What does nerve damage feel like?

[Alicia R]

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a kid and would sometimes lie to my parents about what I ate at school or at friends' homes. (I know, I was bad!) In my defense, I was just a kid. I didn't understand what eating sweets meant at the time; I thought I was getting punished for having diabetes and didn't know the repercussions of eating sweets. So, I sneaked around for the first several years. Suffice it to say, the complications came on quickly. I was the only kid in my school who wore ugly diabetic shoes. The other kids didn't understand why I was tired so much of the time and didn't feel well enough to play and preferred to sit. My feet always hurt and were numb at the same time, and it made walking hard, let alone running and playing sports! But, I would trade that in for what I've got now! I thought I knew pain then, but I really know it now! I'm actually weaning myself off Lyrica for nerve pain (the Lyrica's making me suicidal!) and the pain is back full force! What does nerve damage feel like to you? For me, it's mainly in my feet. Thanks for sharing!

 

[forge]

Pins and needles and generally sore feet.

The worry is of course amputations.

 

[Nuthead]

A bad case of pins and needles. It can also feel like walking on marbles or a pebble beach with nothing on your feet. Shooting pains but also numbness. A burning feeling and cold feet. I get all of these and it sometimes wakes me during the night. I find that having my legs lower that my body helps greatly. Amitriptyline is a big help for me but I only take 10mg as a higher dose turns me into a zombie.

 

[rowan]

Amitriptyline is a big help for me but I only take 10mg as a higher dose turns me into a zombie.

Amitriptyline does that to me so I was changed to nortriptyline, same thing but without the sedative.

 

[Alicia R]

A bad case of pins and needles. It can also feel like walking on marbles or a pebble beach with nothing on your feet. Shooting pains but also numbness. A burning feeling and cold feet. I get all of these and it sometimes wakes me during the night. I find that having my legs lower that my body helps greatly. Amitriptyline is a big help for me but I only take 10mg as a higher dose turns me into a zombie.

That's exactly how I feel! I can remember a time before the pins and needles and pain set in, for a while I felt like ice water was surging through my veins! And then the numbness and pebbles in my shoes feeling sunk in, and that God-awful feeling of pressure on your toes even when you're sitting. For me, it's different -- I feel better when my legs are elevated, when I sit for too long with my feet down, it not only burns but they swell up, too! That's a woman for you! I'm weaning myself off Lyrica now (it makes me suicidal!), but at one point my doctor put me on something that starts with an "M" and it, too, turned me into a zombie! I felt like I was trapped inside my own head, I couldn't talk or move and my gaze was fixated -- but my mind was racing! Mind-altering drugs suck big time! So does nerve pain. :-(

 

[Pilgrim22]

For me, it's like having broken glass grind into the soles of your feet, or electric shocks. My finger tips are numb to the touch, but, again, the same as my feet if they rub hard against something rough.
I am on 3200mg of gabapentin and 400mg of tramadol a day. And yes, it is worse without.

 

[msmi1970]

feel like i don't have any legs from the below the knees....

 

[Pura Vida]

My right foot feels like my socks are all wrinkled and bumpy.

 

[rowan]

My right foot feels like my socks are all wrinkled and bumpy.

That describes perfectly how mine feel (along with the stabbing pains) I'm forever checking my socks to make sure there's no creases. Is that neuropathy?

 

[DannyMac]

Yes feels like pins and needles but I find it worse at night when in bed also feel the numbness worse then the thing that sup rises me is when I go for foot checks they are happy with results telling me I have good sensation on my feet only feel actual pain when been walking any distance or standing to long
so don't think of it much as long as you remember how important it is to look after your feet and keep checking them