Does anyone else get stiff muscles/joints with their PN?

My husbands is really flaring these days and along with the usual pain/burning etc. he says his feet feel stiff like they won't bend, with muscle soreness up his calves.
His hands are extremely painful and stiff and the first two knuckles are slightly swollen.

Is it the PN, or is something else going on?

Any thoughts?

Thanks, Linda

I find that magnesium helps with stiffness.
(avoid oral supplements of the oxide form however...as they are not absorbed from the GI tract.)

I do get some stiffness in my hands and feet. The only place where it's pretty significant is in the toes on my right foot. (That is also the area where all the other PN symptoms are also the worst - which I assume is not a coincidence.)

Hi Lindy

Your husband isn't alone in having muscle or joint pains. I get them frequently but because of having multiple conditions it's getting harder to figure out what the actual cause is. I have Peripheral Neuropathy, Addison's Disease, Osteoarthritis and more recently bursitis. Often pain moves around or appears in a new place - recently above my right kidney for a week or so - but I couldn't tell what was causing it.

Has your husband been assessed for arthritis? Also depending on the cause of his PN (if known) that may have something to do with the pain/stiffness. eg an underlying autoimmune condition. Has he noticed any pattern of increased pain (and/or flares) associated with climate or temperature changes?

As far as I know I only have PN and my knees will tighten the worst. I have to get on a spin-bike and start slow to limber up. If I miss a couple of days I can feel the tightening. I also roll the ankles and scrunch the toes on the bike. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

These all emerged in concert together, along with some others that have since gone away.


Aside from all the other textbook Alcohol PN symptoms such as residual foot pain and numbness(gradually, and I mean very gradually, lessening,) loss of balance tendency, marked sensitivity in my fingertips, approx. 60% - 65% loss of leg, arm, and upper body strength, etc., my most reliable constant is: anytime I sit for even a medium length of time, I stiffen up completely starting with pain behind the kneecaps upon standing, proceeding down my calfs, shin/achilles, ankles, through my feet out to the tips of my toes. Completely locked - up. I require both arms on fixed objects, or a Samaritan's aid just to attain a standing position, and a subsequent hand to the odd chair, quick lean against a wall or booth end for at least the first 10 - 15 steps, even after which proceeding unaided with the most diligent attention paid to the terrain my next step will have to navigate. Eventually my gait becomes more and more sure - footed as I continue to walk until the fatigue of distance forces a sit - down. Once sufficiently rested, ready to begin the cycle anew. There is also some not as severe stiffness in the lumbar area, elbows, and shoulders--especially when I attempt to lift any item of weight up onto a high shelf.

Started taking Magnesium Chloride in the form of Slow-Mag in the dosage of two tablets per day, but am already considering doubling up on that for a while. Have heard about this brand for a while and already had it waiting in my Amazon.com Shopping Cart along with some other supps. but amazingly the other day while on my usual food shopping jaunt at the local Stop-N-Shop, Slow-Mag just jumped into my sight from the vitamin display--same bottle, same count, same dosage as through Amazon, but 2$ cheaper. Now that is a rarity.

Just began, so too early to report on any effects yet. My nurse wife warned me that my treks to the porcelain throne might become more frequent. I responded as a true supercilious Neuro Talk disciple that she was probably thinking of Magnesium Oxide. At that theatrical pause, I was only sorry there was not a pipe nor pair of slippers within reach. She mumbled that I was some kind of a whole, whatever that meant.

Will relay any progress. Please continue to do the same.

Thanks.

Linda, sure sounds like arthritis to me. I live with bodywide OA for about 60 yrs advancing with aging and worse since hip replacement. My feet are stiff and burn....I don't know if it's all OA or Nerve issues too. I deal with it, don't like it for a second but this is where I'm ending up. Probably not too many who don't end up with some form of arthritis sooner or later. C

hi I've had neuropathic pain for 2 and a half years now and where the pain is especially bad, my right foot, one of my toe knuckles has locked. I have worked on my hands and feet every single day throughout but that has still occurred. I'm 48. So despite regular manipulation it has still become problematic. I have a neurological disorder as well but nothing that would explain the growing stiffness in my feet. So i do think PN is the cause for me. All the best.

I used to have those symptomes at the beginning of my neuropathy .Stifness is a part the earlys symptomes of neuropaty

Please forgive my admitted ignorance on the subject, but all of the Arthritic conditions I've ever heard related were strictly joint-specific. That would certainly explain knuckles, elbows, ankles, feet, etc. Never muscle-related as to, for instance, calfs, quads, shins, Achilles,(believe it to be pushing coincidence for acute Tendonitis to accompany any and every "muscular Arthritic" episode) unless my acquaintance with the possible extent of Arthritic affliction is even less than I previously was led to believe.