In the Blaylock Newsletter that came today, he mentions a new natural treatment for Peripheral Neuropathy. He says that "new research suggests that PN is caused by inflammation of the nerves with overactivation of glutamate receptors, leading to destruction of nerve fibers and overactivation of pain-regulating neurons in the spinal cord." One study found that "minocycline, an antibiotic that blocks microglia activation helped post-herpetic neuralgia."

Based on that, he tried a natural substance isolated from green tea, L-theanine, an amino acid, on a patient. By the second day, he showed 90 percent improvement. L-theanine is a mild stimulant for glutamate receptors and keeps glutamate from full activation. The advantage over minocycline is that it does not kill the good bacteria in the gut. It also has a good safety profile, even in very high doses .

He recommends "200 mg 3 times a day, taken 30 minutes before meals. This can be increased to 400 mg 3 times a day if needed. L-theanine stimulates restful, uninterrupted sleep, reduces anxiety/depression and improves memory."

He also recommends adding other anti-inflammatory flavonoid supplements such as curcumin, quercetin, resveratrol, luteolin, hesperidin and ellagic acid.

I checked I-Herb and they carry many brands of L-theanine. Most of the reviews were positive about its calming effects, but I didn't see anyone commenting on its use for PN--however, I think I'll try it, as the burning has been pretty bad this summer.

He went on to comment on statins being a known cause and the incidence of PN among uses of statins was 14 times higher at the lower doses, and now that doctors are recommending higher doses, he thinks we can expect higher incidences of PN.