Symptoms usually begin slowly in the feet and then progress upward to the legs and sometimes the arms. People often feel painful tingling and numbness and may have difficulty walking and balancing. Alcoholic neuropathy results from a vitamin deficiency associated with chronic alcohol abuse. These vitamins include folate, thiamine and other B vitamins. Alcohol itself may also have a toxic effect on the nerves.
Treatment involves taking vitamin supplements.
There is often a slowly progressive cramping, painful and numb feeling in the legs, starting in the feet. Treatment usually involves renal dialysis, which by treating the underlying kidney problem can sometimes alleviate the nerve damage. If a cancerous tumor spreads and invades the nerves, it can cause neuropathy. Paraneoplastic neuropathies are associated with many types of cancer, including lung, stomach, breast and prostate cancers. Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that originates in the bone marrow and produces an abnormal protein that causes neuropathy.