It seems as if nearly any pain or weakness can be attributed to neuropathy, so they do not usually look further for a cause. In my case there is quite a bit of atrophy in the foot and calf muscles, which could easily be causing other muscles to overwork, or the affected muscles to become painful. The stabbing pains happen most often if I am walking on concrete or blacktop, and feel like a turned or twisted ankle, very sharp, or a stress fracture, but nothing has shown up on x-rays so I put it down to the CMT.
Foot drop does not come up suddenly, as far as I know, unless you have disc problems that cause it. I have dragged my feet slightly since childhood, and am only reaching the point of considering AFO supports at 49. Also, it is not a feature of all neuropathies, mainly the inherited ones.