Treatments for peripheral neuropathy

P

philip

New Member
This posting is for all of you who have been kind enough to reply to me. As I stated in previous posts, I'll tell you what I have tried which did not work. #1 compression socks; These turned out to be useless and I took them off after 10 minutes. They squeezed my calves way too much even though they were a large to extra large size. #2 I got some CBD/THC cream and rubbed it into the sensitive area on the bottom of my feet for 10 days with to no effect.

One person ( sorry I don't remember your name) suggested that lidocaine may help. I'll try this tonight.
Additional, I feel that I must warn you that treatments which you may find on the web are to be taken with a grain of salt. One such web site that I found on utube claimed that damaged nerves can be repaired. It was produced by a man and woman who turned out to be chiropractors.

They had written a book on the subject and were selling their own brand of miracle vitamins! I read some reviews about the book. Readers said that they had NO training in Neurology or anything else that would apply to the subject. Initially, I tried a Podiatrist, then a couple of chiropractors before giving up that route and going to my GP. After trying some mind bending prescription drugs on me, which did NO good, He sent me to a neurologist who performed a nerve conduction test and told me that I had Small fiber Peripheral Neuropathy.

A second identical test at a different hospital came up with the same conclusion! There is no clear cause nor treatment for this condition. I don't have Diabetes and my vitamin B12 levels are fine. These results came from my GP last fall. She also had no suggestions as to what could be done.

If I come upon anything which actually works, I will be sure to post the results.
Again, Thank you to those of you who have been trying to help. To those who continue to suffer as I have, don't give up!
Phil B. Strathroy Ontario.
 

Have you tried taking CBD internally? I have a friend who said it helps with her neuropathy. She uses a tincture that she gets from a medical marijuana dispensary.
 
Sadly treatments for peripheral neuropathy are peddled-for-profit, even have seen a TV advirt for some clinic. Some day medical research will gain enough knowledge of the nervous system to 'fix' this and other maladies. In the meantime it looks like the majority of us will only have snake-oil remedies at our disposal. Sorry if I sound pessimistic....

Edit: I just recalled- a poster on a medical oriented forum claims that grape seed oil is a wonderful cure-all. I suppose if one were desperate enough to spend years taking a remedy to see if it works, grape seed oil might be the thing.
 

When you keep doing the same things, you'll keep getting the same results. By observation & experience, the purpose of big pharma is above all to do harm, to ensure that people will keep going back to them so they can continue to keep them hooked on their bogus petro-chemical modalities. Another obvious tenet of theirs is to never cure anything. As long as you keep going back to them you're going to keep getting the same results and never come to a resolution of the issues.

Personally I much prefer the quotation by Cervantes, "I can tell where my own shoe pinches me."

Nerves do grow, heal and regenerate. There's a balance in the muscles between relaxation and tension. Over stimulation of the nerves causes pain. A long standing remedy for pain is MICE, which stands for movement, ice, compression, elevation. I have used this method for healing throughout a long history of participation in athletics. Most notably it helped me to heal three broken metatarsals in my foot in six weeks.

There's a book by Hans Kraus about Sports Injuries <-- that does into detail about the method, but basically it's to soak the area in ice water to drive the cold deep in the tissues for healing. Personally I found that consistent shorter periods of soaking worked out better for me. The point is not to freeze the area, but simply to drive the cold deep for healing, reduction of inflammation and pain, which can be accomplished in several minutes.

Then this can be repeated several times through the day, i.e. whenever the pain and/or aching returns. Between bouts of soaking, I would keep my foot dry, and wrap it in a compression wrap during the earlier stages of healing. Once the swelling and pain were reduced them I stopped using the wrap. I didn't ever really use the elevation method, other than laying down when the opportunity presented itself. Movement is very important. I started walk/jogging 4 1/2 weeks after the injury, running at 6 weeks, and back to full training (100 mile weeks) in 10 weeks.

Fresh ginger root is excellent at reducing inflammation and pain, which can be blended in water then used either topically, or systemically by drinking it. I've had fresh ginger root drinks many times.

Valerian root is exceptional at reducing pain systemically. The first time I used it was due to a severe tooth pain that was especially harsh when laying down and kept me from sleeping. I got up in the middle of the night and out of desperation blended a pinch of the valerian root in with water, strained it, drank a couple of glasses, and went back to bed. Fifteen minutes later it seemed to not be working at all as the pain was still there. But by 45 minutes the pain had gone away and I was drifting off to sleep. The next day I drank valerian juice all day long and that tooth pain never returned.
 
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According to some, sheath which surrounds the spinal chord can be regrown. One thing that does this is a certain property found in mushrooms so you might want to research a bit into this. I’ll get jumped on if I suggest it works so I won’t.
 
My peripheral neuropathy is part of my MS. I use an Rx of clonazepam at times to calm my legs and feet so I can sleep. Its a dissolving pill that melts in your mouth and works promptly. It was prescribed for choking spasms I have in my throat from time to time. That's why I get the dissolving tablet. MS destroys the myelin sheath that protects the nerve. Research at the Mayo Clinic and others has used stem cells (including mine) and successfully regrown myelin. Getting that research out of the lab and to patients seems to take forever. Maybe ask your doc about the clonazepam.
 
This is what my brother and I both use. Have for years and it works.

"From Vitacost:

https://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-alpha-lipoic-acid-acetyl-l-carnitine-hcl-240-capsules

Taking with food might be beneficial, but I take them anytime

Take two per day for a week, if no problems,

Take four per day for a week, if no problems,

Take six per day

For me at six per day after 30 days 80% of neuropath was gone. By 90 days virtually all was gone.

If/once the neuropathy stabilized you can try taking fewer. I now only take two per day.

https://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-vitamin-d3-as-cholecalciferol-2000-iu-300-capsules-3

Take two per day (4,000 IU). After a month or two try three per day. I wouldn’t use less than two per day."
 
shedevil7953 said:
This is what my brother and I both use. Have for years and it works.

"From Vitacost:

https://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-alpha-lipoic-acid-acetyl-l-carnitine-hcl-240-capsules

Taking with food might be beneficial, but I take them anytime

Take two per day for a week, if no problems,

Take four per day for a week, if no problems,

Take six per day

For me at six per day after 30 days 80% of neuropath was gone. By 90 days virtually all was gone.

If/once the neuropathy stabilized you can try taking fewer. I now only take two per day.

https://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-vitamin-d3-as-cholecalciferol-2000-iu-300-capsules-3

Take two per day (4,000 IU). After a month or two try three per day. I wouldn’t use less than two per day."
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I'm a type 2 diabetic and brother has Waldenstrom's.
 
John cycling said:
When you keep doing the same things, you'll keep getting the same results. By observation & experience, the purpose of big pharma is above all to do harm, to ensure that people will keep going back to them so they can continue to keep them hooked on their bogus petro-chemical modalities. Another obvious tenet of theirs is to never cure anything. As long as you keep going back to them you're going to keep getting the same results and never come to a resolution of the issues.

Personally I much prefer the quotation by Cervantes, "I can tell where my own shoe pinches me."

Nerves do grow, heal and regenerate. There's a balance in the muscles between relaxation and tension. Over stimulation of the nerves causes pain. A long standing remedy for pain is MICE, which stands for movement, ice, compression, elevation. I have used this method for healing throughout a long history of participation in athletics. Most notably it helped me to heal three broken metatarsals in my foot in six weeks.

There's a book by Hans Kraus about Sports Injuries <-- that does into detail about the method, but basically it's to soak the area in ice water to drive the cold deep in the tissues for healing. Personally I found that consistent shorter periods of soaking worked out better for me. The point is not to freeze the area, but simply to drive the cold deep for healing, reduction of inflammation and pain, which can be accomplished in several minutes.

Then this can be repeated several times through the day, i.e. whenever the pain and/or aching returns. Between bouts of soaking, I would keep my foot dry, and wrap it in a compression wrap during the earlier stages of healing. Once the swelling and pain were reduced them I stopped using the wrap. I didn't ever really use the elevation method, other than laying down when the opportunity presented itself. Movement is very important. I started walk/jogging 4 1/2 weeks after the injury, running at 6 weeks, and back to full training (100 mile weeks) in 10 weeks.

Fresh ginger root is excellent at reducing inflammation and pain, which can be blended in water then used either topically, or systemically by drinking it. I've had fresh ginger root drinks many times.

Valerian root is exceptional at reducing pain systemically. The first time I used it was due to a severe tooth pain that was especially harsh when laying down and kept me from sleeping. I got up in the middle of the night and out of desperation blended a pinch of the valerian root in with water, strained it, drank a couple of glasses, and went back to bed. Fifteen minutes later it seemed to not be working at all as the pain was still there. But by 45 minutes the pain had gone away and I was drifting off to sleep. The next day I drank valerian juice all day long and that tooth pain never returned.
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I have tried running cold water on my feet during neuropathy flareups. I never read about it; I just tried it, thinking it would "fool" the nerves, & it actually did work. Also firmly squeezing my feet for a few minutes helped.
 
I would think sensory stimulation on the bottom of foot would be easy and first to try soft thing like towels/cotton to something like those rough green door mats and all in the middle. I had it once mild and ordered neuropathy socks on amazon. The worked very well and dont cost much. Have a gel pad in the bottom.
 
Nathan said:
Edit: I just recalled- a poster on a medical oriented forum claims that grape seed oil is a wonderful cure-all. I suppose if one were desperate enough to spend years taking a remedy to see if it works, grape seed oil might be the thing.
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I have used grape seed oil for years for cooking and have almost a full bottle of the stuff.
I don't cook much now and certainly don't fry and do suffer from much nerve damage after chemo.

D'ya think I should start taking a spoonful now and again to get the nervous system in gear....???:unsure::unsure::ROFLMAO:

I remember as a child my mother giving me and my sisters a tablespoon of olive oil every Friday night followed by a teaspoon of malt to take away the taste....oh and every second Friday a teaspoon of Syrup of Figs .... that wasn't so bad. This was during and after the war years so I suppose they were supplementing us for some of the food shortages
 
Nathan said:
I'm sorry, in double-checking I meant grape seed extract, not sure how similar it would be.
Click to expand...

Yes , did some googling....extract is the dried seed but apparently the oil is more beneficial and is available in capsule form.
I don't think I could handle just taking a teaspoon unless of course I followed it with a nice glass of wine or whatever.:unsure::unsure::unsure:
 
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win231 said:
I have tried running cold water on my feet during neuropathy flareups. I never read about it; I just tried it, thinking it would "fool" the nerves, & it actually did work. Also firmly squeezing my feet for a few minutes helped.
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Maybe it promotes blood circulation which would help
 
Marian said:
Have you tried taking CBD internally? I have a friend who said it helps with her neuropathy. She uses a tincture that she gets from a medical marijuana dispensary.
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Mario; Thank you for your post. My answer to you is YES, although I take CBD/THC oil for sleeping. I have been using this 10:10 oil for about 5 yrs. I have not seen any improvement in my neuropathic foot pain.
 
Pepper said:
CBD is a crock. IMO.
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Thank you for your post. CBD by itself has not helped, however not everyone responds to medications the same way. Do you remember some years ago when a couple were desperate to find a treatment for their child's Epilepsy. The child's name was Lorenzo and they tried CBD orally and the seizures were greatly reduced. Phil
 
philip said:
Mario; Thank you for your post. My answer to you is YES, although I take CBD/THC oil for sleeping. I have been using this 10:10 oil for about 5 yrs. I have not seen any improvement in my neuropathic foot pain.
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Glad it helps you sleep. Sorry it doesn’t help with the neuropathy
 
win231 said:
I have tried running cold water on my feet during neuropathy flareups. I never read about it; I just tried it, thinking it would "fool" the nerves, & it actually did work. Also firmly squeezing my feet for a few minutes helped.
Click to expand...
John; Thank you for your rather extensive reply! I couldn't agree more about big Pharma!! My small fiber peripheral neuropathy started literally overnight in 2007. After trying a Podiatrist, 2 Chiropractors and several other BS treatments, I went to my GP and he prescribed Gabapentin for me. After taking ONLY 2 tablets, I felt very " spaced out" as if not fully connected to reality. In addition ,I started having suicidal ideations. He sent me to a shrink and I managed to get a copy of the report. He basicall thanked my GP for sending him this "interesting case" and suggested that I be prescribed some RRSI's! I other words, he didn't believe me. The last time I saw this GP he said " I was only trying to help". My last words to him were " the road to hell is paved with good intensions" I could have joined a class action lawsuit against Pfizer in Canada. I contacted a big law firm here called Sisskinds. They sent me a questionaire to complete and the symptoms of which I complained were on the list. I was not however allowed to join the lawsuit because the prescription was for Gabapentin NOT Neurontin. In the end Pfizer had to pay out a paltry 75 MIL Canadian versus the 945 billion American for lying about a drug being prescibed for pain relief.
On 24 Nov. 2017, I was taken by ambulance to the local hospital ( I have no memory of the EMS people lifting me on to a gurney and putting me in the ambulance as I had passed out from the pain). After coming to, I found myself waiting in the ER for about 30 mins. for a doctor to take over charge. While waiting for a doctor to see me I was in the worst pain of my life. He finally showed up and said " I understand that you are in agony". What an understatement. He offered me Gabapentin!! I told him that I would not take that poison even if he threatened to blow my brains out. Long story short, I had bladder cancer. After removal of a stage 1 tumour I had several treatments of BCG liquid injected into my bladder by the same Urologist. After 6 treatment ,once a week, the Urologist did a second Cystoscopy To check the condition inside my bladder. He was shocked as was I when we looked at the monitor. My bladder looked like raw hamburger meat!! The BCD treatment had turned a stage 1 cancer into a stage 4 cancer in 10 weeks. BCB was originally designed to treat Tuberculosis. Another off label use of a drug. He olso seemed to be afraid of the operation to remove my bladder so I went to my GP who sent me to the London Health Sciences Centre to see a Dr. Chin. He told me that, sadly, he would have to remove my bladder as the cancer had invade the muscles of the bladder. 27 July 2018 he removed the rotten organ and so far, 28 Mar 2023, I'm OK. I get checked every 6 mths.
Let that be a warning to everyone, before having a prescription filled, check for side effects using a reliable web site such as the Mayo Clinic
Phil.
 
I've been on Gapapentin for years and have gone down from four a day to only one a day. It does a little good, but not a whole lot. It didn't seem to be any difference between four a day and one a day.

Once I went to a session at a "pain clinic" that advertised a "break-through" treatment for peripheral neuropathy. The advertisement said "covered by Medicare", so I thought I'd give the intro session a try. Of course, the intro session consisted only of them poking my feet and saying, yes, you have peripheral neuropathy. Like I hadn't learned that already from the podiatrist and the neurologist testing.

Then the hard sell came. Yes, the office visits were covered by Medicare (with a weak little "probably" added), but I'd have to purchase $4600 worth of "equipment" to use at home. No guarantees, of course.

What a waste of time.
 


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