How do you manage neuropathy and loss of balance and walking ability?

@allegheny Thank you for your reply. I will look up the ankle brace you provided. My first ankle/foot doc ordered me a custom fit brace based on a mold he took of ankle. It was a disaster. It fit and worked as long as i did not wear shoes. Had to jump shoe size 2 sizes to fit over brace. Stuck that in back of closet. My present doc is suggesting braces that have metal bars up to a knee connection. The hell with that for now. So some online stuff i ordered does give me a bit more stability. Its a daily search for something that works for pain and balance issues. And the scams and junk out there are just unbelievable. So persevere we must. Thank again for info.

Dear @allegheny and everyone else,
5 years ago, I fell down in my garage on my lower back on the top of my rear ends. The pain came over the next 2 weeks. I could not cutting or grass and fell down several times a day. Everything hit me everyday. Well, one day ago, I moved the first surgery from my lower back and ended pain. But at the end of this surgery of loss balance - as today - is still there. Falling down is still bad and hit my brain - many times. 12 years ago had a bicycle accident hit my brain-injury. I lost 80% of my memory. It’s still my brain-injury every time and safety hel-ing an accident - daily. Be careful,folks.
Thx,
Greg D. @greg1956

This is not a brace, it is an electronic device that you strap on your
ankles. It sends the signals to brain, to move. Our brain is not getting
the signal because of the nerves are destroying. This device helps brain
get the signal. Like I said in his is 4th day I will keep you posted if you
like, take’s about 2 weeks to see a difference.

@allegheny Please do post any information on these devices. I understand it could take up to 3 or 4 weeks before any improvement. Thanks. Ed

@njed Hi Ed, yes I will be more than happy to post the outcome. It does take 3-4 weeks to feel improvement. Hoping for good results. Donna (Allegheny)

@allegheny OK sounds good and good luck. Thanks.

@allegheny Yes allegheny, i am interested in your progress with this device. Would appreciate all updates you can provide.

I have no idea how the Mayo Clinic found me but I started to respond to a post regarding incontinence, which I have been dealing with for about five years now and I pretty much have that issue under control. Then I started looking around and found this subject with what appears to be many many people experiencing roughly the same thing. It all started one November morning in 2019. I got up to make coffee and realized when I got up I couldn't really walk. I shuffled one foot in front of the other to get to the kitchen. I made the coffee and I almost made it back to the bed. I got within six feet and my wife hea help me the rest of the way. I found a great pain / back dr and have been with him. As of two weeks I've had 11 epidurals since 2019. The last one was three weeks ago and I'm not feeling great. Like so many people here, I'm having issues with balance, left leg, right leg, arms hands, shoulders are all areas I experience Neuropathy. Many lumbars are putting pressure on various nerves which explains why I am experiencing it in so many areas. I also have a recently discovered bone spur in my nect. (Sigh). As I mentioned my last Epidural was about three weeks ago and things haven't changed that much. I had a ray of hope when my doctor's office just happen to be taking delivery on a machine that outputs a magnetic pulses on the nerve endings. I took them up on their offer. At first I was very hopefull but the pain came back.I literally feel the pain so many of you are in, I have a telehealth appointment tomorrow with a tchnician. I know her first question is going to along the lines of "So have you noticed an improvement . Yes, I suppose I have in my arms and shoulders. It comes and goes. and neck. My legs are what bothers me the most. Currently I'm taking Advil for my arms and legs. It helps with the pain. I'm curious to know what other people are doing to handle the pain. In the midle of all this, my Scaiatical nerve decided to make an appearance in my right leg. So far 400 mg of Advil seem to get rid of enough pain so I don't feel terribly old! I do have a follow up appt tomorrow with my dr. however I am curious what do other folks do to deal with the pain? Thanks and look forward to hearing from you. CaptainKap

Welcome CaptainKap @captainmiles, Glad to see that you found Mayo Clinic Connect. It's a great place to connect with other members that have similar health conditions and symptoms and learn what helps that has been shared by others. I posted my neuropathy journey in another discussion here - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/310341/.

You might want to check out the search feature of Connect. It allows you to easily find related discussions by clicking on the search field or icon at the top of any page and typing a few keywords for your symptoms or what you are trying to find. Fortunately I don't have pain with my neuropathy but I do have a lot of joint pain and rely on pain gels like Voltaren and others. If it really gets bad, I also get a steroid injection as a last resort.

I appreciate your comments. Clearly this place has the most resources and people available to share my journey with. Now I just need to learn the search feature, which I think I already have and to that end it's a bit overwhealming how many topics (or I guess sub topics) on just my condition. Anyway, thanks for the response. It confirmed I'm in the right place.

All the best.

Miles