Small Fiber Neuropathy: Foot Cramps?
 

My diagnosis is one day old. You can imagine what kind of emotional/psychological state I am in right now.

Question: Can anything relieve or prevent the foot cramps that i get at night? Are they affected or improved by drinking water? Taking potassium?

Thanks.

Are the cramps in the bottom of the foot , the top of the foot or all over?

I don't have PN but, I had cramps in the bottom of my foot and a sore heel at times, my chiro suggested arch supports - i got some partial shoe inserts w/ arch support and they really helped.

The whole front of the foot and toes is about the best answer to your question. I am getting them every night, several times a night now.

Arch supports won't do it. My symptoms are consonant with Small Fiber Neuropathy. I thought I was getting some relief from taking potassium pills, but I would like to know if anyone has any solid info.

Thanks for your response.

magnesium helps cramping. staying hydrated is also important especially in summer.

I'll give it a try.

Thanks.

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

Yes, ditto on the magnesium.

For some severe cases, magnesium + a good natural Vit E (one with all the other forms of E in it like gamma etc) helps alot.

Here is my magnesium thread, which explains how to choose a good supplement. Not all work --magnesium oxide---is to be avoided.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread1138.html

I took 400 mg of magnesium citrate last night before bed. It was all I had in the house, so I thought I would give it a try. I avoided having any cramps throughout the night, but my tingling symptoms are progressing rapidly.

mrsD, this is my second day with the diagnosis and I can see that I have a lot of research yet to do, but put me in the ballpark here. Is small fiber neuropathy best described as "progressive," "degenerative," and/or "ultimately fatal"? I understand that I will have pain, numbness and tingling, and that this will cause impaired function, but am I liable to lose function entirely of any or all of the affected areas (hands, feet, etc.)? How fast do things normally progress? I have idiopathic small fiber neuropathy. My symptoms seem to be getting worse by the hour.

Thanks.

It all depends on what is causing it.
Dietary triggers are common. Potatoes trigger burning for me. Heavy tomato sauces too. (these are nightshade vegetables and hard to tolerate for some).
Gluten can be trigger. If it turns out to be a trigger for you, going gluten free can stop the PN completely--depending on how successful you are with the diet.

Spicey foods? MSG? all make PN worse IMO.

Toxins, and drugs are another matter. Some people recover from toxic assaults and others do not.

Autoimmune issues can be controlled. But reversal is not common.

Hereditary issues, genetic failures, are not typically recoverable.

Living a cleaner life, eating more whole foods, staying away from processed junk foods, and using some supplements to support the nerves may allow for significant healing.

Alot depends on you, how accurate your diagnosis is, and how you handle your days. Most of the posters here have gotten better and moved on. There are some who are not helped, and those may have vascular damage, or severe cell death, before interventions were started. PN is very complex and sneaky. But keeping positive is a important part, as well as being an active patient, keeping up on new developments, etc.

HI Nervous,
I hope with more information, and with more time, you will feel better prepared to deal with whatever comes your way.

Any chance you have an automated bed, as in an adjustable frame bed?
I am asking because at least some of these have an EMF and many report worsened nerve pain, spasms and worsened burning in the night.

If one has an electricty run adjustable bed frame, unplug the bed and see if you notice a difference? This suggestion goes for anyone with pain, tingling, burning, spasms and an adjustable bed frame that plugs into an outlet! :eek:

~DejaVu

My diet has been free of most of these items for more than ten years.

Accurate diagnosis? I only know what my doctors tell me. In 2008, after a rash, I had some neuropathy, so they said I had shingles. Last year, I started getting foot pain. It felt like bone pain or joint pain, not nerve pain (tingling and burning). Now, I have above the waist and below the waist symptoms of neuropathy, mostly hands, arms, legs, knees, and feet. My rheumatologist was so confident of his diagnosis two days ago that he said that, while a biopsy could be performed to confirm small fiber neuropathy, he didn't see the point of it.

Heredity? My brother has MS.

I always understood that dead or damaged nerves could not be restored. This site seems to argue otherwise. Now, I don't know what to believe. Hmm.

I have no desire to take neurontin or lyrica, the two drugs recommended by the rheumatologist, so I am going to start experimenting with vitamins and supplements, as per this forum's recommendations (B12, magnesium, CoQ10, etc.)

In the middle of the night last night, I woke up to discover that I was developing tingling in my left big toe. After an hour, the same thing started happening in my right big toe. It's like I'm watching myself fall apart minute by minute, which, to say the least, is disconcerting.

It should be interesting to see if I can keep from going cuckoo while I learn to deal with this.


P.S. Thanks for your help. It means a lot to me. Indeed, I think it's all I have right now.