Bobber -

Ouch! It isn't cheap, but this sounds like a perfect application for a compounded [made up a specialized pharmacy] analgesic gel. Mine is 10% Ketamine, 5% Gabapentine and 5% Lidocaine in an "OGEL" base. 500 ml's of the stuff costs just over $800 and I go through it in about 8 weeks or so, if I apply it to both feet just at bedtime (when for some reason the burning kicks in - as opposed to "deep bone crushing pain," etc.) and on those few occasions I have to actually wear shoes and socks. Other compunding pharmacies in LA have quoted higher prices, with one in Beverly Hills (of course) wanting three times as much!

After a pointed exchange of letters, Medco agreed to cover it, so long as I pay for it up-front and they in turn reimburse me, less the co-pay.

Basically, the stuff's tricky to put together without crystals forming that makes it uncomfotable to apply and less effective. And I'm advised that the equivolent of 50 ml's of ketamine isn't cheap. The guy who owns the compounding pharmacy tells me that he's basically billing me for his cost of materials along with 4 hours of his pharmacist's time @ $100/hour, with which I can't argue. The pharmacist who actually prepares it has been making it for me since 2003; I wound up at her current shop when the evil landlord declined to extend the lease on her dad's pharmacy, just as the clock hit June, 2008 and the building's been empty since. (Served the landlord right.)

Not sure if you can get it online, but just bear in mind how tempermental the stuff is to make if you see any offers that look too good to be true.

Others may have had better experiences in terms of cost, I don't know.

Mike