Quote:
Originally Posted by mrsD
It depends on what is causing the neuropathy.
If it is hereditary, called CMT, it will likely progress, although
different people have different experiences with that.
If it is a secondary problem, like hypothyroidism, which I had, I
had a reversal to almost PN free 30 yrs ago. Now that I am borderline with diabetes however, some burning has returned.
Controlling blood sugar, will also help those with diabetic issues.
Many non-diabetic PNers also see improvements when sugar is dropped from the diet, as well.
Some toxic neuropathies do not regress, and others may when the drug or toxin is removed. If you continue with a drug that causes PN, then of course you will get worse.
Autoimmune PNs often get worse too. Some doctors give IVIG treatments to stop this progression.
Nutrient deficiencies can reverse symptoms when corrected.
Gluten intolerance and other food intolerances will reverse as well.
There are over 100 different PNs so it depends on your unique situation, lifestyle, exposure to toxins, and internal medical state.
In a young person with sudden onset, I'd examine lifestyle first.
Do you cross your legs alot when sitting? Or kneel alot?
The peroneal nerve goes thru the knee near the surface along the back and goes down the calf to the feet. It normally has a cushion of fat to protect it. If you are very thin, this would be absent. People can compress this nerve and create symptoms. It can be damaged by any activity that causes strain behind the knee. The most common is crossing your legs for long periods. But sky divers also get this from landing hard with a parachute. Squatting and kneeling also can compress it.
Here is an article with a diagram:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_fibular_nerve
compression of this will not show up on MRIs reliably. the nerve is shown in yellow in this diagram. |
Well, last year I woke up one morning with some numbness and got sent to see a neurologist. He checked for MS and my MRI scans came back clear. After a couple of days the numbness was gone but I also had hair loss so they did a myriad of blood tests to look for any autoimmune causes. Still, all came back normal. No one in my family history that my parents or grandparents know of has any autoimmune diseases either.
So that's why I'm here thinking it's just some other form on neuropathy. But me being so young it's nearly hard to believe the drs didn't miss something. I just had some blood work done recently that showed slightly elevated glucose, but apparently that can be high if you eat before? I don't remember if I ate before the test or not. I'm a healthy weight, I'm 5'2" and 115 lbs. I eat mostly healthy foods but I splurge occasionally.
The week prior to my current symptoms I didn't do hardly any exercise or anything strenuous because I was sick with a stomach bug for about 4 days. I pretty much stayed home and in bed, then out of nowhere that zap pain came a few days after I was feeling better. And ever since then....all these other symptoms have reoccured but nothing has gone away (like the numbness did last year). I can't help but think it's MS even though I was cleared for it last year. I suffer from health anxiety.