I tried capsaicin cream. First application went fine. Second application awoke me 4 hours later in the middle of the night with extreme burning. Caused irritation and redness that lasted several days. If you choose to try it I would start by applying it to a very small area the first week or two.

I would suggest that the severe redness etc, may be a hint that you may be intolerant to Nightshade vegetables.

I found this out myself, that I get lots of burning from potatoes.

Solanine in these veggies (esp potatoes) is an alkaloid suspected of causing much grief. Tomatoes which are also in this family, stimulate histamine release as well, which can show up in the skin.
If you search here : nightshades you will find some interesting links.
Here is my thread so far on histamine reactions and the skin:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread161714.html

The nightshades can be problematic for some people. The tomatoes and hot peppers, also have that histamine issue, which the potatoes do not.

So, Clay, you may want to google
1)nightshade vegetable reactions
2) histamine releasing foods
3)histamine containing foods
and see if that may help you.