How Does Neuropathy Feel

Today's post from neuropathyweb.com, is a general post giving information about neuropathy to people who have little knowledge of the complaint or are meeting it for the first time. It is very general and will only give you an idea of what sort of neuropathy you may have, from the symptoms you're displaying. More research and a discussion with your doctor will probably be necessary.

What Does Diabetic Neuropathy Feel Like?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 12th, 2013


Diabetic neuropathy is a form of nerve damage caused by diabetes. High blood sugar associated with diabetes can lead to nerve fibers being damaged throughout the body with the legs and feet being the most commonly affected. There are a variety of symptoms associated with diabetic neuropathy due to the different types of nerves that are damaged. Symptoms range from pain and numbness to digestive problems. If left untreated, diabetic neuropathy can be fatal.

There are four common types of diabetic neuropathy. Individuals can suffer from one or multiple forms in combination with one another.

Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy is the most common form that affects the legs, feet, hands and arms. The symptoms associated with peripheral neuropathy include:

Numbness and lack of sensation in legs, feet, hands and arms
Sharp pain in the extremities that may intensify at night
Pain felt when walking
Extreme sensitivity when touched
Foot problems including infections and joint/bone pain

Autonomic Neuropathy

This form of Neuropathy affects the bladder, lungs, heart and the sexual organs. The symptoms of autonomic neuropathy include:

Unable to detect blood sugar is low
Frequent urinary tract infections
Inability to have a bowel movement or uncontrollable diarrhea
Sexual dysfunction
Inability for eyes to adjust from dark to light
Difficulty regulating body temperature.

Radiculoplexus neuropathy

Radiculoplexus neuropathy affects the nerves in the thighs, hips and buttocks. This form of neuropathy is much more common in people suffering from type 2 diabetes. Symptoms include:

Sudden and intense pain in hips, thighs or buttocks
Weak thigh muscles

Swelling in the abdominal area

Rapid weight loss

Mononeuropathy

Mononeuropathy occurs when there is nerve to one specific nerve. It typically occurs very sudden and is common in older individuals. The symptoms depend of which nerve is affected. Mononeuropathy does not typically have any lasting side effects as it comes and goes very quickly over the course of a few weeks. Symptoms include:

Double vision or a headache right behind the eye
Bell’s palsy (paralysis of one side of the face)
Pain isolated to the foot or lower leg
Pain in the front portion of the upper leg
Chest pain

If you believe you are suffering from any form of neuropathy it is critical to see your doctor right away before symptoms worsen or cause serious health problems. Early treatment can prevent symptoms. Since there is no cure for neuropathy, prevention is critical to living a quality life.

http://neuropathyweb.com/diabetic-neuropathy-feel-like/

What Does Neuropathic Pain Feel Like

Today's post from pain.about.com (see link below) is a short but useful description of the nature of nerve pain. There's nothing here that the experienced neuropathy patient won't know but sometimes putting your symptoms into words for others is very difficult - they just don't seem to understand - and why should they - nerve pain is pretty much unique and unless they can feel it themsleves, they won't really get what you're going through. This article will help put it into words for them - it's a, 'pass on to your friends and family' article and will help them get an idea of how you're feeling.
 

What Does Nerve Pain Feel Like?
Neuropathic Pain and its Unique Symptoms
By Erica Jacques Chronic Pain Expert Updated July 16, 2014.

Written or reviewed by a board-certified physician. See About.com's Medical Review Board.

Neuropathic pain, also called nerve pain, is one of the many classes of chronic pain. Nerve pain can be caused by nerve damage, irritation or destruction.
How Nerve Pain Feels Most people describe their chronic nerve pain with a similar set of words. Regardless of the cause, nerve pain can feel like any of the following:

Burning
Tingling
Shooting
Sharp
Stabbing
Prickling

Nerve pain may vary in intensity. For some, it can feel like mildly bothersome pins and needles. For others, the pain may be severe and nearly unbearable. Nerve pain may be localized (felt at or near the area of nerve damage) or referred (felt somewhere else in the body).

Nerve Pain Terminology

Because nerve pain is unique, it has some medical buzzwords associated with it. Nerve pain sensations may be described with these buzzwords, which include:

Allodynia: When a person experiences pain after a stimulus that shouldn’t cause pain under ordinary circumstances, it is called allodynia.
Hyperalgesia: If a person has hyperalgesia, mildly painful stimuli may be felt with greater intensity.
Dysesthesia: Dysesthesia describes some sort of impairment in sensation. It can describe pain that is felt when there is no stimulus present at all, also called spontaneous pain.

Other Symptoms Associated With Nerve Pain

Like other types of chronic pain, neuropathic conditions often cause other symptoms in addition to pain. If you have any of the following in addition to the pain described above, you may have nerve damage:

Partial or complete loss of feeling
Muscle weakness
Partial or complete paralysis
Changes in skin appearance and texture
Muscle disuse atrophy
Depression and/or anxiety
More Nerve Pain Information
Definition of Neuropathic Pain
Common Nerve Pain Conditions
What Causes Nerve Pain?

Sources:

National Pain Foundation. Neuropathic Pain: Symptoms. Accessed 2/2/10. http://www.nationalpainfoundation.org/articles/353/symptoms?PHPSESSID=9c14904e64a8ad966628202be1ce5892

The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library. Neuropathic Pain. Accessed 2/2/10. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec16/ch209/ch209c.html#sec16-ch209-ch209c-278

http://pain.about.com/od/typesofchronicpain/a/neuropathic_pain_symptoms.htm

HOW DOES WEIGHT STIGMA SMELL

Could our reaction to an image of an overweight or obese person affect how we perceive odor? A trio of researchers, including two from UCLA, says yes.

The researchers discovered that visual cues associated with overweight or obese people can influence one's sense of smell, and that the perceiver's body mass index matters, too. Participants with higher BMI tended to be more critical of heavier people, with higher-BMI participants giving scents a lower rating when scent samples were matched with an obese or overweight individual.

The findings, published online in the International Journal of Obesity and scheduled to be presented today at the annual conference of the American Psychosomatic Society, suggest that the extent of negative bias toward overweight and obese people may be greater than previously believed.

"You wouldn't think that not liking someone's weight could then be seen in a totally different sensory modality, which makes us think, 'How else is weight stigma affecting our lives that we don't even know about?'" said A. Janet Tomiyama, a UCLA assistant professor of psychology. Tomiyama conducted the research with Angela Incollingo Rodriguez, a UCLA doctoral student in psychology, and Andrew Ward, a professor of psychology at Swarthmore College.

"This is the first step in proving that the consequences of weight stigma could be very widespread in ways that we don't even know," Tomiyama said.

Incollingo Rodriguez, the report's lead author, said while some people are overtly biased, others are more subtle about it and may not even be aware that they harbor negative feelings toward heavy people.

"There are no checks and balances on weight stigma in the way you would see with racism, sexism or homophobia," Tomiyama said.

In two related studies, the researchers showed subjects one of two sets of images. Both sets contained photographs of different people -- half who were visibly overweight or obese, and half who were normal weight or thin -- along with a series of "distractor" objects.

With each image they viewed, participants were asked to smell a container of lotion tinted with a different food coloring. Although all of the "scent samples" were actually fragrance free, the researchers wanted to test whether participants would perceive them to have different smells -- and whether their reactions could be associated with the images they were viewing at the same time.

As each image appeared, the experimenter placed the scent sample under the participant's nose. Participants were instructed to rate each scent of 1 to 11. The more positive the rating, the more positive the reported smell.

The researchers found that when overweight or obese people were on the screen, participants gave worse ratings to the scent samples. Images of average-sized or thin people tended to trigger higher ratings.

The correlation between visual stimuli and sense of smell is well-established: Previous research has connected the perception of foul odors to feelings of disgust.

"Right now, we only have a couple of ways to measure implicit attitudes, such as an implicit-association test measure," Incollingo Rodriguez said. "We wanted to see if looking at something you find unappealing or unpleasant could influence how you evaluate a smell that has nothing to do with weight. This shows that something is happening implicitly, and we may have tapped into a new methodology for assessing people."

She said weight bias can affect people's everyday lives in many different ways, including how they are treated in social situations, the quality of medical care they receive, and hiring and promotion decisions.

"It also undermines people's motivation to diet and exercise," Incollingo Rodriguez said. "If anything, stigma is a barrier to these lifestyle changes that people commonly use to lose weight."

Weight bias can also affect people's health, including by increasing their cortisol levels and by causing them to eat more. In 2014, a study by Tomiyama in the journal JAMA Pediatrics showed that simply being called "fat" at age 10 increased a girl's chances of becoming overweight by the time she turned 19.

"By being aware of our deep-seated attitudes regarding weight, we can begin to change our behavior," Incollingo Rodriguez said.

How Does Chronic Nerve Pain Feel

Today's post from abarefootgoddessonajourney.wordpress.com (see link below) will probably leave you thinking: 'where have I read that before?' or even; 'I've said, thought, or even written exactly the same thing'. I know you'll find versions here on this blog too. That's because it expertly puts into words what nobody who doesn't have neuropathy will understand - exactly how does neuropathy feel? It's a useful article for people coming to the disease for the first time (though it won't leave you feeling optimistic) and for friends, workmates and relatives, who look at you glassy-eyed when you moan about the pain. Even die-hard neuropathy patients will benefit from reading this and recognising that they're not alone. Really every newspaper or online media outlet across the world should translate this and publish it because, God knows...we need the publicity!

Understanding Chronic Nerve Pain – Neuropathy!
Published on September 18, 2016

Chronic Nerve Pain it keeps you awake all night…….Let me explain!

So I think everybody at some stage has had tingles or numb fingers or toes or perhaps even felt the nerve at the back of their leg twitch. These are all normal but nothing prepares you for the effects of your nervous system going into major short-circuit mode or in other words CHRONIC NERVE PAIN!
When that happens, you may well find out what it’s like to be one of the millions of people across the world who are living with neuropathy. What is neuropathy? It simply is nerve damage and the cure is? Well …..there isn’t one.

However, those facts tell people who aren’t affected absolutely nothing about what life is like with this chronically difficult to treat condition. Most people have no concept of how nerves work and how essential they are to daily life anyway (why would you, when everything works as it should!) so therefore find it impossible to understand what happens when the nervous system breaks down.

The neuropathy sufferer is faced with the task of explaining their mysteriously weird symptoms to many people who disbelieve what is being felt.
So as one that is being kept awake a great deal of every night let me explain what happens, Often resulting from damage or degeneration to the nerve itself and cells, that protect the nerves of us the neuropathy sufferers are subjected to a series of confusing and functional breakdowns which send out wrong messages, or no messages at all. It basically can be compared to a short circuit in a electrical system resulting in feelings and sensations that are pretty unique to the sufferers health issues. Neuropathy affects many people from all over the globe. What does it feel like and why are its symptoms so difficult to explain? There are over 100 causes and also over 100 types of neuropathy, so diagnosing exactly how someone feels with their neuropathy really depends on where the nerve damage is happening and what part of your body is being affected.

Generally, neuropathy falls into one of the following four categories:

Motor Neuropathy;

Motor means movement, so motor neuropathy is damage to the nerves that control muscular activity and movement in the body. It generally affects feet, legs, hands and arms but can also affect speech. 

SensoryNeuropathy;

Sensory means touch, so sensory neuropathy is damage to the nerves controlling what and how you feel. So it can affect how you feel pain, or even the lightest of touches.

Autonomic Neuropathy;

Autonomic means involuntary, so autonomic neuropathy affects the nerves directing bodily functions you aren’t aware of and have little control over, such as breathing and heartbeat but also digestion (including bladder and bowel functions), sexual response and circulatory problems. It’s easily the neuropathy with the most serious symptoms.

Combination Neuropathies;

A nightmare for many, when you have a combination of the above problems.

So I’ve told you about the types of neuropathy and that what is being felt is like nothing you can actually describe but where does neuropathy strike in the body. Well I would say, most people suffer nerve pain problems in their feet first. Feet are at the end of the nerve pathways and the furthest away from the central nervous system. So perhaps it is logical that problems would happen there first. So back to the feet, where the majority of people first notice something going wrong but neuropathy is never an immediate finding – it can take years to develop and creeps up on you without you really noticing a pattern developing – it’s part of the reason why it is so difficult to diagnose and treat. Initially, you may suffer a loss of feeling or numbness in the toes. Gradually, you begin to feel as though the toes are numb and painful, along with tingling, or other strange sensations. It’s as though the toes have been anaesthetised on the surface, yet just underneath it’s painful, or tingling. This set of feelings often spreads to the other areas of the foot or leg. To describe the feeling – it is similar to be walking on ice or snow with bare feet or sometimes as if your bare feet are walking across an electric force field. It is a weird feeling and very uncomfortable. When you have severe nerve pain/ neuropathy it can feel as though you’re walking on bare bones. The problem is that the numbness can lead you to walk strangely, or lose your footing so that you fall. You feel as though you’re doing the right thing to make your feet move in the right direction but they do something else instead which is truly frustrating.Basically the wrong messages are being sent out and there’s a communication breakdown between the brain and the feet. So as this is happening to your feet, you may begin to feel like your legs are heavy, or like your muscles aren’t responding and becoming weaker. Climbing stairs can be both painful, tiring and frustrating and just plain walking can feel like a massive effort because you begin to constantly trip over what feels like air and just stumbling when you least expect it becomes a daily occurance.

This is why I’ve ended up using a walking stick and more recently a 4 wheeler because of my muscular tiredness and to give me the feeling of more security with balance when i walk. Balance has become a major issue for me and sometimes I feel like I am walking like a demented alien.

As my neuropathy has worsened, I’ve developed it in my hands. I began lose control of my grip and I started dropping things which is totally frustrating. I’ve now lost use of my right arm and the effect this has on me is massive as I have a lack of self trust and confidence in my own daily actions leaving me frightened and confused as to what is happening to me.

I would say the hardest thing for people to understand is the pain neuropathy can bring. It’s like nothing else ive ever experienced. It can range from mild tingling or burning, to pain that can leave me screaming like I am going to die AND especially at night. It can feel as though your affected areas are on fire and burning sensations are perhaps the commonest after tingling. Tingling sounds innocent enough but it can be so severe that it’s extremely painful and then i long for the numbness that i began with. I often get the feeling of a ‘electric shock’ in my legs and arms. Often the muscles will spasm, leading to twitches and spasms which together with the shocks, the burning and the tingling can lead me to actually cry.

It has to be said, everybody’s neuropathy is unique to themselves, so the symptoms you see here can be anything from mild to severe. It’s little wonder that opiates can be the only course of action in the end but even they have their limitations, leading to increased doses and addiction.

So I’ve let you know about all the sensations, you can experience and the strangest of feelings. Stepping on a stone may feel like treading on broken glass and hot bath water can feel cold leading to many cases of burns. People with neuropathy need to use an unaffected part of their body to test textures and temperatures, so we don’t hurt ourselves.

Other problems with neuropathy can be urinary problems and digestive malfunction. The nerves to blood vessels, intestines and bladder are damaged by the disease and give out faulty messages leading to abnormal behaviour in functions which we take for granted. In my circumstances, I can feel bloated after eating only a very small portion; and I can no longer empty my full bladder even though my brain thinks my bladder is empty. This has led to problems with constipation and diarrhoea.
I Hope I have given you some idea of what it’s really like to live with nerve pain/neuropathy. It’s a horrible disease because it’s so unpredictable. I and many others live with only mild discomforts with only a little tingling & numbness here and there but then can suffer dreadfully in a instant needing to be on the harshest of medication to control the dreaded symptoms and it must be remembered that the medication only helps to manage symptoms it doesn’t cure them. So till a cure is found I and many others will just have to live with neuropathy as best as they can and find the best treatment available to help their own nerve problems.

Let’s NOT tear each other down, it’s about walking together.

https://abarefootgoddessonajourney.wordpress.com/2016/09/18/understanding-chronic-nerve-pain-neuropathy/