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Living with Neuropathy - Welcome to the group

Neuropathy | Last Active: 10 hours ago | Replies (6021)
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@dunkinmacdougall

I am new to this group so a little background. I have a sever narrowing of the neural foramen bilaterally, small diffuse disc bulge but no associated spinal canal stenosis but severe right facet degeneration. My neuropathy presents as progressive numbness and tingling in feet and legs. Feet now feel like bags of sand and I am concerned the progression is advancing quickly. I maintain a 45 minute yoga routine with some mild weights. I take 600 mg of gabapentin and am at 2500 mg of acetaminophen. Sadly, am not getting satisfaction from medical practitioners. I have learned more reading posts in this group than i have learned from neurologist or spine surgeon. COVID 19 has certainly affected access to these practitioners. Finally, I live in Canada. We can rave about our medical system until you need it. It is certainly nice to have easy access to original diagnosis but the government funding determines progress of therapy

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Replies to "I am new to this group so a little background. I have a sever narrowing of..."
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jul 11, 2021

Hi @dunkinmacdougall, I see that you were welcomed to Connect by @amandajro and @jenniferhunter in another discussion. I'm not sure you saw their welcome and response so thought I would provide a direct link to the responses here:

-- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/615617/
-- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/615661/

I have degenerative arthritis in my lower spine and I also have small fiber peripheral neuropathy but numbness and a little bit of tingling are my only symptoms. I do have some aching in my lower back that keeps me from walking much or very far. It's good that you are advocating for your health and learning as much as you can about your condition. That is probably the best thing you can do to help yourself and maybe allow you to find something that provides you with some relief. Here are my sources for learning more about neuropathy:

-- Neuropathy Commons: https://neuropathycommons.org/
-- Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy: https://www.foundationforpn.org/
-- Google Scholar for finding most recent medical research information: https://scholar.google.com/

From my perspective, the U.S. is no better than Canada when it comes to the medical profession and research on neuropathy. I'm just a patient with no medical background but my experience is that only the symptoms of neuropathy are addressed and they do that with drugs. Since there are no drugs to address my numbness symptoms I started doing my own research to find something that helps me. I've shared my neuropathy journey along with other members in the following discussion that you may find helpful.

Member Neuropathy Journey Stories: What's Yours?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/member-neuoropathy-journey-stories-whats-yours/

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