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Neuropathy Pain at Night: What helps?
Neuropathy | Last Active: Apr 3 9:48am | Replies (225)Comment receiving replies
Hello @maggie1960. You are certainly not the only one who experiences more pain at night!
Before I go on, I wanted to let you know that I have moved your post into an existing discussion on neuropathy pain at night which you can find here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/night-pain-2/
This will allow you to more easily connect with others who are experiencing night pain, like you. Members such as @glaciermom @solobeee1 @artist01 and @bonniethompson1234 may be able to come in and share more with you.
The increased pain at night seems to have a correlation between typical drop in temperature and how the nerves respond to that change in the environment. Do you tend to sleep in a cooler room by chance?
Replies to "Hello @maggie1960. You are certainly not the only one who experiences more pain at night! Before..."
@amandajro I do sleep in a cool room at night. I have always been much more comfortable sleeping in a cool room even before my neuropathy set in. I find that I don't breathe as well in a warm room. In fact it feels stifling. One of the symptoms of my particular neuropathy has been sensitivity to fabric which includes whatever I am wearing during the day and the sheets on my bed at night. I have a night time ritual that involves setting the AC at a lower temperature, (I live in a state that has very warm weather) turning the bed covers down to the very end of the bed and allowing them to get cool. I test it out after a while and if I am still irritated by the fabric of the bedding then I have to let it cool down a little longer. Once they get cool enough then I can start to try getting comfortable enough to sleep. Having my hair on my neck is also irritating to my skin so I have to push it up out of the way.
I just do better all the way around with things that are cooler.
I am on my 5th week (I think) of gabapentin and I think it is starting to help, but ever since I've had this neuropathy I find that after a shower I've had much more stinging, and sharp, shooting pains in my body. It's not that it bothers me when I am in the shower, but I can tell the difference when I get out of the shower. I takes a good 36 hours to get back to my normal level of discomfort. Obviously, I don't use hot water in the shower but I do use warm water just because it is more comfortable than taking a cold shower.
I use a ton of body lotion after a shower, which helps to some degree, and I use body lotion two to three times a day every day which seems to help somewhat with the irritation from my clothing.
I have read articles, and also things written by other people in this group, saying they don't seem as bothered by their neuropathy when they are busy or distracted. For me it doesn't seem to work that way. For whatever reason I can be just as bothered by it when I am working and distracted as I am when I'm not doing anything. I think one of the things I am learning is that no two people with neuropathy are alike, and that, unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules to neuropathy. I've read many stories written by people participating in this forum and am amazed at the differences in how we are affected by neuropathy. Reading them has also made me very grateful that my neuropathy is not nearly as bad as some others. My heart goes out to those who have it much worse than I do.
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The room I sleep in is not the coolest and I need a fan to circulate the air. My feet have always gotten cold quickly and even now and through the summer I wear my fuzzy slippers for cozy feet. A blanket goes over my feet only in the summer as I tend to fall asleep easier if my feet are warm.