PN caused by radiotherapy
 

In 2011 i was diagnosed with bowel cancer and as part of the treatment i was given radiotherapy. Two days after the first dose i had shooting pains going down the outside of my legs which went after i took painkillers. Two weeks later, after my operation and still in hospital the pain returned but this time was excruciating. I was given a course of gabapentin which relieved the pain. I did develop some muscle wastage in my right thigh which was painful to touch which gradually returned to normal.

Two years later i was suffering pain in this thigh when walking but it came and went on and off. Then in 2016 i began to feel what i thought was a stone in my shoe (which there wasn't). I began to have numbness in some areas of my foot. I changed foot wear as i thought this was causing the pain which didn't help and so i saw a podiatrist who said it was nerve related. As time has progressed i have difficulty raising my foot (especially the big toes). I have also lost the ability to stand on my toes and have weakness from the hip all through the leg making walking difficult. I now have a limp and my good leg is hurting above the knee when i walk. After seeing GP's, foot specialist's, physio's and everyone else the neurologist have said that the radiotherapy is the cause as this was given at L5/S1. One strange this is that when i walk on grass my gait is so much better.

Have you had your vitamin levels checked? B12 etc

Welcome Sallya. :Wave-Hello:

Yes. They are normal

Hi Sallya,
Welcome to the NeuroTalk Support Groups.

I'm sorry for the reasons that bring you here.

I wondered a couple of things when I read your post. I wondered if you also received any Targeted Therapy, Immunotherapy or Chemotherapy that may have compounded the degree of nerve damage? [My own PN journey originally began almost overnight from a combo of two Targeted Therapy drugs].

When you say your gait is better on grass do you mean that your feet aren't as wide apart for stability? Do you mean with shoes on or bare feet? If bare feet, I wonder if it's to do with proprioception.

If you get time one day it might be worth reading some of the older posts/threads particularly about shoes and safety tips for balance problems.

There's a search function where you can search any keywords you want to and you can click to search on the Peripheral Neuropathy Forum and/or the PN Tips,Resources,Supplements and Other Treatments subforum.

Hi again,
Doctors ideas of normal are sometimes inadequate.

Lots and lots of B12 info here on the forum and the subforum that I mentioned above.

If you can find out your actual number it might help you.

Here's one example of information regarding B12 levels. It was in a response to someone else so parts of glenntaj's first message that I posted won't pertain to your situation, but the B12 numbers would.

https://www.neurotalk.org/1290511-post2.html

https://www.neurotalk.org/1282714-post9.html

When i walk on grass or even a cobbled surface it seems that my gait changes naturally to accommodate the uneven surface. This then changes the way my good leg walks/operates, making me lift that leg differently etc. This in turn seems to balance me out (so to speak) so not only is the bad leg being lifted higher etc to accommodate the neuropathy but the good leg too. Usually i think i'm consciously trying to even myself out when i walk.