Connect
← Return to How to best explain?
Discussion
Comment receiving replies
Hi Ray…thank you for your post…I check this site often and never see much about balance issues. I have idiopathic neuropathy…60 yr old male. As mine has progressed my balance has gotten worse…I walk every day…mine is aggravated by motion …the more I walk the worse it gets. Your ship analogy is good…I also equate it to having too much to drink…but no fun! I suspect this from autonomic system damage. ..do you have this? I also have some numbness in parts of feet/legs as well as aches/pains …and lots of fatigue. I fret over the future and therefore takes a mental toll as well. I would love to hear your entire story A-Z if you have the time. Thanks again for your post.
Steve
Replies to "Hi Ray…thank you for your post…I check this site often and never see much about balance..."
Hi, Steve (@stallen)
You and I both: idiopathic neuropathy. Mine also progresses the more I do, not only walking (which, sadly, I now do very little of), but also basic household chores. My neurologist administered an EMG and told me I have a certain measure of nerve damage in my feet. In the past, whenever I'd been asked if I had numbness in my feet, I'd say, I don't think so. The EMG proved me wrong. I have a cane, but I'm not very proficient at using it; I tote it more like a riding crop. Among my major complaints, linking to my neuropathy, is leg weakness: leg weakness is my biggest problem after "doing too much" (things that hadn't been "too much" only a few years ago). As you may know from my profile, I'm 78, but –– if it weren't for the neuropathy –– a hale & hearty 78. I used to be a long-distance runner, pretty good one, too (ironic, isn't it, that now I shy away even from walking). If you and I bounce a few posts back & forth, I'll be happy to tell you more about my experience. Also, about the many different kinds of doctors I've seen and their various suggestions as to how I might reclaim even a little bit of trustworthy balance. (So as not to get your hopes up, nothing so far has been a cure. Regular PT, which I do here at home –– an online program –– has helped somewhat.) Thanks for writing, Steve! Let's keep talking.
Cheers!
Ray
Connect
I wish you luck going forward. I am now 85 and the numbness and balance have got much worse since I turned 80. I can shuffle around the house without a cane but need a cane or rollator walking outside.