Fatigue from Walking

Fatigue is a very common complaint from people with neuropathy. There are different types of neuropathy…sensory types or motor types …or both.
Muscle fatigue from neuropathy is extremely common…the muscles in your feet may be tiring from the walking. Continuing to walk and exercise is important with neuropathy. My neuropathy is quite variable…feet or ankles may feel fatigued a day or two then go away…and something else bothers. Do your own research online…there’s a ton of info. If your neurologist hasn’t seen the relationship between neuropathy and fatigue, I would question his/her qualifications.
One point to consider is newly diagnosed people often are experiencing high levels of an anxiety…which is an immense energy drainer..,you may be experiencing this as well.

Fatigue is a very common complaint from people with neuropathy. There are different types of neuropathy…sensory types or motor types …or both.
Muscle fatigue from neuropathy is extremely common…the muscles in your feet may be tiring from the walking. Continuing to walk and exercise is important with neuropathy. My neuropathy is quite variable…feet or ankles may feel fatigued a day or two then go away…and something else bothers. Do your own research online…there’s a ton of info. If your neurologist hasn’t seen the relationship between neuropathy and fatigue, I would question his/her qualifications.
One point to consider is newly diagnosed people often are experiencing high levels of an anxiety…which is an immense energy drainer..,you may be experiencing this as well.

Hi David. This PN is surely different for all of us at different times in our journeys. For me, my legs get easily fatigued from waking. The muscles around my knees don’t communicate with my nerves or something, so my stride is different. My knees go up and down a little when I walk, but I can’t step up on a curb or climb steps at all without using rails or a walker etc. So the activity of walking fatigues my muscles easily and quickly. That said, it means I need to sit down, not go to bed! It does not make me fatigued as in sleepy. That’s my experience with my PN only, others could easily be different.

Hi, David (@davidpn)

Having only been diagnosed in August 2022, so coming close to but not yet a full year, with idiopathic peripheral neuropathy, I regard my diagnosis as still a diagnosis-in-progress. My chief symptom is a wobbly walk. Luckily, I've no pain. But when I walk, especially for the shortest of distances and on a hard surface, like pavement, my legs can feel leaden. (What others have described, I say "Ditto!") But because my wobbliness preceded my diagnosis by several years, and I'd long ago cut back on my outdoor walking practically to never, today, I'm wondering if my weary legs are caused by my PN or by long-term lack of use, possibly, too, a touch of both. I'd like to believe that my every little Ouch! and Whoops! is not the result of my relatively new PN but rather a variety of pre-PN ouches and whoopsies. I'd an example of this dichotomy only last night, or more precisely, shortly after midnight this morning. After waiting since midafternoon to meet a friend's 6 pm flight at Denver airport, we learned that our friend's flight would be delayed to 9 pm, then to 10:30 pm, then to 12:20 am. We were dog-tired when we retrieved our friend from the airport (15 miles each way). As we were carrying our friend's luggage into the house, I lost my balance and went down rear-end first, luckily into the welcoming arms of a comfy chair. My partner and I discussed, last night and again this morning, whether my backward flop resulted from my PN or just plain ol' dog-tiredness. My partner assumed it was my PN. I maintained––and still do––that it was plain ol' dog-tiredness, the same ol' dog-tiredness I might have suffered at 50, 60, or 70. That's how I am about my leg weariness while walking. Is it my PN? Or is it a couple of years of leg neglect? Or a little of both? Exasperating business, this PN! LOL

Ray (@ray666)

Hi, David (@davidpn)

Having only been diagnosed in August 2022, so coming close to but not yet a full year, with idiopathic peripheral neuropathy, I regard my diagnosis as still a diagnosis-in-progress. My chief symptom is a wobbly walk. Luckily, I've no pain. But when I walk, especially for the shortest of distances and on a hard surface, like pavement, my legs can feel leaden. (What others have described, I say "Ditto!") But because my wobbliness preceded my diagnosis by several years, and I'd long ago cut back on my outdoor walking practically to never, today, I'm wondering if my weary legs are caused by my PN or by long-term lack of use, possibly, too, a touch of both. I'd like to believe that my every little Ouch! and Whoops! is not the result of my relatively new PN but rather a variety of pre-PN ouches and whoopsies. I'd an example of this dichotomy only last night, or more precisely, shortly after midnight this morning. After waiting since midafternoon to meet a friend's 6 pm flight at Denver airport, we learned that our friend's flight would be delayed to 9 pm, then to 10:30 pm, then to 12:20 am. We were dog-tired when we retrieved our friend from the airport (15 miles each way). As we were carrying our friend's luggage into the house, I lost my balance and went down rear-end first, luckily into the welcoming arms of a comfy chair. My partner and I discussed, last night and again this morning, whether my backward flop resulted from my PN or just plain ol' dog-tiredness. My partner assumed it was my PN. I maintained––and still do––that it was plain ol' dog-tiredness, the same ol' dog-tiredness I might have suffered at 50, 60, or 70. That's how I am about my leg weariness while walking. Is it my PN? Or is it a couple of years of leg neglect? Or a little of both? Exasperating business, this PN! LOL

Ray (@ray666)

Hi, David (@davidpn)

Having only been diagnosed in August 2022, so coming close to but not yet a full year, with idiopathic peripheral neuropathy, I regard my diagnosis as still a diagnosis-in-progress. My chief symptom is a wobbly walk. Luckily, I've no pain. But when I walk, especially for the shortest of distances and on a hard surface, like pavement, my legs can feel leaden. (What others have described, I say "Ditto!") But because my wobbliness preceded my diagnosis by several years, and I'd long ago cut back on my outdoor walking practically to never, today, I'm wondering if my weary legs are caused by my PN or by long-term lack of use, possibly, too, a touch of both. I'd like to believe that my every little Ouch! and Whoops! is not the result of my relatively new PN but rather a variety of pre-PN ouches and whoopsies. I'd an example of this dichotomy only last night, or more precisely, shortly after midnight this morning. After waiting since midafternoon to meet a friend's 6 pm flight at Denver airport, we learned that our friend's flight would be delayed to 9 pm, then to 10:30 pm, then to 12:20 am. We were dog-tired when we retrieved our friend from the airport (15 miles each way). As we were carrying our friend's luggage into the house, I lost my balance and went down rear-end first, luckily into the welcoming arms of a comfy chair. My partner and I discussed, last night and again this morning, whether my backward flop resulted from my PN or just plain ol' dog-tiredness. My partner assumed it was my PN. I maintained––and still do––that it was plain ol' dog-tiredness, the same ol' dog-tiredness I might have suffered at 50, 60, or 70. That's how I am about my leg weariness while walking. Is it my PN? Or is it a couple of years of leg neglect? Or a little of both? Exasperating business, this PN! LOL

Ray (@ray666)

Ray, to me this is heart-wrenchingly part of the nature of coping with PN. Just as @stallen said, the anxiety involved is exhausting. One of the most difficult things (for me) is to decide whether I can commit to something, having had enough experience with PN through the years that I know I can't always be reliable to fulfill a commitment made ahead of time. The one scenario I can count on is, if I overdo, then the next day is one where all I can do is try to recover! Stay safe, friend.

Oops, didn’t mean to fuss at you. I’m fussy this morning. No one here for me to fuss at!