Living with Neuropathy - Welcome to the group

Hi Tia, Mayo Clinic has some information on the diagnosis and tests used for neuropathy on the website here - https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peripheral-neuropathy/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20352067. My biggest question would be what treatments are available that might provide relief for your symptoms.

Thank you - I'm looking forward to receiving the information.

Thank you! I'm looking forward to receving the information.

Hello @atames1939, Welcome to Connect. Do you have neuropathy also? What are your symptoms?

It is challenging to deal with the pain. I've had my neuropathy for several years. It just keeps getting worse. I get these electrical shocks, feels like I put my finger in a socket sometimes just out of the blue I get a shock and it's so bad, I yell or scream. It hurts, I scare people. It would be nice to have some sort of comfort. Why do people have to spoil other people's lives? Just because others misuse drugs, the people who really need them, can't have them. Good Luck Keep trying to find something for all of us

No pain, but never diagnosed as it is too expensive. Feet feel like something is over them, a bit
like numbness? Does this fit neuropathy? I just finished my annual physical and blood work is
great. No revelations any where; however, we did not discuss neuropathy. I am not a pre-diabetic or anything and am a 79 yr. old female.

Numbness can be a lot different things, hard to know without some diagnosis.

"Long-term numbness or a tingling feeling in the legs and feet may be due to conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), diabetes, peripheral artery disease, or fibromyalgia. The sensation may be felt in the whole leg, below the knee, or in different areas of the foot."
-- Numbness in legs and feet: Causes, symptoms, and treatment:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321560

Hello! I've been diagnosed with Small Fiber (Poly-) Neuropathy. I have pain due to sensory symptoms (mostly aches and shock-like pains) as well as autonomic effects (gut pain, esp. at night, from Slow Transit Constipation, STC). I'm in a local pain support group, which is helpful. I also take Cymbalta for the sensory nerve pain and use medical cannibis to help me get to sleep. The hardest part is finding good medical care. It took me three years, numerous specialists, and a provisional self-diagnosis using info from the web to get to the SFN testing. I tried to schedule a follow-up appointment with my gastroenterologist in May 2022, and was told that her first opening is in Sept. 2023. Nobody (except the sympathetic PCP it took me years to find) wants to prescribe opioids, even when badly needed. And while there is a research literature on a connection between SFN and STC, the specialists I see don't both to look at it. And I have good insurance and live a a big city known for its excellent medical care! I'm guessing its even worse elsewhere.

Welcome Julie @julie11, Sorry you haven't been able to find much help from the specialists you see. It can be troubling when you find research information showing a connection but the doctor doesn't seem interested to try and help. There is another discussion on STC that I'm not sure you've seen but it might provide some suggestions:

-- Slow transit constipation and surgery: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/slow-transit-constipation-and-surgery/

I'm guessing you have done a lot of research to find things that might help. Have you seen the list of complementary and alternative treatments some neuropathy patients have found helpful on the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy site here? - https://www.foundationforpn.org/treatments/

Greeting,
I am new to this Neuropathy Discussion group (Dec 2022) and would like to introduce myself. I am in my late 50's and have been disabled for 14 years. My neuropathic pain, tingling, weakness, and numbness has been up to this point from the waist down due to nerve root damage in my lumbar and sacral spinal nerve roots. These nerve roots are damaged due to spinal osteoarthritis. In 2018 I had a spinal cord stimulator installed and it has been successful in decreasing neuropathic symptoms. I’m also prescribed Cymbalta, Gabapentin, and Voltaren. I have had two Caudal Epidural Steroid injections over the past 4 years.

Unfortunately, I am now experiencing neuropathic pain in my upper extremities. I feel defeated and depressed.
It is my hope that I can learn from moderators, mentors, and group members than I am not alone in suffering and can learn skills to help me to better adapt to this hidden disability.