(Note: No information on the pages of
this Web Site should be considered as medical opinion.I have always been a super active person, staying in great shape and never weighing over one hundred twenty pounds. I was always a "yes, I'll be glad to do that" kind of person whenever asked by my childrens' teachers or my church to do something. What I didn't volunteer for, I quickly agreed to when asked.
When I was twenty-seven, I developed a case of shingles in my eye. That was my first experience with nerve pain. I really thought at times I was going to die because my headaches were so severe. For several weeks my mother had to stay with me to watch my young children while my husband worked. I lost down to about 97 pounds before it was all over. My opthamologist prepared me to lose the sight in that eye, but I didn't and I give all thanks to God for this, because I had many people praying for me.
When I was thirty-three, I started having alot of chronic lower back pain which I just put up with rather than go to a doctor. It wasn't until I was in my late thirties that I finally gave in and went to a neurosurgeon for tests. The results were degenerative disc disease but the doctor would not do surgery. He also informed me that I had osteoarthritis as well.
Finally the pain in my back seemed to take over my entire body from head to toe and I ached all of the time. Felt like I had a major case of the flu. After about six months of this widespread pain and fatigue from not being able to sleep, I went to my doctor. After a series of tests, all of which came back normal, I was diagnosed me with fibromyalgia.
This was about seven years ago. I am forty-seven years old. For the first three or four years after diagnosis, I still managed fairly well and my lifestyle didn't change too much. Three years ago, it changed literally overnight. I started having crazy symptoms and the pain worsened to the point that I was fairly disabled.
This past August, I started to have an increase in the pain in my legs. Strangely enough, it seemed that in some spots I was having the same pain in both legs at the same time. I thought this was a little strange. Finally, along with the pain, I started having a pins and needles effect on the front of my thighs about three inches above my knees. It would always be on both legs at the same place and at the same time!
In November, my left leg would go numb during the night from my hip down to my knee on the outer portion of the leg. It would usually return to normal the following afternoon. Then I would have burning sensations in the area where the numbness would hit. One time it was so severe that it woke me up and I thought sure I'd been bitten by a spider! Of course, there was no mark and the burning finally went away. After that, it just snowballed and I always had more pain at night after I turned the light off to go to sleep. I had areas of my legs that felt so strange when I would touch them with my hand.
All of these strange sensations reminded me of the nerve pain that I had when I had the shingles. I am very clumsy when I walked, I would literally trip over my own feet. My legs felt so heavy. The pain was severe enough that last weekend I had to start using a cane.
At first, I thought all these symptoms were just due to the fibromyalgia, but the pain was so severe I finally went to my doctor this past Wednesday. He automatically told me, after listening to my pain description, that I had peripheral neuropathy, which I'd never heard of.
My doctor wants me to see a neurologist who specializes in neuropathy at our state's teaching hospital. I begged him to wait until after the holidays and he reluctantly agreed to it, but started me immediately on neurontin.
I went home and looked neuropathy up on the net. This site is one of numerous that I have found. I think now that perhaps I will call my doctor and tell him to go ahead and set up the appointment for as soon as he can get me in.
This condition sounds serious. I am on a wagon load of medication already due to the fibromyalgia. One of the medications I take is Elavil, which I understand is sometimes given to people with neuropathy. I am hoping that if I really do have this illness, something can be done to reverse it. I really wish I could find more about it.
Thanks for listening.
Debbie~
swilliams@dragg.net