Hi everyone~

My late twenty something niece has been experiencing numbness of her lower legs, below the knee, both legs. I think it is just numbness to the touch, ex, when shaving legs she doesn't feel the touch of the razor. This has been ongoing for just a week. My sister mentioned this to me, I think, because she knows I travel these circles a bit.

Her only health history that I know of is an enlarged thyroid, which has been scanned, and is not being treated because her thyroid blood tests are normal. [Strong family history of thyroid disease... my dad, myself and all sibs, and 80% of my dad's extended family. We don't think they did the antibody tests... though]

SO...any thoughts? Does this sound like it could be neuropathy symptoms, or ?????? Time for a re-evaluation of thyroid? Anything else?

Cara

Cara,
Has she had a test run for diabetes? It is possible to be diabetic at that age. And I'm wondering about her diet. 20 something's tend to not eat well in order to stay thin.

I see where she has had a thyroid scan. Is her thyroid being monitored by a endocrinologist? The thyroid tests don't seem to be that reliable.

It does sound like neuropathy to me.

Billye

I am really sorry to hear about your neice. 20 is very young to be going through anything like this. Since her initial symptom is numbness in her legs, I would agree with Billye to investigate the diabetes avenue. Does she have any spinal problems like pinched nerve or anything of similar nature?

She sounds identical to me. I'm 18, 19 soon, and have surface numbness down from the calf muscle to the big toe. Does she have pain also?
If you find the cause, let me know, it might be MY cause too. How about her hands?

It does sound like Neuropathy,the first thing that come to my mind was that its common these days for young ladies to virtually starve themselves just to be thin, of course i have no idea about your neices diet but it can be a possible cause if she is lacking the B vitamins its ceratainly going to have an impact on her nerves.
I wouldn't be waiting around for to long before seeing a neuro and get all the tests up and running to find the culprit.
I hope its something thats easly fixed.
Brian

Thanks everyone. I am going to check with my sister, and encourage her to get on the fast track to a neurologist, and not piddle-poop around with it. She didn't have any falls or anything recently, although she was in a car accident this last summer... head on... and I suppose it is possible something subtle could have gone amiss with her spine...that is first showing now.

And then... there is the autoimmune potential. Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Cara