Thanks for the replies; it's good to know that not all cases end in severe pain and disability, so I know I need to focus on just today and not keep worrying about what the future may be.

Is it common for symptoms to be intermittent? And I mean very intermittent: my symptoms are there for a few hours at a time, but I also have hours and occasionally several days in a row with almost no symptoms whatsoever. They always return though, but it's been like this since the beginning.

I'm trying to figure out if there is a pattern in these symptom-free periods (ie. diet, stress level, etc.) to see if there's anything I can do to control the symptoms. Anyone has experience similarly intermittent symptoms? Or are most of your symptoms fairly constant?

Hi there, My symptoms were intermittent to start with, mine then spread quite quickly all over my body. I knew there were problems with the nerves before the pain as I got like a rain drop feel, and other weird symptoms. Stress played a big part in my symptoms developing. Now, I am nearly off the meds and don't have any pain. My strange sensations started at the end of 2012, I was 35. I am now 38 and feeling good, touch wood! I would like to get another biopsy to see if there is any change.

JohnnyJ - My symptoms have always been intermittent since they started. My first symptoms were when I was 19 (I am now 22) - however all my symptoms have been small fiber and it looks like with your emg some of yours are large fiber but I think a lot of the same thinking applies here. I was always looking for triggers and for me sometimes I can see the trigger that is causing the symptoms and other times not. My first symptom was water trickling down my leg (or the feeling rather) and that always happened when I got warm walking home from classes. I also had full body stinging triggered by erging (I was on the crew team at the time). But by far the biggest trigger I think is stress and lack of sleep. During stressful times (a good portion of my junior year in college I wasn't getting a lot of sleep and always working or studying and also when I first moved for my first job the first few months I had much more frequent symptoms) I always get sensitivity to my clothes. I started waking up in the morning with my feet burning and spend the day with sensitivity and that was when I decided to try medication which has been working well for me thus far (fingers crossed). What I did want to say is that I remember when my symptoms were intermittent always second guessing myself - like maybe I don't have anything wrong going on and I am fine or maybe I don't belong on this forum because I clearly am experiencing less pain than others and I would feel bad - my advice is trust yourself and try to find triggers but don't agonize over it! Not everything necessarily has a trigger and neuropathy is a sneaky little jerk so some things just cannot be explained. Also I think it is hard to see progression because it can be so slow - if I think back now to when my symptoms first started I would say yes I think they increased (hence why I tried out medication) but it was not rapid. Everyone is different with their neuropathy so just because your symptoms or progression is different doesn't mean it isn't there!

That was long - hope it helps Hang in there!

so I'll try not to repeat too much.

At the beginning I had all your symptoms except weakness. I also had burning but really didn't notice it much as the other symptoms were causing me more problems. The weird crawling sensations and occasional sharp stabbing pains were intermittent and random. After a few months the only thing constant was the burning and that is still the case a year later. I rarely get any of the other sensations now. For me diet and stress are my biggest triggers and cause me sleepless nights which makes everything worse.

For stress I have a few relaxation type CD's that I listen too and that helps. I also meditate every morning. With diet I avoid sugar and processed foods and other foods I have personally found to be a trigger.

Keeping a journal has been a good practice for me although I have to remind myself that sometimes there is no rational reason I can see for a symptom popping up. It has helped me to see my progress and catch things that have been triggers.

to try and link curcumstance to symptoms. Changes seemed to come around too slowly to say when they changed but about every six months I could recognize something had changed. Speculations run from food to mood to barometric pressure. So do all that you know to do and that is all that you can do. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

Thanks everyone - I really appreciate all your input.