PN pain is in the brain, not in the feet, hands, or wherever the nerve malfunctioning is. I would guess that the peripheral nerve firing is too intense and chaotic for the brain to interpret the impulses as anything but pain, in all its variations.

Relief has to be multi-dimentional; calming the brain, and calming and restoring order and pattern to the misfiring peripheral areas, and restoring health to the rest of the body so the nerves can heal and stay healed.

PN gets to what it is to be a human animal in all its complexity; physiology, psychology, emotion, hormones, inflammation, nutrition, social relations, hope vrs. cynicism, etc., etc. Thats why I push a holistic approach, and post a shotgun scattering of research and articles that cover a wide range of topics (much fewer than in the past, and I apologize for that, but 15 years is a long time to be dwelling on this), hoping that each thing I post will help provide a key to coping and relief for at least one other person in this forum.

One thing to realize in such a complex system as you and I is the "spread effect". That's where each good thing we do or experience effects other aspects of us, making everything a little better. Of course, the same thing happens with bad, which is what got us into this mess in the first place. So, hang in there, keep trying healing and happy things that make sense to you, have courage, and you can and will cope, be happy again, and even heal if you don't give up. An example is alluded to by Sister Corita in the quote, "Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries."

As a side note, pleasure is one of the good things that can overcome the help us heal and reduce pain. Some pleasures are bad for you and to are to be avoided, but others are magical in their healing and pain relieving effect; the love of others, good food, a successful exercise session, a good read, physical love, a good laugh, art and music, a nice massage, etc.