Hi CammyJo, Welcome.

I don't know that there's anything "normal" about PN. Nothing about it applies to everyone in every case.

As you read posts & threads in this forum, you'll find many people (their initial reactions particularly) feeling overwhelmed and isolated. That's understandable; PN can be a life-changing event. How much so is commensurate with the severity and extent of the symptoms, and personality of the individual. You may find yourself experiencing something akin to the stages of grief as applied/related to illness. PN is not terminal.

I think the insensitivity of others is understandable also, but in a different way. When something unexpected happens to someone they know, some people respond with a type of denial, because if it happened to you, it might happen to them. That can scare them, and fear can make them behave that way.

Some people have pain with PN and some don't. There are lists of symptoms, but not everyone experiences all of them or to the same degree or rate of progression. For many/most, progression stops at some point.

You're mistaken about one thing; now that you've found this forum/group, you no longer have zero support from anyone.

Doc