I bet it is alot of $$.

When benfotiamine came out in Germany about a decade ago, and the papers were so positive about it, one could not find it here in US for less than $60 a month, if you could find it at all! Its advantage over plain Thiamine (B1) is that it remains in the body longer, and because of that works more efficiently. Thiamine is excreted very fast, often within 2 hrs. (you can smell and see it in the urine). You do NOT get the same response with the benfotiamine form.

Now it is much less:

This is the one I use:
http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=42&at=0

Quite a change! At 300mg a day, this is a 2 month's supply for
$7.30 a month! At 150mg a day it is a 4 month's supply!

If one is conflicted about it, try plain old Thiamine 100mg 3 times a day for a month. (that would be about $4.00 from a store like Walgreen's or any other pharmacy)....If you see some improvement with it...switch to the Benfotiamine.

Thiamine in the "old days" was a treatment for PN. When Neurontin and Lyrica came out, it was shoved aside. Which is unfortunate because it actually heals you. Whereas the other very expensive drugs do NOT. They are just cover ups.

Thiamine is a cofactor in the dehydrogenase enzymes that metabolize alcohols. Not just ethanol, but all alcohols that are in food etc. (the alcohol portion of molecules is very common). Its designation is --OH.