Does anyone find that a type of shoe helps your foot neuropathy?

My friends at the YMCA say that you are absolutely right about the Salts

Orthofeet or Dansko.

Thanks very much for your comments, Ed. I will keep your name for the future, since our neuropathies do sound much the same. I am new to this group and appreciate learning more. I was diagnosed around 2016 because of my gain being strange. I began wearing the braces in 2021. My balance issues are accelerating, getting worse more rapidly it seems. I've been using a cane when out of the house for the past 18 months. Ugh! Thanks for sharing!

@bluesky222 Interesting! It seems that your progression over time sounds very close to mine with respect to the timeline from noticeable onset to where you are today. There is no question in my mind that since the medical community knows little about our individual cause, determining a cure is difficult. For now, all we can do is figure out what helps us deal with PN. What footwear helps, meds and supplements are ways to help us deal with PN.

Thanks, @njed. I only know one other person with symptoms like you and me. Did you consume a lot of alcohol in your past? I fear that is what is causing my neuropathy and now am afraid to even have one glass of wine. In the past, for 18 years, I was never drunk and did not binge drink, but I consumed way more alcohol per day that a woman should. Did you also?

I was just diagnosed Wednesday, but have been dealing with it since 2017. I am on my feet a lot. I buy Skechers arch fit along with Pinnacle Maxx Support & Arch Support Insoles. The combination of the two seem to work fairly well given that I wear composite shoes for work almost daily. When I on my own time I'm usually bare foot, have memory foam slippers on, or wear my Skechers arch fit with memory foam insoles.

@bluesky222 Actually, I was diagnosed with epilepsy 51 years ago and with that, not wise to consume alcohol so to your question....no, I have not consumed alcohol over my life. Oddly enough, every time I've gone to a neurologist, first thing they always ask is if I'm a diabetic. I am not, A-1C checked yearly is normal but I'm told by most docs that my PN resembles that of a diabetic. I've heard that alcohol can be a contributing factor just like toxins, peroneal nerve damage, some meds like antibiotics and a list of other who knows what. Over my life, I've had my share of accidents and falls, and Mayo could not figure out why I have PN. And, if they can't figure it out, who will so I've decided to concentrate on what improves quality of life. Best to you and keep moving. Ed

Thanks, again, @njed. It's amazing that you went to Mayo, too. I do have a wonderful set of exercises to do, prescribed by a Neuro-Physical Therapist. She said I will not improve, but the hope is to keep the strength that I do have, or slow its decline.

Hi, @bluesky222

I've been reading your exchange with @njed with much interest. Although there are variances, it appears we're all roughly in the same category of folks with PN.

I, though, was a drinker. Heavy? That's debatable. I'm inclined to say yes, I was a heavy drinker; however, I (1) never lost a job, (2) never got into a fistfight, (3) never got a DUI, (4) et cetera. I was one of those wild partiers who always got home safely.

Although today I've not had a drink in over 30 years, my Jack Daniels career began when I was not yet legal (my best buddy was legal, so he did the buying). College, then the Army (two tours overseas: Korea & Vietnam) served to stoke my drinking, as did post-grad work once I returned stateside. I've spent my working life in the theater, where drinking was––for most of us––just something we did (after a day's rehearsal or an evening performance).

Finally, I quit drinking. I was somewhere in my late 40s or early 50s. I detail all this to underscore my surprise about a year ago when I sitting with my neurologist's MA, going over the results of a recent brain MRI. (We still hadn't figured out what I had was PN.) Just as we were about to wrap us, the MA asked, almost apologetically, "Any chance you were a heavy drinker?" That floored me! I hadn't had a drink in 30+ years. How could she have known? "It leaves a permanent 'shadow' on your brain," she explained. Neither of us jumped to a PN conclusion. But today I wonder: Was my long-ago drinker the parent cause of my PN?

Ah, the mystery of it all! 😀

Cheers!
Ray

@ray666 that's amazing (our similarities)! Thanks for responding! So, did your neurologist have any comments on the "shadow" and whether your drinking or "shadow" could be causing your PN? Both my current and Mayo neurologists say they do not think my drinking caused my PN (they think it is hereditary). They say that alcoholic neuropathy comes on quickly, rather than my gradual worsening, and that it most often involves tingling or pain of some sort. Their comments do not make it easier for me to stop my desire for one daily drink. But in my heart I suspect my past drinking (and now occasional drink) is causing my PN. Otherwise I've always had perfect health ... no problems and a healthy lifestyle.