Update
 

I had written about needing help, calming when I thought I had PN a couple of weeks ago. It looks like it was actually my CHAIR that caused my symptoms. A year of sitting still most of the day, or in bed. I have Chronic Fatigue syndrome. Well, we bought a new recliner for me with electric controls. I can change position a lot. Also, my ottoman was making problems for my feet also. The chair and ottoman were SO nice, but just cut off the nerves and circulation.

My feet are doing great now. I do take Alpha Lipoic Acid also. I massage my legs and feet and make sure I get lot of circulation. Exercising by moving them didn't do as much as rubbing them.

The CFS doctor tested and found no PN so that is good. It is amazing how you can hurt your feet by not giving them enough circulation! I learned my lesson.

Great that you found your 'cause'!
 

I've found that since I've gotten my PN stuff, chair heights, pressure points and all of that makes me a VERY FUSSY person when considering an expensive piece of furniture that I'll likely and do [mostly] LIVE IN!
I do believe The Chair I bought several years ago.. a year after I'd come down with this all? I have now worn out!
Even finding a good chair on-line is a challenge! Be sure to GULP! at the prices to boot? But, ya gotta do what ya gotta do!
You have to both massage AND move 'em? Why? Gotta get that circulation 'circulating'! And, you have to move or become a stultified couch potatoe! Before my last injury? I MADE it a point to get up and out on my own, driving somewhere... each and every day! It's part keeping active, and part-keeping INDEPENDENT!
When Being on ENFORCED couch potatoe time during my last year's injury? I was soo buggy to get moving I wanted to crawl up the walls and cling to the ceiling & hang out like Bill the Cat!
Now you need to talk to your doc and neuro about getting PT and getting FIT to walk? Sitting in a chair isn't FUN. Getting around even slowly and shakily is far, far better! Go and ask and do and try! It's better for you, and I KNOW how hard it is to move when you can't and try to move when you aren't able! You know you must, you simply don't know how to do it! That's what the DOCS are for! ASK THEM Make them do their jobs to help you!
Then, let us know please! We care and have been there in heaps of different ways, some similar others not so? But we can help IF you get the help from the docs.
Keep faith in yourself. You KNOW what you need. Go get it! :hug::hug:'s - j

I move, walk, etc. But the rubbing and massaging has really been great. Deep in the muscle, different that just walking, etc.

I have CFS and P.O.T.S. so I cannot walk that far without getting dizzy. I sit a lot. My new chair is wonderful. No pressure on areas like before. My old chair was really nice, but not for sitting so much. You really do wear them out. I agree, my new chair was so expensive, but worth it.

My cfs doctors are excellent, they are definately doing a great job. I am blessed with them and a wonderful family and hubby. I am working with my doctors very hard to get well. Rest is very important for CFS as well as my supplements.

I just wanted to let everyone know just in case they did the same thing I did.

I am sorry, I do understand somewhat how you feel. I have connective tissue disease (arthritis), Fibromyalgia/CFS, SFN and am being worked up for dysautonomia. From what I have read my condition sounds like POTS or autonomic neuropathy. It makes me feel just terrible. I hope you feel better... I know it is not easy.

I just joined a gym that has an arthritis approved pool. I am going to try to exercise and see if it helps me feel better... even though I cannot get off the couch sometimes, I am still going to try. I am getting so skinny and de-conditioned.

Mere

We have a La-z-Boy rocker and a 2 recliner sofa (also La-z-Boy).
I use a steel frame, mesh lumbar support with it and am very comfy.
No issues when I fall asleep for hours in it.

You can see 5 docs and get 5 diagnoses. I agree with Mere. POTS, CFS, Fibro, dysautonomia, Sjogren's and many other 'diagnoses' could be variants of an undiscovered small fiber neuropathy, likely with autonomic and sensory components.

Then the question is, why do SOOOOO many people have small fiber neuropathy? Was it always this common?

Rest may be indicated in CFS, whatever the criteria for that diagnosis is, I don't really know....however, REST, can be a boondoggle in Neuropathy and autoimmune disease. If you get deconditioned, woe to you....it is nothing short of hell to get back into workable shape. PACE is more of the course to follow for PN.

BTW, I have a horrible time with pressure neuropathies of any area...from the feet to the hands to the butt. If it is in a position too long, it goes numb. I would not be surprised if I had HNPP. It is awful. Night time is a nightmare with this issue....so is sitting and working on the computer. I am exhausted from moving continuously to keep from feeling overwhelming discomfort.....what a way to live. UGH. This is why I have all my little 'hobbies'....to keep distracted while I keep moving. No rest for me!

No I don't think it was this common. I've been licensed for 40yrs and rarely did we have PNers, and they were mostly diabetics.

But drugs commonly used today, well, they cause neuropathies.
Even Lasix will. (depletes thiamine).
Fluroquinolones and statins, just about everyone has had these at one time or another!

Also there are alarming reports coming out about air pollution and nano particles:

http://sciencenews.org/view/feature/...tination_brain
I hope this article is open for non-members... It is very disturbing.

Here is another...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18217626

I believe these poisons can act anywhere in the body. Time will show this, I think.
Just Google nanoparticles and pollution for more.

The first one would not open for me (maybe you can copy and paste and still cite the web address?)....but the second one did, and it is darn depressing. When you think of what 'progress' has brought about....I dunno....maybe wonder cures for diseases we brought about??

Seems like we are cr@pping in our own nests.

Well, I am going to watch the Dow drop some more and then go pull weeds...and wince in pain due to my dumb thumbs....anudder one of doz days.

Possible reasons that rates of chronic diseases are increasing:

*Lower quality food. We are eating far less whole foods than our ancestors, that is unprocessed whole grains, vegetables, fruits. To make foods more palatable (creamy, sweet, etc.) and have a longer shelf life, most of the nutrients are removed and what is left is often refined carbohydrate with high glycemic index that raises blood sugar producing an insulin response, contributing to disease. We are missing sufficient quantities of the hundreds (maybe 1000s) of nutrients found in plants. Plus all the bad fats being added. And we love our hamburgers, french fries, ketchup, & Coke.

*Life is more fast paced than before. We want it all and we want it now. This leads to eating more low-quality foods, that is eating out or eating something instant or microwaveable at home. The quick pace also means less relaxation, less time to exercise, less down time. Also leads to less sleep and so less time for our bodies to heal.

*Most Americans are overweight, probably for a variety of reasons, leading to all sorts of problems.

* Toxins in our air, food, & water. Thousands of substances from plastics to metals. Is our world getting more toxic lately? I don't know. Maybe someone has some evidence on this. It's certainly more toxic than it was 1000 years ago.

Notice that we have control over all of these factors. Maybe we should work on changing all this, huh?

My 2c
Electron

yet life expectancy age continues to increase. Im sure the things around us definitely affect our well being but to what extent or what does what i have no idea nor do i think anyone else has a firm handle on this at the present time.

All of the issues noted in this thread as causative factors in these evasive diseases are in fact true, but I do also wonder about things that we may have been exposed to in the past. I wonder about some of the vaccinations I was given as a child (at a Naval hospital), or in a line-up in the auditorium of my grade school in the 1960's.

It may sound paranoid, but can we really know for certain what we have been exposed to? Remember the MK-ULTRA program? One experiment in 1966 subjected masses of people in the New York Subway system... This is but one of a slew of biological experiments that used the general population unknowingly and without consent. Some have been unclassified, such as the NYC subway experiment, though I wonder how many other classified experiments there are right now. Agent orange exposure or Gulf War Syndrome create terrible illness. GWS has a symptom profile much like FMS/CFS and SFN...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKULTRA

Just a slightly different angle on things..

Mere

And--
 

--there is beginning to be evidence in the developed world that given the still-stubborn rates of cancer (many of which I'm sure are linked to environmental toxins) and the obesity induced conditions such as Type II diabetes, kidney disease, and stroke, lifespan may have actually stopped increasing, and in some places may actually be DROPPING a bit . . .the biggest drop has come in Russia and other areas of the former Societ Union, in which there seem to be NO regulations on things anymore . . .

Lifespans are still rising in the developing world, except in places with high concentrations of HIV patients, but as those areas develop and degrade their own water, land and air, one wonders how long it will last . . .

I've heard it said recently that the lifespan is dropping here in the US starting with the generation of children who are in grade school now. That's why we hear of the emphasis on improving school lunches and trying to get kids to go outside and play more, etc.

also
 

a fair bit of the volatility of that statistic is the decrease in early childhood death rate....

I have yet to see the children in my neighborhood actually playing outdoors and there are quite a few... what gives. It is a safe area. Okay, I saw one kid on a bicycle the other day but I felt sorry for him because his tires were almost flat and the seat was too low. The kid probably doesn't have a clue on how to correct it (perhaps the parent doesn't either).

I was a child in the 1960's and 1970's and we were ALWAYS outdoors running around, and so was everyone else I knew. We played street hockey, rode our bicycles - with tires that were in good shape because we knew how to patch the inner-tubes and use a tire pump. I hated it when the street lights came on and it was time to come indoors.

It is my observation (and I am not saying that I am right), and perhaps it is just like this in my area, but that today's youth seem lazy, overweight and apathetic. This is only my opinion and observation and of course I am sure it is not true for all... but it worries me. What happened? Does anyone else feel this way? Or, is my observation skewed...

I would add to that, Mere, that the ADULTS do not come outside either! I am one of the very few people in my neighborhood outside. Our neighbors, even drive up, press the garage door opener and go into the garage, close the door, and never come out. They have patio furniture outside, that is never used!

The only people we see occasionally are those walking their dogs. And several of those are professional dog walkers, and not even the owners!

I live in the inner city in a row house (Town House if it weren't so old- built in 1902). In our neighborhood we have a few people who are 'stoop sitters'.
They sit on their front steps (no porch) and converse with passersby, talk on cell phones, smoke a cigarette, etc. in the rear of our homes, there are patios, yards, decks, etc - but are seldom used. I grill on the BBQ in summer almost every eve. Except for pleasantries with a next door neighbor whose car pad in in the back, I see almost no one out. Weekends there sometimes are parties on the decks- after dark, but seldom see kids play outdoors, or others grilling dinner.
I also was
".....a child in the 1960's and 1970's (er... make that '40's & '50's)and we were ALWAYS outdoors running around, and so was everyone else I knew. We played street hockey, rode our bicycles......"

Doesn't seem to be happening in my neighborhood today, either.

Here is an interesting paper with life expectancy and many other statistics, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a U.S. govt. dept. so there should be no problem quoting from this. This is a very large pdf (10MB) so you may have to be patient. If you only have dial-up, probably forget it.

Health, United States, 2009
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus09.pdf

See Table 24 (p. 187), "Life expectancy at birth..."
Data only goes to 2006 but life expectancy at birth is steadily increasing, although flat for most groups from 2004-2005.

Also interesting is:
Table 26 (page 1 of 4). Age-adjusted death rates for selected causes of death, by sex, race, and Hispanic origin: United States, selected years 1950–2006

The rates of death from most of the diseases listed are declining. I have been reading and generally believed that rates of chronic diseases are increasing. This chart does not bear this out, but it does not show all diseases, for example it does not show those that don't generally cause death, like PN.

Electron

Just my opinion: kids haven't changed, and they are not lazy. Kids don't run around outside, and haven't for a while now because somewhere along the way, we got hysterical about child abducters. The kids next door can't walk two short city blocks to school, cause, you know, some stranger (stranger danger!!!!) is going to grab 'em. The parents actually drive them to and from instead of letting them take a five-minute walk. And I think this is the norm these days.

I understand that there really are child abductions, and if anyone here has ever had one touch their life personally, my heart goes out to you. But I really think child obesity is statistically far more dangerous. Is there even any evidence that children are abducted any more now than they ever were?

I'm new so I don't know exactly how or where to add this post...I want to add it to the discussion but not in reply to anyone's post so have put it here, please excuse....I hope it shows up OK. Or someone could instruct me a better way...

I received this email today and had to show it, I am on the American Diabetic Assoc.'s email list. Please read the last 2 paragraphs of the letter.

From: American Diabetes Association
To:
Subject: Don't wait to invest in our children's future
Date: Jul 8, 2010 11:00 AM
Dear ,

Childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in our country and,
in turn, creating a diabetes crisis. This is not a problem that will
go away easily. We must take action to make change happen now...and give our children a chance at a healthier future.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (S. 3307) is a crucial step in the
right direction. Don't wait another minute - ask your Senators
to support this critical legislation today!

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act would make a strong investment in
our school nutrition programs, including increasing the federal
reimbursement for the school lunch program. The added funding will
provide local school districts with resources to improve the quality
and nutritional value of meals served to students. The bill will
also require the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to strengthen
nutrition standards for foods sold in vending machines, a la carte
lines and school stores so they are based on current nutrition
science-that means removing sugary beverages and high-calorie
snacks from schools.

Congress must pass this bill and the President must sign it before it
expires on September 30th. Please tell Senate Leadership to
bring Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to the Senate floor this summer.

Childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in our country and,
in turn, contributing to the diabetes crisis. If current trends
continue, 1 in 3 children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes
at some point in their lifetimes.

This is a crisis we cannot afford to ignore. Thank you for all that
you do to give our children a healthier future.

Sincerely,


Nash Childs, PE
Chair of the Board
American Diabetes Association



_____________________________________________
American Diabetes Association Action Center

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i had to go this past semester to the assistant superintendant of schools for my school district because the middle school my daughter goes to would not let the kids go outside for recess after lunch. they were making them sit in the lunchroom the whole period. so it is not always the kids fault. when i went to school we played in the school yard before school started, then at lunch and we had an hour lunch. now they have a 40 minute lunch. this would be an area to address if there was genuine concern about kids not exercizing enough.