Hi Atty,
Thank you for your words of encouragement. Much appreciated after hearing that spine doctor say that my neuropathy will keep getting worse. Maybe he thought I was still drinking. He didn't seem to be listening well. The neurologist was more hopeful, at least as of mid October when I last saw him. He thought the symptoms would eventually start to improve, but it would take several months of proper diet, supplements, exercise, and zero alcohol.

Thanks for the advice for a wellness plan. I have been changing my diet and trying finding foods that I'll stick with that will hopefully help reduce these awful symptoms. Used to love coffee on cold mornings, but dropped it recently because it's probably flushing out valuable nutrients. Used to love eating pizza (& beer) on Friday nights, hot dogs & beans (& beer) on Saturday nights, but dropped all them all with the exception of a small piece of veggie pizza Friday nights. I try to add salads to lunch and dinner, using raw spinach leaves, carrots, broccoli, nuts. Bread, particularly white bread is mostly gone from my diet. Still eat small portions of lean meat, particularly chicken. Eating more tree nuts. Cutting back on cheese. Substituted almond milk for regular milk. Trying to eat more kale and collards. It's a process I suppose. As a vegan, what do you eat for protein?

For exercise, I've been doing about an hour of full body workouts daily (aerobics, strength training, balance, stretching), following a program called "Faithful Workouts" on youtube. I also do targeted exercises to target weakness in my hands and feet. I take the creatine you recommended, 5 grams mixed with orange juice and beet juice about an hour before exercising and drink whey protein after exercising.

Thanks the list of supplements. Some of these I was missing or not taking enough of, such as magnesium, alpha lipoic acid, co-q-10, omega 3. I have not tried Turmeric yet and will add it to the shopping list.

I am very thankful for the support network here.

Hey Bat,

It sounds to me that you're doing very well indeed. Sending you a socially distanced, virtual, pat on the back!

Some thoughts

First of all what do you have against coffee? For me the benefits ( especially for the liver and the brain) of coffee totally outweigh any harms. I drink 3 cups of black coffee pretty much every morning, but then I don't drink any for the rest of the day as it will affect my sleep. Just take your supplements at a different time of day if you are worried by nutrient depletion.
I then switch to Tetley decaff green tea for the rest of the day.

For an oldbat you appear to be ultra fit! An hour a day mixed exercise sounds a great achievement. However I am just wondering if your body wouldn't benefit from days off to allow repair and recovery. I happen to know that in both strength and endurance training, rest and recovery days are seen as important as training days.

Protein. As a new vegan I get this all the time. Protein requirements are grossly exaggerated in most people's minds. Protein is associated with meat and fish but there is more than enough protein in plants to sustain bodybuilders ( see numerous examples on YouTube )
A great source is beans. I note you used to love hot dogs and beans. Whilst highly processed meat products like hot dogs are pretty much the most unhealthy foods you can eat, beans are the opposite.
They are packed with nutrients and fibre (and Protein!) Fibre is a key to a healthy diet. Try a tin of Five Beans (in a hot and spicy tomato sauce), 45p! at Sainsbury or Taco Beans from Tesco!

Anyways I wish you well,

Nadolig Llawen

Atty

Old Bat, I see you mentioned SFN, SFN is what I have and it’s taking its toll on me! Have issues walking, restless and burning legs and tremors in arms and chest and this goes on 24/7.
So far I have just started gabapentine for a month now but not really working! Wish you the best!

Hey skbing,

Welcome to the forum. SFN can be a debilitating disease and difficult to cope with. In a couple of understated sentences you capture the daily horror of life with SFN. The early weeks and months are the worst. But you will get through this. Things will improve.

Would love to hear more of your story.