Peripheral Neuropathy

Comment

Comment by Joe Bartoszek on October 16, 2009 at 5:12pm

Been a bit quiet lately. News!!!! Insurance approved my new Quickie II wheelchair! It was ordered yesterday, should take about 10 days to arrive. Really neat...has a back that's supposed to improve my bad posture...keep thinking, my posture may contribute to my neuropathy....what if the symptoms ease...I'll be in a "Catch 22" situation!

Joe

Comment by Scott Rains on September 13, 2009 at 12:36pm

I focus on travel with a disability. Having a spinal cord injury myself I continue to learn a great deal from my colleague Sherri Backstrom of Waypoint Yacht Charter Services who has CMT.

Here is a clip from a trip we did to Alaska:

http://www.rollingrains.com/travelogues/2009/07/wheelchair-accessible-yachts-waypoint-yacht-charter-services.html

There is a story about her here:

http://www.waypointcharter.com/sherri-article.html

Comment by Charles-A. Rovira on September 7, 2009 at 7:28pm

Sorry Joe,

its a holiday so there's nobody in school.

I want an audience so you're being rescheduled for next week.

The episode is ready to go.

-Charles-A.

Comment by Joe Bartoszek on September 1, 2009 at 5:21pm

Looking forward to hearing it!

Comment by Charles-A. Rovira on September 1, 2009 at 8:55am

Hello Mr. Bartozsek,

You will be featured on the podcasts of next Monday's MSBPodcast's "The Disabiliity Show",, (the episode's all written [you wrote most of it :-] and I'm putting it "in the can" today,) and it will be simulcast/released with the streaming web radio program of WSPC's "The Disability Show" (and all of the show repeats.)

I'm seeing what I can work out with "Mr. Douglas Rushkoff" on "The Media Squat" radio show, streaming webcast and podcast on WFMU 91.1 FM.

I seem to be, uh, a producer/intern there. (Its not a paying gig ... yet, [but its a start.] :-)

Comment by Charles-A. Rovira on August 28, 2009 at 1:57pm

Hmm. Sounds a LOT like the same kids of symptoms of MS, but with a different cause.

Nothing like a disease taking wire strippers to our cabling is there...

You comment/information/feedback will be featured in the first episode of "The Disability Show" for this semester to come out on WSPC. (I'm writing it up right now ... Well lets be honest here, you wrote most of the episode. I'm just packaging it up and presenting it. :-)

I will tell you when its going to appear as soon as we set up the get the actual schedule.

Comment by Joe Bartoszek on August 28, 2009 at 1:08pm

Part 2: What is Peripheral Neuropathy (PN)?



Symptoms are related to the type of affected nerve and may be seen over a period of days, weeks, or years. Muscle weakness is the most common symptom of motor nerve damage. Other symptoms may include painful cramps and fasciculations (uncontrolled muscle twitching visible under the skin), muscle loss, bone degeneration, and changes in the skin, hair, and nails. These more general degenerative changes also can result from sensory or autonomic nerve fiber loss.

Sensory nerve damage causes a more complex range of symptoms because sensory nerves have a wider, more highly specialized range of functions. Larger sensory fibers enclosed in myelin (a fatty protein that coats and insulates many nerves) register vibration, light touch, and position sense. Damage to large sensory fibers lessens the ability to feel vibrations and touch, resulting in a general sense of numbness, especially in the hands and feet. People may feel as if they are wearing gloves and stockings even when they are not. Many patients cannot recognize by touch alone the shapes of small objects or distinguish between different shapes. This damage to sensory fibers may contribute to the loss of reflexes (as can motor nerve damage). Loss of position sense often makes people unable to coordinate complex movements like walking or fastening buttons, or to maintain their balance when their eyes are shut. Neuropathic pain is difficult to control and can seriously affect emotional well-being and overall quality of life. Neuropathic pain is often worse at night, seriously disrupting sleep and adding to the emotional burden of sensory nerve damage.

Smaller sensory fibers without myelin sheaths transmit pain and temperature sensations. Damage to these fibers can interfere with the ability to feel pain or changes in temperature. People may fail to sense that they have been injured from a cut or that a wound is becoming infected. Others may not detect pains that warn of impending heart attack or other acute conditions. (Loss of pain sensation is a particularly serious problem for people with diabetes, contributing to the high rate of lower limb amputations among this population.) Pain receptors in the skin can also become oversensitized, so that people may feel severe pain (allodynia) from stimuli that are normally painless (for example, some may experience pain from bed sheets draped lightly over the body).

Symptoms of autonomic nerve damage are diverse and depend upon which organs or glands are affected. Autonomic nerve dysfunction can become life threatening and may require emergency medical care in cases when breathing becomes impaired or when the heart begins beating irregularly. Common symptoms of autonomic nerve damage include an inability to sweat normally, which may lead to heat intolerance; a loss of bladder control, which may cause infection or incontinence; and an inability to control muscles that expand or contract blood vessels to maintain safe blood pressure levels. A loss of control over blood pressure can cause dizziness, lightheadedness, or even fainting when a person moves suddenly from a seated to a standing position (a condition known as postural or orthostatic hypotension).

Gastrointestinal symptoms frequently accompany autonomic neuropathy. Nerves controlling intestinal muscle contractions often malfunction, leading to diarrhea, constipation, or incontinence. Many people also have problems eating or swallowing if certain autonomic nerves are affected.

Comment by Charles-A. Rovira on August 27, 2009 at 8:15pm

Thanks I will.

In fact I will mention this website and this group, Peripheral Neuropathy, when I read it and I will mention you as my resource.

I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Comment by Joe Bartoszek on August 27, 2009 at 7:04pm

You can surely read my reply!

Joe Bartoszek

PS...Finish things off tomorrow

Comment by Charles-A. Rovira on August 27, 2009 at 4:17pm

Thank you Mr. Bartoszek,

I hope you don't mind but I would like to I would like to read your reply to my audience on "The Disability Show" (I'll give the exact show date and time when I know it.)

I'm an waiting for part II, and more of you've got it. :-)

"The Disability Show" is meant to show that our bodies may be disabled (we're in good company with 15% of the population being disabled to some degree at some point in their lives,) but our spirits are not.

I look forward to the next installment.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page