenosis now for almost seven years, maybe longer.

Hello, I've had PN for at least seven years now and also suffer from RLS. I am concerned about my PN worsening as I age. I am 82. It's past time for me to better educate myself about my conditions. I'm glad I found this group. Thank you for what you do.

Good morning, @fpgargoyle. When you say, "It's past time for me to better educate myself about my conditions," you've hit upon our one real weapon in our fight to restrain PN, not ncessarily to defeat PN (that's likely impossible, at least at this time), but to retard its worsening. I'm 81. I was diagnosed when I was 78, going on 79. Not a day goes by when I don't try to learn a little something more about my cruel companion, PN. // Here's to you, @fpgargoyle! I wish you the very best. Cheers! ––Ray (@ray666)

@bhintz777
If you’re walking that’s very good , get in as much activity as possible. If you haven’t had any medications , then you should have your primary start you on Gabepetin 300 mg.
Since you have had the numbness issues for 25 years, it must not be debilitating or you would have dealt with it a very long time ago.Hope you find this helpful.
Gene 😁🇺🇸