Why neuropathy feels so unpredictable, and how to find your triggers

Short answer: neuropathy feels unpredictable because many things push symptoms up or down from one day to the next: weather, stress, sleep, what you ate, how much water you drank and how much inflammation is in your body. Dr. Mohamed Karim, D.C., says the swings are common, and a simple symptom journal is often the fastest way to find your own triggers.

Weather

Cold is not a friend to most people with neuropathy. Extreme heat can flare symptoms too. If he had to choose, Dr. Karim says warmer and slightly humid tends to be easier than cold and very dry, which is why some of his patients winter in Florida, Texas or Arizona. Others notice changes when the barometric pressure drops before rain. It varies person to person, and that is exactly the point.

Stress

Stress raises inflammation in anyone, with or without a disease, and people with neuropathy often feel worse on stressful days. His advice is personal rather than prescriptive: find what actually relaxes you and do it on purpose. For one person that is fishing. For another it is a walk, a day at the beach, friends, a puzzle or a round of Sudoku.

Sleep

Sleep is when the body repairs itself. Neuropathy makes that harder, because the moment you lie down and your mind is no longer busy, symptoms get louder. A bad night leads to a tired day, more naps and more inflammation, and pain sensitivity creeps up.

When people ask him how to feel better in their bodies, his answer is three things: nutrition, exercise and sleep.

Food, water and inflammation

What you ate last night can show up in your feet this morning, in his experience, because diet drives inflammation and inflammation that settles around nerves shows up as burning, tingling, numbness and balance trouble. Water matters too. His rule of thumb is half your body weight in ounces a day, and a morning pot of coffee does not count. For people who struggle to keep up with fluids, the clinic also offers IV hydration in North Liberty.

The patient who kept a journal

One of his patients got tired of guessing. She started writing down how she felt each day, good and bad, and kept it up for two or three months.

The patterns were clear once they were on paper. A poor night’s sleep meant a flare the next day. So did stress, including the kind that builds for days before a family function she was dreading. Knowing that, she could plan around it instead of being surprised by it.

If you want to try the same thing, a notebook is enough. Each day, jot down:

• Symptoms and how bad they were, on a 1 to 10 scale
• Hours of sleep and how well you slept
• What you ate, especially anything unusual
• Roughly how much water you drank
• Stress level and why
• The weather
• How much you moved

After a few weeks, read it back. Bring it to your appointment too. It tells a clinician more than “some days are bad.”

Watch the episode

Three takeaways

1. Symptom swings are common with neuropathy.
2. Sleep, stress, food, water and weather all play a part.
3. Tracking your own pattern can show you what to change.

Want help reading your pattern? Book a free consultation and bring your journal, or read about neuropathy treatment in North Liberty. Related: neuropathy and brain fog.

This article summarizes a podcast episode and is general information, not medical advice. People with heart or kidney conditions should ask their doctor before increasing fluids. See our medical disclaimer.