--in which nerve damage that started out as painful eventually progressed to numbness or lack of sensation, though, as you mentioned, that may not be a complete lack of sensation put patchy.

Many neurologists will say that indicates further damage or outright dying of the nerves that are involved--damaged nerves still produce sensation, albeit erroneous sensation not consonant with actual stimuli, but "dead" nerves are more likely to be numb or lack sensation as they can no longer transmit impulses. This is why people who have some of the most painful neuropathies are often described by doctors as having "mild" neuropathy while some with numbness may be referred to as having "moderate to severe" neuropathy--the doctors are in those cases describing their perception of the extent of the actual damage to the nerves.

I think it's an open question which is worse and/or harder to deal with. Surely some have said they have prayed for the numbness when dealing with the severe burning/dysesthetic pain, but people with numbness often have their own problems with lack of proprioceptive feedback and a lack of position sense, which makes physical activity difficult even without any damage to the nerves that communicate with muscle.

In the meantime, I feel for you and hope you can find SOMEONE in the health system there to take your situation more seriously and to try to put together the various symptoms into a cohesive diagnosis (and yes, this does sound like some sort of autoimmune process, but perhaps one unique to you that doesn't fall into any of the standard pigeonholes).