Drop foot

@yojimbob Jimbob, I have experienced foot drop, and that happened right after a traffic accident that caused a whiplash. It gradually resolved, but resurfaced years later when I developed spine problems when I developed spinal cord compression. I had spine surgery that resolved everything.

This is something that you may want to talk to a neurologist about as they can test and diagnose problems of nerves and the brain or spinal cord. Do you have a neurologist who you can see or can your doctor refer you to one in your area?

Thanks for your reply .Everything I’ve looked up has NOTHING on neuropathic drop foot . Everything is about some other issue . I’m trying to find out about neuropathic drop foot . Seems no one has drop foot from neuropathy . I’m trying to find out about neuropathic foot drop .
I woke up this morning ( Saturday ) with signs of toe dragging and of course nothing is open until Monday . So I can’t even make an appointment.
I am on gabapentin and cymbalta. All it has done is hide the progression of symptoms. I didn’t take any today and my foot is completely numb and toes are scuffing the ground when I walk . Is this something that can wait until Monday or is it urgent ? Or is this just the natural progression of the disease of neuropathy. Anyone that may have some sort of answers for this situation it would be a great help , since I’m in a lot of distress this morning with this new development.
Thanks for reading

Yojimbob - I have drop foot and it started one day out of the blue. I did have peripheral neuropathy in both feet for about 2 or 3 years and then one foot began to slap, the foot where the PN started. Six months later, the right foot. I had two bad trips and went flat on my face both times. The drop foot is contributed to my sensory motor PN. For last 3 years, I wear braces that keep my ankle and foot at a 90-degree angle so the toes can't get caught when walking. It provides a more natural heal to toe walk. I have back issues, but neuro doc said MRI shows no reason back is causing drop foot. I have not tripped in three years.

Hi - like @njed, I have idiopathic PN (6 yrs) and have a bit of a dropping of my left foot. I’ve been fortunate to not have fallen, but the feeling of toe dragging has caused me to come close to tripping several times. For Me it seems to have correlated with the slight “curling” of my middle 3 toes on that foot, I guess the start of hammer toes, surely part of my PN. @johnbishop has posted some information on this subject if it might apply to you, and this group suggested some inexpensive toe support products that seem to be helping. However the main thing I had to work on is getting my brain trained to help me develop a step pattern to make walking safer. For me, even changing into a different style of shoes is a drain on the brain to change, but on the most part, with help from physical therapy too, I’ve learn to walk more safely with my foot issue.

My favorite YouTube PT Guys have a video on foot drop exercises.

I had dropped foot out of the blue. I went to a couple of doctors. One asked if I cross my legs. I said Yes. He suggested stopping that to see if it goes away. Over 6 weeks, I went from not being able to lift my foot to completely normal.

I have drop foot, not enough to require bracing, but enough that when walking I remind myself to do the PT recommended “exaggerated heel strike”- on the step-through, you consciously flex your ankle and land heel first (its automatic now- 4 years in with PN). When outside walking, the PT also recommended and I wear Core Products International Ankle Foot Orthosis (bought on Amazon). It has a soft lower leg wrap and elastic bands which hook onto end hooks you put in the last holes of your tie sneakers- pops the toes up a bit as you walk- very comfortable and works great. I also do a daily home exercise program for strengthening that my PT gave me years ago- most are in the video John Bishop posted.
My understanding of what’s going on is that the nerves which innervate the muscles of the calf, ankle, and foot have been and are continuing to be de-nervated- meaning fewer nerve signals getting to fewer muscle fibers to tell them what to do, which causes the muscle fibers to atrophy, which causes weakness as fewer muscle fibers are “pulling together” to make the movement.
I have the mild hammer toes too- the toe extensor muscles are getting fewer signals coming down the nerves and are being overwhelmed by the flexor muscles, which are receiving full strength nerve signals. This is why some of us have “dents” in our lower leg muscles- my soleus muscle (helps with ankle function and balance) has a big dent- some nerve signals are getting through to some muscle fibers, but not a lot and my balance is off.
I used to call my PN leg my “polio leg” because it was like a stick. But with the daily exercise program and 30 min walking (treadmill in winter, outside good weather), it is still smaller around than the other leg, but the muscles have definitely “fleshed out”.
Have you heard that story about the couple who thought they were going on their dream overseas trip, but ended up in a completely different country?They were very upset at first, but as the days went by, they realized they were meeting really nice people they never would have met if the original trip had happened. I think about that sometimes, I wouldn’t wish PN on anybody, but what nice people I’ve met along the way- especially this group, our mentors, and new friends. Love and peace to all (healing would be nice too😊).

TO Deb - noticed in your post you mentioned that you might have the start of hammer toes. You may want to bring this to your doctors' attention. When I was at Univ of PA in 2018, they tested me for Charcot Tooth Marie because my grandmother had hammer toes, I did not. My CMT came back negative, but my other symptoms were sufficient enough to do the test.

Thanks Ed - all the tests I had to try to diagnose were back in 2016, and there were so many (all negative) I’m not sure if CMT was among them. If I can’t find the old labs myself, I will most certainly ask my Neurologist at next appointment (in Jan 😔)

I want to thank everyone who replied to my post . This is a frightening time for me . I have learned a lot by reading the replies . Again thanks to all . This sight has given me some solace .
I have seen a couple of doctors . Not one of them suggested seeing a neurologist. Just increased my gabapentin or sent me to a pain dr . I will be looking for a neurologist to see what he says . Many thanks .