With small fiber neuropathy, meanwhile, fatigue occurs partly because blood supply isn't keeping up with demand from muscles, says Dr. Oaklander.
Is fatigue a symptom of peripheral neuropathy? Fatigue is a symptom that can happen with conditions that can cause peripheral neuropathy. It can also happen due to living with severe or long-term pain due to peripheral neuropathy, or because of autonomic problems from peripheral neuropathy.
Adequate rest is so important and can help with chronic nerve pain. Make sleep as easy for yourself as possible. Want more helpful tips on living with peripheral, diabetic or chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy?
PN was strongly associated with earlier mortality. Mean survival time for those with PN was 10.8 years, compared with 13.9 years for subjects without PN.
Peripheral neuropathy is rarely fatal but may cause serious complications if left untreated. These complications may affect a person's life expectancy. A healthcare professional can advise on their condition, their outlook, and how they can manage it.
Regular exercise, such as walking three times a week, can reduce neuropathy pain, improve muscle strength and help control blood sugar levels. Gentle routines such as yoga and tai chi might also help.
Smoking constricts the blood vessels that supply nutrients to the peripheral nerves and can worsen neuropathic symptoms. Exercise can deliver more blood, oxygen, and nutrients to far-off nerve endings, improve muscle strength, and limit muscle atrophy.
Simple lifestyle changes help some people with peripheral neuropathy to manage their symptoms. Our neurologists prescribe medication to treat neuropathy. A procedure called plasma exchange can help some people with peripheral neuropathy achieve remission.
One of the most common causes of peripheral neuropathy in the U.S. is diabetes. The most common type of peripheral neuropathy is diabetic neuropathy, caused by a high sugar level and resulting in nerve fiber damage in your legs and feet.
Over time, those fibers may undergo degeneration and die, which means the neuropathy is worse because of the loss of more nerve fibers. This may cause increased numbness, but it usually causes the pain to get better. In this scenario, less pain means greater degeneration.
Drink lots of water
Water should be a staple in any diet, and even more so for those looking to reduce nerve pain. It's critical to stay hydrated throughout the day to reduce inflammation and avoid triggering pain receptors. Aim to drink eight 8-oz. of water each day.
A study published in Nutrients of people undergoing chemotherapy found that people who had high levels of magnesium in their diet were less likely to experience neuropathy.
In painful peripheral neuropathy, the pain is generally constant or recurring. The painful sensations may feel like a stabbing sensation, pins and needles, electric shocks, numbness, or burning or tingling.
The nerve damage affects the messages sent between the brain and other organs and areas of the autonomic nervous system. These areas include the heart, blood vessels and sweat glands.
Neuropathic Pain Treatment. Anticonvulsant and antidepressant drugs are often the first line of treatment. Some neuropathic pain studies suggest the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as Aleve or Motrin, may ease pain.
Whether or not neuropathy can be reversed depends on the cause of the nerve damage. In some cases, the pain may go away entirely. In others, nerve damage may be permanent. For example, when neuropathy is caused by an infection, symptoms might go away completely when the infection is treated.
While the general benefits of aerobic and flexibility exercises are well-known, increasing movement and heart-rate are particularly important for people suffering with peripheral neuropathy. Physical activity can improve blood circulation, which strengthens nerve tissues by increasing the flow of oxygen.
Treatments for Neuropathy
The peripheral nerves have a great ability to heal. Even though it may take months, recovery can occur. However, in some situations, symptoms of neuropathy may lessen but not completely go away. For example, nerve injury caused by radiation often does not recover well.
He added, however, that "other studies have shown that correction of prediabetes by normalizing blood sugar levels through weight loss, diet, and exercise can halt progression of neuropathy, and this [study] reinforces that concept."
For some, neuropathy symptoms progress rapidly—from asymptomatic to wheelchair-bound within a year or two. For others, neuropathy evolves slowly over many years.
Neuropathy, also known as peripheral neuropathy, describes damage that affects any part of your peripheral nervous system, or the vast messaging network that transmits vital information from your brain and spine (central nervous system) to your body, and vice versa.
Early-onset patients, whose symptoms appear between the ages of 30 and 50, usually experience more rapid disease progression. Disease progression is reportedly slower — with a survival rate of up to 20 years — among patients who develop symptoms later on, after the age of 50.