diabetes Radiculopathy Progressed Into Neuropathy?

[rpowell01]

I've been researching this but can't find anything. I've been seeing a Pain Management and Neurosurgeon facility since Sept-October 2014. They decided to give me an EMG yesterday because of the pain and numbness/tingling I have. The pain started down my buttocks into the bottom of my feet and toes back in 2012. Currently I have loss of sensation that has wrapped around to the top of my feet and up into my shins. After the EMG the MD said he had to put everything together for his report and will call me back in for the FULL results. He did say his initial results are that if I only had L5-S1 Bilateral Radiculopathy in 2013 then its getting worse and has progressed into Neuropathy.

I've read in the past on the differences of these two things. Radiculopathy means one nerve is being pinched and Neuropathy means that more than one nerve is DAMAGED.

So my question is how can Radiculopathy progress into Neuropathy? BTW I am not diabetic and never have been. See the Regional Office approved me IU but denied my legs and I and I am thinking they were "hoping" I would get diabetes so they could say "We can't distinguish between the two"....Yes I read this exact phrase on my wife's Uncle Report from a claim.

See I started seeing this Neurologist/Neurosurgeon place because the VA has done NOTHING to properly treat my spine condition. The only thing they did was in 2013 was to send me out for ESI in Clearwater, FL. That was the WRONG treatment because I have DJD and little DDD even though I herniated a disc back in 2012. Now whenever I asked my VA PCP through secure message on declaring me P&T he said no he can't do that. Don' t worry Dr. Bash has already done this and Voc Rehab has declared me unemployable. Anyway my VA PCP had the nerve to tell me that one of James A. Haley PM specialists stated that I had "too many cooks" for my treatment. What such BS (Jesus please forgive me for saying that).

First I was having Thyroid issues that my VA PCP refused to treat me even after 2-3 blood results showed high Thyroid levels since 2013 so now I see my private PCP. Second the VA pain management wasn't doing anything, nothing to help me, nothing. I couldn't even see a surgeon after I requested it to PM. So whenever I finally was able to qualify for medicare I decided to go see a private PM facility. But the VA PM had the nerve to say "too many cooks"?

Guess what I am going to file a complaint with the IGs office because the Neurologist in Pain Management who improperly treated me wrote up a report stating he did a full exam on me. Guess what he never did that exam, I secured messaged PM at James A. Haley about this and secured messages shows he he called me back after I caught him in a lie after reading over the report. He calls me back in to finally do a proper exam. He lied and this is unethical. How many other veterans have been treated this way from James A. Haley?

See, I've complained and complained and complained about my low back and lower extremity issues and James A. Haley with no results. Luckily I secure message everything.

[ArNG11]

Light bulb made me smirk. We're talking milli amps and milli volts, but if you could I'd be the first in line to take the pic. The pain is very brief. No worries.

[Andyman73]

Maybe if I use one of those new LED christmas stringer light bulbs? Anyway, just so long as it shows that there definetely something going on, to back up my claims of the radiculapathy, burning, numbness and such...and slight drop foot.

[TALON II FE]

Some of it will also depend on the Doctor's individual experience with administering EMGs and equipment. I have had 20+ of them and some were worse than others. For me, palm of the hand was excruciating but everything else is bearable. There are also many different sizes of needles available to them, with the newer ones being thinner and much easier to deal with. The older, "big needles" really suck but they do have smaller ones and "kid sized" ones that do not compromise the test and are much more bearable but take more precision from the doc. Hopefully, you get a doc that uses those ones, they are much less painful. Concentrate on just keeping the muscles in the area they are testing as relaxed as you possibly can and the testing will go quicker and be less painful. This is not always possible, but it helps when you can.

[TALON II FE]

The foot drop is usually associated with the deep peroneal nerve I believe. Mine is atrophied and dead on my left foot. They tried to say it was from wearing my boots laced too tight, but why would that only show up right at 20 years of service? I suspect it died as part of chemical exposure killing my nerves, but that is only a personal theory. A quick test of this is the inside of your two biggest toes, right where the thong part of a pair of flip flops goes between them. Mine is numb in that area.

[Andyman73]

I only recently been experiencing the foot drop issue, maybe a few years or so. It usually comes in the later part of the day, if I've been on my feet all day, like at work. I get a numb spot on the top of my L foot, about 4" in diameter, then my foot doesn't want to come up as high or in time, when I'm walking. It feels like it's being lazy, and makes me trip over my toes.

The podiatrist scheduled me for the emg when I told him this, last week. So, I am hoping to use this to bolster my sciatica claim and DDD.

[TALON II FE]

Well, with mine I don't notice much foot drop, or didn't think I did, but I can relate exactly to your "lazy foot". Mine is intact up higher, but completely gone below the ankle. Maybe that affects the symptoms, too.