Welcome to the new Bens Friends Polyneuropathy Site. Polyneuropathy is damage or disease affecting peripheral nerves) in roughly the same areas on both sides of the body, featuring weakness, numbness, pins and needles, and burning pain. It usually begins in the hands and feet and may progress to the arms and legs; and sometimes to other parts of the body where it may affect the autonomic nervous system.
It may be acute (appearing suddenly, progressing rapidly and resolving slowly) or chronic (emerging and developing gradually). A number of different disorders may cause polyneuropathy, including Guillian-barre Syndrome, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth which are predominantly motor peripheral neuropathies Although poly-neuropathy is common, it most often is the result of “something else” Guillian-barre Syndrome, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth are known disease are either hereditary or autoimmune in nature and are “rare” This site is for peer to peer support for patients, family members, and caregivers of those diseases. Although the diseases are different (and we have dedicated sections for each) day to day living with them, symptoms and treatment are very similar and your experiences can help others even if their disease diagnoses is “different”.

Share to us the treatments that had helped you resolve your symptoms.

Join the Living with Polyneuropathy discussion forum. Open discussion about issues, stories, treatments common to all with Guillian-barre Syndrome (GBS), Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), and Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT).

Having a rough day? We're here to listen. Even though we have the diseases separated to deal with disease specific issues. PLEASE don't hesitate to offer a hand up to anyone needing it

Our mission at Ben’s Friends is to ensure that patients living with rare diseases or chronic illnesses, as well as their caregivers, family, and friends, have a safe and supportive place to connect with others like them.

Anyone whose life has been touched by a rare disease is welcome in a Ben’s Friends community. Most of our members are patients, but we have spouses and parents, besties and caregivers here as well.