Have a patient complaining of acute or sub-acute neuropathic pain? Have you ruled out the obvious causes such as diabetes, thyroid disease, or a vitamin deficiency?

Consider new medications as the cause. Common medications that cause neuropathy like symptoms include metronidazole, nitrofurantoin, and colchicine.

Sometimes the patient will go to an urgent care and be prescribed one of the above and then develop strange neuropathic symptoms, this is especially common in elderly individuals.

Often, if you stop the medication, the symptoms will go away. So, keep an eye out for the addition of new medications in your patients complaining of neuropathy!