For six months or more, I have suffered a curious loss of feeling in the soles of my feet and a diminution in feeling as far up as my ankles. After enough blood was drawn to satisfy a phlebomatist and sophisticated tests were performed on my extremities, my doctor pronounced that I was suffering from idiopathic neuropathy. That sounded pretty serious, so I looked it up. It means, roughly, that there is something wrong with my nerves, my body is doing it to me, and they haven't a clue what is wrong.
Meanwhile, forty-five years ago I was diagnosed with asymptomatic sarcoidosis, which cleared up after a few years [according to chest x-rays], so the day after Christmas, I will have an MRI of my spine and brain to see whether there is anything wrong that is sarcoid related. I already know I am spineless. Perhaps the MRI will reveal that I am also brainless.
I am so grateful to be living near a world class medicial center.
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I had a MRI recently because of my sciatica. It revealed that my back is so messed up that there's not much they can do about it, short of a spine transplant, which my insurance does not cover.
I hope that your MRI reveals some easily solved medical condition.
Welcome to the peripheral idiopathic neuropathy club. I was diagnosed with it more than 15 years ago. Given everything else that happens when we age, it isn't too bad. But as it progresses it can lead to some discomfort. The biggest concern I have is that, in eventually destroying the nerves in my feet, it also affects balance since the brain isn't getting as many messages from the feet as to where things are at any moment. It's a significant contributor to falls among the elderly. Be careful! Some people get it in their hands as well. So far--knock I wood--I've avoided that.
David Palmeter, I have already had several falls resulting from this loss of information from my feet. I am learning to be very careful. My hands are a separate problem. I suppose when I am ninety it will be worse. Old age is not for the faint of heart, as many have observed.
In an interview in YouTube Eric Hobsbawm, the late British Marxist historian, describes old age as "an obstacle course". So true, I'm discovering.
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