CLD wrote:Long before DH dx with cancer, I was dx with peripheral neuropathy in my feet. I was tested for many conditions, including MS, but alas, there is no known cause of my neuropathy. To me, it feels like my feet are under water and I can tell if the water is burning hot or freezing cold. It is usually worse at night and worse on my left foot. It is worse if I don't wear shoes or slippers inside. For DH, his neuropathy causes numbness in the tips of his fingers and feet and he constantly complains of a heaviness in his legs. Gapapetin did little so he stopped taking it because he did feel like it made him unsteady on his feet. It is interesting to me that we both have neuropathy but with such different symptoms. I'm curious to know, what are your neuropathy symptoms???
So I'm in a mixed boat here, but definitely wanted to chime in. I have had peripheral neuropathy in both feet (bilateral) for about 5 years now (long before my CC diagnosis). Like you, they cannot specify a cause yet. I am not diabetic. At first, my GP tried B-12 injections. They did nothing. The numbness, which had started on the bottoms of the stems of my toes and on the front of the pad of my foot, continued to deepen and creep farther. When I say deepen, I mean feel more numb. At first, the surface was numb but I could still feel inside, if that makes sense. It's getting more and more thoroughly numb as the years go on. In addition to being numb, my feet are hypersensitive. So if I lay a blanket over my feet at night and it brushes my toenails, it feels like someone is ripping my toenail right off, or scraping it along cement. Bottoms of feet feel like I've stamped them on wet cement - numb, but painful. Like you said, it's worse if I don't wear shoes or slippers inside. I used to *love* going barefoot, now I can't at all. Pain gets so bad it makes me cry sometimes, and this from someone who had colon resection surgery and didn't need any pain meds.
My personal suspicion on a cause is based on a visit to a Podiatrist, who took x-rays of my feet and found nothing wrong. She said she would put money on the fact that this stems from my back, and asked me when it started. When? Well just after my son was born. WHAM! Memory immediately pops up of the fact that when receiving my epidural during the birth of my son, the anesthesiologist had trouble. I remember him hitting something that immediately put a metallic taste in my mouth, and then I felt a shock down my left side. He tried 3 or 4 times before getting it in. When we went home, I looked this up on the internet. Low and behold there are TONS of similar stories of damaged nerves from botched epidurals. I went to an orthopedic specialist who did an MRI, but refused to use contrast (this is the only way to see a damaged vs. pinched nerve) because he "just doesn't think that's it." If I could afford to do it on my own, I would, just to prove it one way or the other once and for all.
This kind of neuropathy seems different from the medicine induced type, as I do not have the pins and needles sensations at all. I do get LOTS of toe and foot cramps all the time. Seems to go along with it. I tried the Gabapentin also, but it didn't do squat. Plus, having a father who is an epileptic (neuropathy meds are also used for epilepsy), I know what those types of meds can do to you. Example, your husband's unsteadiness. My dad has a LOT of balance issues from meds.
Out of curiosity, which meds caused the neuropathy for your husband?