--and any doctor who says that all peripheral neuropathy syndromes come on gradually needs to go back to neurology rotation; a number of toxic and autoimmune neuropathies have very rapid onset (mine certainly did--within hours):

http://neuromuscular.wustl.edu/time/...htm#neuropathy

But, part of the problem with diagnosis here is that acute onset may well indicate a central nervous system insult.

It is certainly possible you may have Central Pain Syndrome, and that condition can be bilateral. Anything that hits the spinothalamic tracts may cause it--stroke, trauma, MS, B12 deficiency, and other situations that you can find out about here:

http://centralpain.org/