After 18 Years, Still Hard to Explain My Neuropathy to Friends

I have had peripheral neuropathy for 18 years, and I am now 65 years old. Each year I think it can't get any worse, and the next year it does. I have absolutely no feeling in my feet and up to the mid-calf leg. 

Yet, of course, as so many of you know, my legs keep right on burning. After having tried so many different drugs over these years, they have finally come up with lamotrigine. I call it a "miracle drug" because for the first time in these 18 years I'm almost pain free from the burning. The lamotrigine really is a blessing for me.

I have nerve and motor neuropathy and the motor neuropathy continues to worsen.  I wear leg braces and use my wheelchair when I have to leave the house for any kind of shopping.

 After all these years, the hardest thing to do is still try and explain my pain to friends.  They see you walk okay one day and wonder why you can't the next day. Oh, it's so frustrating. Other than that my spirit is doing great. 

I still prefer this disease over more serious diseases like muscular dystrophy. I have found I can live with this disease. Thank you for listening.

Ginny M., VA