Question about Trauma
 

Hi,

I have PN in my feet, legs, hands, arms and now in my trunk. We haven't figured out "why" yet and are in the process. But I am also in treatment pyschologically for a childhood trauma.

I'm just wondering (if you want to share), how many of us suffering from PN also suffered some sort of childhood trauma/abuse issue? Just curious. I just "released" a huge chunk of my trauma and I anticipate that I may start feeling better not only mentally but physically.

Has anyone else felt llike that? Has anyone else been traumatized? (no details please!)

Ann

Well I have not been traumatised per say..
 

But beleive it or not the day before my PN came on I was running around doing errands becuase the following afternoon I was picking up a relative from the airport.

I had been in one of those good old fashioned family disputes with this person,and had basically harboured ill feelings towards them because they had hurt me. This person is basically the family blacksheep if you will.

A few nights before their arrival, I was having horrible flashbacks and memories of all their wrong doings, and evil deeds. Just remembering all this was nothing short of agony,and I felt like I was torturing myself agreeing to receive them.

To make the long story short, I was running around doing errands in preparation to receive them the next day, and Wham.. My PN came on like a lightning bolt.

I honestly have no idea as to the extent this may have effected the onset of my PN, but I always wonder if I hadn't been in such emotional turmoil the week before, would things have been any different.

Hi Ann, no trauma but there is a definite connection to increased symptoms due to being stressed out or emotionally upset, with PN its best to try to be as calm as one can, if possible.
Brian :)

I was also going through a very stressful time--
 

--right before my acute onset, body-wide, burning neuropathy hit--my wife has just undergone surgery to remove a melanoma, my work schedule was impossible . . .

I suspect for those of us whose neuropathy might be traceable to an infectious, or post-infectious autoimmune process, the hormonal and immune system changes that bodily stress can cause may make us more prone to "catching a bug". Of course, there are other factors at work--many people just catch the bug, while in our cases, the bug has more wide-ranging effects, including setting off the cascade that leads to nerve damage.

I also suspect it's not the KIND of stress, just the amount and how well we are handling it, that may make us vulnerable. Happy circumstances, such as a marriage or big promotion, can be just as life-disrupting as negative occurrences.

interesting question...
 

I had 20 yrs of trauma as a child.


My PN was mostly due to hypothyroidism. It was horrible starting in my 30's.
I didn't get treatment (because my tests were not showing what the doctors
expected) until I was about 50! ( I finally had a radioactive uptake, which revealed the problems). The foot pain and carpal tunnel were very bad then.

I think the stress of childhood trauma/abuse creates elevated cortisol in the brain and that changes a person. Whether this contributes ..I don't know.
I do recall kicking off bedcovers as a child however (I've never been able to tolerate tucked in sheets or blankets). So even back then I couldn't stand certain feelings on my feet. I also recall an episode of my neck being squeezed with a stick (broom handle?) and this may have damaged my thyroid...since the left lobe does not work or take up the radioactive cursor.

You know, we carry the abuse with us always...but how that impacts, I think is very variable from person to person. Alot depends on your personality style, and other character traits. Being an artist too, and using creativity as a
vent, has really helped me cope with it. Someone else who does not vent it thru this sublimation, may have other more physical effects.