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• Dysesthesia (distorted sense of touch so that an innocuous stimulus causes pain or unpleasantness) in the toes or feet
• Symmetrical symptoms
• Symptoms spread up the legs and patients may have trouble walking on their heels resulting in an unsteady gait
• Symptoms may spread to fingertips and up the arms
• Numbness
• Burning
• Paresthesia (abnormal sensations on the skin with no stimuli)
• Muscle weakness in lower legs and feet

Acute polyneuropathy - symptoms are typically symmetrical with rapid progression that may result in paralysis.

Chronic demyelinating polyneuropathy - symptoms vary with the specific condition which includes:

• Charcot-Marie-Tooth symptoms are highly variable and include: ankle weakness, structural deformities of the foot (high arch and hammertoes), muscle wasting resulting in difficulties with walking, running, and balance; and drop foot where patient raises their knees very high to step to avoid tripping.
• Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy - numbness, tingling, pain, progressive muscle weakness, loss of deep tendon reflexes (areflexia), fatigue, and abnormal sensations. This condition usually presents with predominantly motor involvement and typically follows a course of gradual progression.
• Multifocal motor neuropathy - early symptoms include weakness and muscle atrophy in the forearms and hands.

Neuropathic pain tends to be worse at night which results in disrupted sleeping and subsequent fatigue. Depression is not uncommon in patients with peripheral neuropathy due to the significant impact of symptoms on activities of daily living and general quality of life.