Hi newstown,

Random is the way of nerves, especially when they have been impacted by any kind of trauma. I can see it is a real nuisance, not being able to predict accurately how your nerves will go from day to day.

The temptation is to drop exercise. But, the general strategy should be to keep exercising, as far as energy levels and other factors will permit. The maxim that people have adopted with success is to keep working out as much as they can. Now, the problem is that if a peripheral nerve has been affected to the point strength is subsequently affected, then one needs to augment their work out for safety to avoid complicating things further through injury.

So it comes back to tediously applying oneself to adjusting loads and limits, and trying to start with a base minimum and trying to stimulate the muscle groups as best we can (and as far as restricted insights and random nerves permit).

At my worst, I was down to 7 pushups (or less) a day, with a few squats. But it was something. I decided that if that was my new starting point, so be it, and that I would build from there. Don't be afraid to "tear it down" to a new minimum. You will always be better able to gauge results from setting the bar too low than too high.

I worked my 7 pushups into something a 3 year old could have pulled off - 7 push ups became three sets: 4-5-3 pushups, with an extra 1 or 2 every time I worked out again. But, I kept going, doing anything I could.

Low impact exercises minimize *injury* and will help cardio- pool, elliptical (exercise bike), walking over a known course (a safe course - one with no trip hazards or weird obstacles like stair wells and golf course bunkers - important if one is having foot drop or leg issues) and trying to better times - all of this will help minimize injury, if you can do it.

When large muscle groups are malfunctioning, then going back to "core" and physiotherapeutic exercises is still something.

It is the worst feeling when you know what you can do, and you just can't do it. But it can and does come back. A lot of literature uses the shallow doom of "PN can be permanent" without explaining exactly WHEN it will be permanent. It is useless, and should not be used as a formula for quitting exercise. Peripheral nerves are very capable of healing themselves, given the right nutrition and rest support (in cases of insomnia - this often comes back to high dose vitamin therapy as it did in my case and the cases of many many others).

It is also a horrible feeling when people don't just get it. We know what we are capable of, when nerves permit (and they will again). They say such things as "Well, you just have to accept this as the new you," as a nursing amour said to me during this time. Really? I resisted swallowing her glib and diffuse commentary and went at it against her fatefulness. People just don't get it. We give up expecting them to. But we focus on the important issues of never giving up - and always looking for the solutions that fit our issue.

I hope anything I said was useful. You will be better than you might feel you are today. It can be a demoralizing experience like no other when nerves go awry. But there is, generally, a solution for everything. So, hang in there!

You're welcome, Bobby78! Great that we are in the same boat (and what a boat to be in) because we just might be able to find the same solutions to right the ship.

Good news - B12 seems to be working wonders for me. Longer sleeps, clear dreams, daily reduction in paresthesias, better concentration, no anxiety now, body seems to be slowly "filling up" again from being slammed. And this was my big news that I was coming here to report. But B12 seems to have caused a breakthrough for me. So, this would be my recommendation for you, fellow shipmate - I have a hunch, a theory, that some people are not great absorbers of B12 anyway, and as long as they live like the Amish they tend not to encounter the plethora of problems that come when B12 goes low. However, drinking like crazy, as I did, highlights this and continued heavy drinking will bring on a bunch of problems that can be misdiagnosed; mismanaged; and if we are reaching for supplements, those can mask even a B12 deficiency.

So advice hot off the press is to check B12, (and B1, and don't overdo B6); and if in any doubt at all, consider starting the B12 therapy mentioned above in my last huge post!

I'm so convinced B12 is the answer for me that was lacking, and wish it was as straightforward for everyone!

Yes, Wiix, some are. But, yes, in the end, we all have the same darned thing, and don't worry, I have felt like hell, and there are times when I still do. In the end, it isn't who suffers more but that we suffer; and that we can encourage one another; and that we can share insights; and pan for golden solutions and give them out selflessly that will make the difference. I think anything - especially at the early stages - helps. Hang in there.