U-Haul® used to (maybe still does) have a slogan: Adventures in Moving. Having moved via U-Haul several times, it's become a family joke that what that really means (and should say) is ORDEALS in Moving. Hence whenever I see/hear the word "adventure" my mind immediately thinks "ordeal", and that's pretty much my feeling about most of the medical issues/mysteries I've had the dubious "pleasure" of enduring....

So, here I was... going along feeling... better than I used to about my PN. In fact, not even thinking about it much, which is really saying something! I think I've pretty much stopped its progression, controlled most of the pain issues, and it even feels like some of the feeling is returning to my toes & feet - maybe some neurogenesis is actually occurring - I don't know for sure.

Then yesterday, out of the blue.... BAM! I get a sensation like something extremely heavy fell on (or like I severely stubbed) two adjacent toes. We're talking level 9 here - enough to make me yowl - but fortunately only for a minute or two, and then dissipating entirely. The best phrase I can think of (at the moment) to describe it is, "extremely rude." I have no idea where this sudden accute pain came from except out of nowhere. Never happened until then, and it happened about a dozen times throughout the day. What the cuss is THIS about‽ It's like my PN is singing that Simple Minds song from The Breakfast Club.... "Don't You.... Forget About Me..."

In the words of Gilda's Roseanne Roseannadanna, "It's always something!"

Doc

I get zings like that... mostly in my big toe. But occasionally in other toes. I don't know what causes them for me.

You wouldn't like MP at all then! 100 bee stings all at once!
That was no fun and I had it for YEARS. Some people have described it as a lightning bolt strike!
(meralgia paresthetica)

I've gotten the usual.... what feels like an electric shock, a sharp needle stick (with an ice-pick size needle) and cramps that many of us get. This was something new, different, and far beyond. More like a refrigerator dropped on those toes (point-loaded). For all I know it could be something to do with nerve (re)growth or something.... It hasn't happened again today, and I'm keeping all my fingers crossed and knocking wood like a woodpecker...

Doc

I occasionally get a stabbing pain in my left foot along the side of the foot. Is it from weight lifting, just getting old or neuoropathy? I think the later due to the sudden stabbing sensation followed by it going away for days and then back again out of the blue.

I think I'm getting better, but the process is so gradual with shallow peaks and valley's which makes it hard to tell for sure.

Yes, probably one of those three; possibly something else.

That makes sense. A muscle pull/strain would stick around. Just getting old? Oh, cuss.... don't remind me. I am NOT aging gracefully!

That's pretty much how I feel about it. Of course we want instant gratification/resolution, like aspirin for a mild headache or penicillin for strep...

But as my doctor points out for things like this and dieting, "You didn't put all that weight on overnight, so it's not reasonable to think you're going to lose it any faster." and of course he's exactly right. It took some time for my PN to develop to the point it did, so it's going to take at least as long for it to get better, and in all likelihood, a good deal longer. Trees die a lot quicker than they grow. I guess I can live with that (like I have a choice, anyway.) It's still a cuss of a lot better than still progressing, and my heart goes out to everyone here who's in that situation. Today I'm... lucky(?) Tomorrow the whole mess could start all over again....

Trying to make the best of every day,

Doc