What is it like to live with peripheral neuropathy?

Living with peripheral neuropathy is like riding a roller-coaster — especially for those recently diagnosed. Managing this painful condition is frustrating at best, and can feel overwhelming at times. Patients often experience changing symptoms and debilitating pain.

Can you live a full life with peripheral neuropathy?

Peripheral nerves do regenerate. Simply by addressing contributing causes such as underlying infections, exposure to toxins, or vitamin and hormonal deficiencies, neuropathy symptoms frequently resolve themselves. In most cases, however, neuropathy is not curable, and the focus for treatment is managing symptoms.

How does peripheral neuropathy make you feel?

Signs and symptoms of peripheral neuropathy might include: Gradual onset of numbness, prickling or tingling in your feet or hands, which can spread upward into your legs and arms. Sharp, jabbing, throbbing or burning pain. Extreme sensitivity to touch.

How do people live with peripheral neuropathy?

Is neuropathy hard to live with?

Roughly 20 million Americans are living with neuropathy. Living with daily pain and discomfort can be challenging. People with neuropathy are at a higher risk for depression and anxiety than those without a neurological disorder. The good news is treatable, and a pain management specialist can help.

Peripheral neuropathy: Mayo Clinic Radio

Is walking good for neuropathy?

Regular exercise, such as walking three times a week, can reduce neuropathy pain, improve muscle strength and help control blood sugar levels.

Why is neuropathy worse some days?

Stress and Emotions

Strenuous exercise and the accompanying soreness can contribute to nerve pain during the night. Living in a chronic state of stress will wreak havoc on your physical and mental health. High stress levels could be a reason why neuropathy is worse on some days, as well as when you take medications.

What is the life expectancy of someone with peripheral neuropathy?

There are several key factors that affect a patient's prognosis in familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP), but most people with the rare, inherited, progressive disease have a life expectancy of about 10 years after being diagnosed.

Is peripheral neuropathy crippling?

In a great many cases, PN is crippling, limiting mobility and increasing the likelihood of falls, which can be disastrous. The pain of PN in the extremities has been likened to a horrific case of shingles. For many, its debilitating pain prevents sleep and requires medication.

How debilitating can peripheral neuropathy get?

If the underlying cause of peripheral neuropathy isn't treated, you may be at risk of developing potentially serious complications, such as a foot ulcer that becomes infected. This can lead to gangrene (tissue death) if untreated, and in severe cases may mean the affected foot has to be amputated.

What can be mistaken for peripheral neuropathy?

Peripheral neuropathy is the most common, impacting 7 in 10 diabetics, among others. PN is often mistaken for another common illness, multiple sclerosis (MS).

What causes neuropathy to flare up?

It's usually caused by chronic, progressive nerve disease, and it can also occur as the result of injury or infection. If you have chronic neuropathic pain, it can flare up at any time without an obvious pain-inducing event or factor. Acute neuropathic pain, while uncommon, can occur as well.

How do you stop neuropathy from progressing?

Is neuropathy debilitating?

Regardless of the cause, peripheral neuropathy can be a very debilitating disorder that can impact multiple aspects of an individual's life. It can impact your ability to stand, walk, carry items, or lift.

Is peripheral neuropathy always serious?

Complications of peripheral neuropathy

If the underlying cause of peripheral neuropathy is not treated, you may be at risk of developing potentially serious complications, such as a foot ulcer that becomes infected. This can lead to gangrene if untreated, and in severe cases may mean the foot has to be amputated.

Does neuropathy make you exhausted?

Peripheral neuropathy is damage to the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. Many people with peripheral neuropathy have feelings of severe tiredness (fatigue) that are not necessarily related to physical problems such as muscle weakness.

Can neuropathy make it painful to walk?

The pain and tingling associated with peripheral neuropathy can impact almost every aspect of your life. It can be tough to walk because of the pain you can experience in your feet and the effect it has on your balance. Neuropathy can sometimes increase your risk for falls.

How do neurologists treat peripheral neuropathy?

Treatment for Peripheral Neuropathy in Adults

Our neurologists prescribe medication to treat neuropathy. A procedure called plasma exchange can help some people with peripheral neuropathy achieve remission.

Does neuropathy keep getting worse?

If left untreated, the numbness, tingling, and burning caused by peripheral neuropathy will get worse over time. The damaged nerves will continue to send confusing messages to the brain more frequently until the spinal cord gets so used to sending the signals, it will continue to do it on its own.

Is neuropathy worse at night?

If you suffer from neuropathy, you have likely noticed that the pain, tingling, and other odd sensations are often much worse at night. This can make it very difficult to sleep at night, especially if the pain continues to increase.

What kind of doctor treats neuropathy in feet?

Everyone with symptoms of peripheral neuropathy of the feet should see a podiatrist. Podiatrists are doctors who are specially trained to preserve the health of the feet.

What is the latest treatment for neuropathy?

Gabapentin and Pregabalin have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of neuropathic pain.

Is walking barefoot good for neuropathy?

It's easy to see that because neuropathy impairs sensation in the feet, patients with neuropathy must always protect their feet by wearing shoes. Never go barefoot – even a minor cut or sore on the feet can get infected and worsen into an ulcer if it's not spotted.

What is the number one medicine for neuropathy?

The most effective treatment was nortriptyline. Of the study subjects taking this medication, 25% reported their discomfort improved by at least 50%. The least effective treatment was pregabalin: only 15% of study subjects reported that much improvement. Side effects were common with all of the treatments.

What is the difference between neuropathy and peripheral neuropathy?

Neuropathies frequently start in your hands and feet, but other parts of your body can be affected too. Neuropathy, often called peripheral neuropathy, indicates a problem within the peripheral nervous system. Your peripheral nervous system is the network of nerves outside your brain and spinal cord.