Reply To: Neuropathy… still?

GH
October 28, 2012 at 3:56 am

WTF, no, I don’t mind. I’ve related it before. Onset of my disease was early August, 2010. By early September I was in the hospital, diagnosed with GBS and with near total loss of leg strength. By some time in October I was completely paralyzed below the neck, and receiving painkillers for leg pain. I was given plasma exchange treatments, and started recovery somtime in November. I stopped taking pain meds early in the recovery process when I realized the pain had subsided to tolerable levels.

After my plasma exchange treatments ended, I had about nine weeks of therapy in the hospital (one week) and two rehab hospitals. I was discharged home in early January, 2011. At that time, I still had a lot of numbness combined with hypersensitivity in my feet, ankles, and lower legs, and I had moderate foot drop. Over time, sensation has improved and the hypersensitivity moderated, and the dorsiflexion has improved so that I know walk nearly normally without a cane. Ironically, as my feet have come back, the neuropathic pain associated with damaged nerves has increased. I have a tingling and burning sensation all the time. It is worst when I walk or stand for an extended period, and the remedy is simply to get off my feet when I can. At home, I sit with my feet up much of the time, but sitting normally is not a problem. It is mainly putting weight on my feet that hurts. The constant background pain is something I have just become used to. I prefer not to take pain meds of any kind unless necessary.