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Submitted by Dr S. Patel on 11 March 2020
Stock pic of peripheral neuropathy

A 74 year old man Swamy* shares his experience of suddenly developing Peripheral Neuropathy, how it has affected his day to day living and the lifestyle changes he has established to help cope better.  

I was diagnosed last year in March 2019. I was at my Chennai home when unexpectedly, I could not walk and my eyes also gave away. I could feel my toes getting numb. I sat down and decided to see a doctor. The next day, I went to Apollo hospital to meet with Dr Ganesh, who is a neurosurgeon. He did various tests such as EMT and once the results came, revealed to me that I had Peripheral Neuropathy. Since I don’t have diabetes, he told me that it could be due to old age or an unexplained cause. He explained to me about the pathophysiology of the nerves and what I should watch out for. I was prescribed medications for nerve pain and imbalance.

My medication list:

  • Trigabantin 100mg (gabapentin for nerve pain relief)
  • Lyrica 75mg ( Pregabalin for neuropathic pain)
  • Rejunex CD3 ( Alpha lipoic acid for the numbness and tingling sensation)
  • A-Z Gold ( multivitamin)
  • Zevert 16mg (betahistine to prevent vertigo and imbalance)
  • Folvite (folic acid for peripheral nerve repair)

The medications have helped. I am almost back to normal, but my eyes do not always cooperate.

A few days later, I came back to my son’s house in Mumbai, where I reside most of the time. In order to keep a local neurologist in the loop, I went to Dr Pankaj Agarwal at Global hospital. He suggested that I use a cane on days that my legs need support. Some days, I do need to use the walking stick. I am very careful about avoiding falls.

Medical History:

I have had Hypertension for a quite a few years now. In 1985, I donated one of my kidneys to my friend. I have to check my creatinine levels every 3 months along with kidney function tests. I send these test results to my nephrologist to this day.

I also have dry mouth and difficulty chewing (possibly due to neuropathy in the nerve that supplies the jaw). I stick to having soft and semi-solid foods to avoid choking. A few months ago, there was such an incident. I tried to eat a vegetable (which happened to be my favourite) but ended up swallowing a piece of it whole. My daughter-in-law was quick to see that I was choking and gasping for air. She held my chest and hit my back a few times which helped get the food go down. However, I was still very uncomfortable, so she took me to the hospital right away. It was not a pleasant experience at all. At the hospital, they gave me oxygen and that gave me some relief. They also did an MRI scan, where I found it difficult to stay still inside the machine.

On some days, I do get edema (swelling) in my legs. I use a pillow below my legs while sleeping at night and it subsides by morning.

Daily routine:

During the weekdays (Monday to Friday), I go for a walk every morning. I do about 3 to 4 rounds of the garden in my building. I also do some sit-ups and muscle flexing exercises every day. Then breakfast is normally idli or dosa. For lunch and dinner, I now stick to Sāmbhar rice or curd rice which is easy to chew and swallow. I avoid excess salt; I have stopped intake of pickles due to my high blood pressure. I do sip on water for my dry mouth, but I have to be careful and restrict my water intake because I only have one kidney.

I love spending time with my grandchildren! I stay busy around the house and take my young grandson for his extracurricular activities and classes etc. through the week.

I pray to God that I do not become a burden on anyone at all. I want to stay active as long as possible and lead an independent life. 

*name changed on request

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