I am just hoping that someone can offer me some words of advice. I have spent the last six months planning my son's wedding which is this coming Saturday and I have a ton to do. It is a very important day and I need to be there mentally. About eight weeks ago I hurt my back very badly and tore and major muscle and had to do physical therapy~ I suffered severe back spasms for two weeks and ended up injuring my left foot and my neck and later my right foot by slamming very hard on my brakes on a near head on collision. For the last four weeks both of my feet have been having issues numbness and tingling in pain. I have had a few past experiences manifest issues with my feet like tingling and vibrating after walking on the treadmill and other things that went away. But for some reason this time I am very scared and just need to hear from people that have dealt with Neuropthy and if you can explain how they came on for you that would be super helpful. Some stories I read are that some people are unable to function ~others seem to have cases of it coming and going and I am just trying to get an idea of if I am having a neuropathy what to expect because I do better when I know the worst case, like are any people unable to walk and how long did it take to progress? I would greatly appreciate any responses as I am trying to calm myself down mentally and enjoy this week the best I can.
Thank you in advance for any information.
Mollie :-[
Hi Mollie,
Can you get to your doctor before the wedding? You'd probably get the reassurance you need, along with some medications and advice on how to get through the wedding at your best. And you'll probably be told to keep your feet up as much as you can, and do some serious resting after the wedding!
I don't have neuropathy but I noticed you started off with a back injury and then back spasms. I had terrible back spasms for years, I had the x-rays (I think there were 27 of them!) and they showed nothing wrong. My rheumatologist insisted that the back pain was not caused by my RA. Finally, I found a solution for myself - I bought a TENS from Amazon ($30) and used it every evening. The pain actually stopped! It's recently returned so I'm using my little TENS again.
I found this page which might be helpful for you:
https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Peripheral-Neuropathy-Fact-Sheet
What I picked up was that neuropathy caused by injury is constant or worsening but there are many treatments and ways to prevent worsening, and those caused by an autoimmune disease tend to alternate between remission and relapse (with the underlying disease, I think they mean). If you could get an EMG done, the neurologist should be able to tell you exactly what's happened and what to expect.
A treatment you could do yourself, besides TENS, is topical lidocaine. I use topical lidocaine on my hands every morning. My rheumatologist sells a lidocaine hand cream (he claims he makes it himself), I buy mine from Amazon. Look for lidocaine preparations used by tattoo artists. It doesn't have to be a cream, I've used some foam that works really well.
I hope the wedding is beautiful and that you enjoy it! And I hope you're very happy with your new daughter-in-law!!
I have seen my doctor last Friday, he said if the symtpoms don't resolve we can do nerve testing in 4 to 6 weeks, he said he still believes because I had injured both feet that this could be a foot injury taking a while to heal because of information. I'm trying to mentally tell myself that it is what it is, and I have to try to be patient ~ this is hard because I want to be my best at this point but truth is I'm just glad to be here at all.
Thanks for the response and information! I will look into the cream, sounds promising!
There is an over the counter strong lidocaine cream called LMX. You have to ask at the pharmacy though. It is very good.
I have the prescription strength one myself.
Nomad,
DO you have nueopathy? Does my case sound like that? I read for most people the pain is worse at night, I dont feel anything at night, not sure if that matters or not?
I have several odd things going on in my feet, including possible Morton's neuroma and possible neuropathy.
I have facial neuropathy and have a special cream for that. In the cream is gabapentin, lidocaine and capcaisin.
Sometimes I use that. Sometimes I add a little extra lidocaine to this misture. Yet other times, I add capcaisin.
Still other times, I use this cream a doctor recommended to me. It's actually more a gel. It is fantastic! I can't find it right this moment and need to order more. I will do my best to come back and post.
ETA: Excellent gel that can be ordered on line: Dr. Blaines Ortho Nesic Pain Relieving Gel
Dr. Blaines Ortho Nesic Pain Relieving Gel
Can be ordered on line / Amazon etc.
Very good for foot pain of all kinds.
How long have you had PN and does it come and go? Have your doctors told you what to expect as far as progression?
It could be neuropathy but the first thing I would do is go to my chiropractor for an adjustment. You may have one or more disks out of alignment (Sobluxations) from your auto experience.
With my neuropathy I would use foot patches to pull the toxins out or an Ionic foot bath to do the same thing. The patches or the foot bath would be real ugly when they were complete (Green, yellow and black). but feeling would return after a couple of treatments.
Joe it started when I hurt my back and tore a muscle at the L5-/L4 area where I also have some degenerative disease. The physical therapy wants to work on my back next time to see if it is causing the feet numbness and tingling.
Hi Mollie,
My son got married last April and I am going to be honest that I was very concerned as to what the state of my health would be for that big day.
The wedding was an entire weekend affair and required me to stay in a hotel for 2 nights. I was still reeling from the sudden death of my only brother last February of an apparent heart attack in his mid fifties.
Well, I made a conscious decision (approx) 2 months before this affair that I was going to eat well, exercise and take good care of myself. I decided to do this not only so I could fit into my long dress, but so that I could also have the best possible chance of not being in a flare for this big weekend.
I'm happy to report that I had a very good weekend for the most part, but I have had at least one or two major flares since. Of course having to go back to the reality of my loss, the stresses of my job and the responsibilities of having 2 elderly parents made that inevitable.
My sjogrens does cause me some neuropathy, which is mainly the bottoms of my feet numb and tingling after exercise. My disease mainly bothers my eyes, mouth and sinuses.
Hopefully the physical therapy will help you, as well as taking some of the other tips from these kind folks. Just a reminder that stress is one of our greatest enemies, so try to keep calm and carry on.
Try not to stress too much about the wedding (if at all possible)