Michele,

Most of our experiences with neuros on this forum are similar to yours, or worse (my first was much worse). I think the neurologist gave you good advice. Good PCPs see the big picture and can help you get and stay healthy. The healthier you are, the better your nerves and brain will function. Your brain is the ultimate seat of the pain you are experiencing. The more you can calm and soothe your central nervous system, the more pain relief you'll experience day in and day out as things heal and return to the way nature intends them to be. If you have type II diabetes, you can do a lot to lesson or eliminate it with changes in diet, with the right supplements, and with exercise. Again, a good PCP who cares is best to manage your diabetes, with specialist referrals as needed.

I know that your PN hurts a lot, but pain notwithstanding, exercise will do a lot to reduce the background level of pain, calm your brain, and reduce your diabetes. Regarding exercise, the first neurologist I saw, an idiot whose arrogance was only exceeded by his incompetence , told me to stay off of my feet. The pain just got worse and worse, to the point where I had an application for a handicapped parking permit ready to fill out.

Then, another neuro told me to exercise daily as much as I could without causing overuse injury. He said that exercise, while painful while you do it, can't damage my nerves and could only help. So I started walking, hobbling really, or bicycling every day, and started yoga. After a few months, it didn't seem to help the PN because the pain was still really bad, especially when walking. But then I realized that the PN pain wasn't keeping me up at night. Some nights I actually slept without waking up once. Also, I slowly regained my balance and stopped tripping all the time. More objectively, my ankle reflex went from 0 on my left foot and 50% on my right, to 50% (now 100%) on my left foot and 100 % on my right, as measured by a neurologist.

One caveat is that if you start exercising, be gentle on yourself. Start slowly and build slowly. I got a great pedometer from Amazon that is inexpensive, accurate and trouble free ( http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HJ-112-D...6568647&sr=8-1 ). If you get it, be sure to NOT clip it on your belt. It works fine in a pocket or purse where it won't snap off and get lost. Slowly, over a period of a year or so, build up to at least 10,000 steps a day from awakening to going to sleep. That's the recommended minimum steps a day according to my cardiologist. Obviously if you have arthritis or other health issue that too much walking can make worse, you should do many fewer steps or pick another exercise. Walking is what we are best at of all animals, and is what our body excels at. It gets the heart going, brings fresh blood to all our nerves and muscles, and tones the muscles, nerves, and bones. Walking's rhythmical nature sets up a pain relieving healthy pattern in our nerves, spine, and brain that overrides the erroneous and painful PN pattern and eventually retrains our nervous system to the way its supposed to be.

My PN has continued to improve over the years, with some regressions. I'm not totally OK, but my usual pain level has reduced from a usual 7-9 on the 0-10 scale, to 1-3 now (about 1 as I type this, after a 3 mile brisk walk with my dog). What I did and what I'm doing now is posted at http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread177-2.html , #'s 18-20 down the page.

As the quote says, "Miracles sometimes occur, but one has to work terribly hard for them." I agree with the other posts here. Learn what you need to learn, take responsibility for your own healing, and then act on what you learn. With this approach, doctors are important resources for you, as is this forum, books, the web, your family, and your spiritual life. None is the one big thing that will make you better. That approach makes your jerk of a neurologist much easier to take.

Salud amiga.