The numbness and weakness may gradually go away or it may remain severe for quite some time and then rapidly get better. And sometimes the numbness and weakness may only partially improve, meaning there is permanent nerve damage. There is no way to tell at the beginning of a pressure palsy whether there will be noticeable permanent damage or not. The amount of time the nerve is compressed seems to play a role in the severity of symptoms. HNPP can vary greatly in severity and cause very different symptoms even within the same family.
Symptoms can come and go.
HNPP is also a great imitator of common disorders acquired later in life such as carpal tunnel syndrome. It's no wonder that HNPP can be hard to diagnose and the majority of individuals do not even know they have it. Many of these are typical symptoms of anyone who has a generalized neuropathy. As people with HNPP meet on the Internet, they tend to compare other symptoms and problems which they are experiencing. These problems range from headaches to digestion to bladder problems, etc.