Husband diagnosed with neuropathy---Vanity

[mupcat]

Wouldn't you know, after all these years, my first post would be a vanity. Hope I'm in the right section, but if not, please move me.

My husband has just been diagnosed with Neuropathy, which I understand is a nerve disorder caused by some sort of trauma or disease to his nervous system. So far this has settled in his legs only. I guess there are quite a few symptoms, but for him it's coldness in his legs and an internal twitching which seems to bother him more at night when in bed.

I wonder if anyone here has or knows someone who has this condition and would care to share how they live with it, and what treatments, if any, seem to help. I guess it's not that unusual especially later in life. To answer one question that may come up, no he does not have diabetes. This seems to be a cause in many cases, but not for him.

Thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it.

[FredZarguna]

Was this peripheral neuropathy?

[EggsAckley]

What an honest and forthright vanity post. I wish I had some answers for you, but I don’t.

I will however be carefully watching this thread as it develops, since I too have a few niggling little symptoms of this.

Best of luck to you both.

[goat granny]

Uncontrolled diabetes is one of the big causes of peripheral neuropathy That’s about all I can tell you about it...starts at the feet cannot reverse it, I am sure his doctor has already tested for diabetes, if he doesn’t have that I would suggest for your own information The Mayo Clinic has a web site and you can search. WebMN also has a site to search for medications and/disease..

[Battle Axe]

Are you sure it is not Restless Leg Syndrome? How old is he?

[OwenKellogg]

ping

[McLynnan]

Were you given any more information? Did he have a recent trauma? Generally they look for the cause of the neuropathy then try to correct that condition. Does he have back trouble?

[EQAndyBuzz]

Prayers are with you.

[LowNslow]

Yes, Ohio State Medical center is working on this and has made a significant improvement in treatment. A friend 65 was rapidly deteriorating, but has reversed most symptoms

[CharlotteVRWC]

IS HE ON STATIN DRUGS!? These types of drugs can cause peripheral neuropathy or other types of muscle pain or weakness. I have had several friends that had to be taken off these drugs, as it caused problems with their feet, where they even fell.

[Gen.Blather]

There are many types and causes of neuropathy, which means nerve death. Mine is/was in my feet. The pain was intermittent and varied from, “ouch!” to needing to sit down instantly regardless of where I was; once in the supermarket on a can display. The pain generally didn’t last long, but was intense while it was there. It was treated with Gabapentin 200mg/day. But the pain has diminished over time, possibly because I’ve had 4 operations on my feet to correct issues from running 15-20 miles per week for 30 years. I also haven’t run or even walked much in the last year, which might be helping. I do work out my legs daily on leg machines that don’t involve putting my feet down.

I think general exercise helps tremendously. You might also look into various nerve supplements. Google them.

The stronger your husband is, from working out, the less the neuropathy will interfere with his life. The doctor who did the test poo-poo’d the other doctor’s diagnosis because I was really, really strong. But the electrical test (which measures the speed and strength of an induced signal down your leg) proved that I had about 25% loss. (He said, “Squeeze my fingers.” I said, “I can leave here with your fingers.”)

[vickixxxx]

http://www.livestrong.com/article/35677-lyme-neuropathy-symptoms/ I have same problem, but it is lyme disease. Doctors are very ignorant about lyme disease. I would have him take the Western blot test and send it to igenex lab in california to see if he has Lyme. Other Lyme tests are a waste of time. Antibiotics did wonders for me. I have been on them for 5 years because when I stop, the legs go bad again. Other things that help are moist heat, magnesium, and Astaxanthin( found at health food stores.) Lyme specialists are hard to find. I have the name of a good one if you ever find you need him. Praying for you guys...

[mupcat]

Was this peripheral neuropathy?

You know, I'm not sure, but believe so. I just read there is another one, but that one involves just one never (if I read that correctly) so since that doesn't seem to be the case I believe it is peripheral. Didn't want to call it that unless I knew for sure one way or the other.

[Scythian]

Talk to your doctor about N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) it’s an amino acid, builds glutathione in the body.

[expat1000]

PN=Peripheral Neuropathy. I have it. It’s more a set of symptoms than a disease. I got the impression the doctors huff and puff and pontificate but really don’t have any idea what causes it. If the patient has high blood sugar, they will say that is the cause. If s/he has liver problems, then *that* is the cause. If none of the above, - sound of crickets. But all the above are just guesses.

With me and from my research I think with most everyone, it is more an irritation than a serious problem. Don’t expect the worst like total loss of sensation in the limbs - it is so rare that it should not be on the bottom of the list of things to worry about, but not even on it.

Treatment: socks. :-)

[spacejunkie01]

your husband is deficient in magnesium. get mag glycinate or malate and have him build up to 800 mg or so per day. ALL the twitching will go away as will/should the neuropathy.

[TheWriterTX]

If this is related to diabetes or often accompanies diabetes, remove all sugar and yeast from his diet. Even seemingly "healthy" items nowadays are packed with sugar and/or yeast of some kind. Processed foods are the worst (canned, frozen, dry packaged, etc.). Go all fresh. Pricey, I know, but a lot better than keeping track of a bunch of expensive pills with nasty side effects.

Strip his diet down to meats, vegetables, and water with lemon or lime. If he doesn't see improvement in a month after sticking religiously to the diet, I'd be surprised.

I had similar symptoms; despite being a healthy weight and in good shape outwardly, I was sick as a dog, always cold, suffered from chronic fatigue, raging migranes, and digestive problems. In short - a hot mess.

Cleaned my system and am back to my old self again. Just got done hauling a cord of winter wood into the back yard and didn't even break a sweat.

[mupcat]

Thanks so much for reply and kind words. Hope your sensations aren’t as bothersome as his.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

First you need to question his docs as to why they are calling this a neuropathy. I agree with one of the other posts here that the symptoms you describe can be attributed to restless leg syndrome, but acknowledge that they can also be caused by a neuropathy. As was also stated on another post, diabetes is a common cause of peripheral neuropathy, so if your husband is diabetic this could be contributing. Ultimately, a diagnosis of neuropathy should not be settled on without good diagnostic evidence. Again, I would push his docs to tell you exactly why they think this is the diagnosis, and to tell you what alternatives they considered. A good physician should welcome these questions.

[Wuli]

Does your husband have diabetes?

I ask because Neuropathy is a very basic word-term that applies to a broad variety of observable symptoms and can be the result of a large variety of causes; but diabetes is one possible type of cause and diabetes is also a more frequent medical condition these days.

Here’s a couple links that may help.

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/neuropathy

http://forecast.diabetes.org/magazine/diabetes-101/basics-neuropathy?utm_source=GoogleGr&utm_medium=PPC&utm_content=neuropathy&utm_campaign=DF&gclid=CPzNqrGgo6wCFUGo4AodiTBy2A