Thanks for all the answers....very interesting.

Mrs. D....I am going to ask the Neuro about the Topamax and side effects. As far as the twitches..they are all the time, not just at night. And I have taken Prozac for almost 8 years. The twitching started last year when my neuropathy started, so I don't think it is Prozac related. If it was, I'll take the twitches over suicidal depression! Interesting article though.

I'll try the carb thing and see if it makes a difference. The twitching actually bothers me most during the day because I think the Baclofen takes care of if at night.

I am concerned about the Vitamin D deficiency....I wonder if that has any effect on my overall health and the neuropathy symptoms. I live in Los Angeles, so I am really going to make an effort to get out in the midday sun 3 times a week for 20 minutes. When I saw my level was 22 and the cutoff was 20 that is considered "insufficient" I wasn't concerned until my Doc said that it should be around 60! Yikes! Maybe there is an answer in there somewhere....

Anyway, thanks for all your opinions and ideas...I truly appreciate it...

Ann

I thought he died, but wikipedia says he was 91 in 2005. He shares his supplement secrets:

http://www.shareguide.com/LaLanne.html

That's all I can say about this man. I have never heard of him before today, but I was glued to the interview. What a great attitude he has. I found it very inspirational,and I think a bit of inspiration keeps everything in perspective.

I just love it when he says "is key".

Thanks LizaJane

Geez How fit is this guy, at 90 something and he is as fit as a mully bull, i never heard of him either until i read the interview, what an amazing man.
My very first employer of whom i stayed friends with, is now 95, he only looks around low 70's, and still sharp as a razor, he eats a LOT of fish, not much red meat at all, so there might be something in this eating lots of fish is good for you, after all ???

Brian

My husband worships Jack Lalanne. The more you find out about him, the more respect you will have for him. Quite a history and wow does he have discipline. Yes, I agree he is inspirational.

I wanted to comment about a post somewhere in this thread mentioning:
Benfotiamine 150 mg (1)

I have taken this for a while because I read it was good for neuropathy. I already take so many vitamins that I didn't really notice any special improvement. My dosage was (1) 80 mg tablet at breakfast time when I take most of my other vitamins except the ones requiring empty stomach (and I also take a handful before I go to bed.)

Anyway, my point is that I received an email from my sister telling me about benfotiamine and I told her I already took it and couldn't say it was great or not but heard that the Europeans think very highly of it. Her email caused me to do some more research and I found where there was study where people were given 4 separate tablets per day spaced out at 4 hour intervals (or so) at 100 mg per tablet. Here's a general "blurb" about it but there is a whole lot on the web. http://www.naturalhealthweb.com/articles/malott1.html

This made me think that maybe I haven't been taking it right (or giving it enough credit). This morning, I took only the befotiamine to see if I could really tell any effect and boy howdy, I couldn't believe that the relief was quick, probably within 15 minutes.

Since I'm still having quite a bit of pain, especially after walking exertion, I plan to take additional doses of benfotiamine during the day, especially after I'm on my feet for a while. (expensive I know). I'm thinking that I have been missing out on a very very nice pain med that has very low toxicity and is very effective.

Though ALA and other supps have claims for pain relief, it seems that there are claims and studies that show benfotiamine actually HEALS neuropathy and is good for aging folks even if they don't have diabetes because it can PREVENT neuropathy. Is that powerful or what?

It is an oil based form of B1 that is more absorbable.

So bottom line - you might want to add another dose of benfotiamine for later in the day in addition to the one you are taking in the a.m. I'm going to give it a try on a regular basis and see how it goes.

I have managed to stay away from neurontin so I'm not sure how that plays with this. Just my two cents. (I just bought some benfotiamine in powder form which is cheaper from www.beyond-a-century.com FWIW, I have no affiliation with Beyond A Century except as a long time customer when I see those areas they are cheaper than iherb.com. Their delivery is slower than iherb...)

I'm editing this to add another link at the life extension web site which I think has more detailed info on how this supplement "works" at:
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2007/...tiamine_01.htm

Mrs. D, Rose,:

Do you use benfotiamine. I clicked on the link and it looks very interesting.

I just checked my b-complex and it's not included in the bottle so I'll get some if any of you think it's a winner.

Thanks much.
Melody

needed to bump up to benfotiamine. When it first came out, it was VERY expensive and hard to find. I have however received emails from people who liked it. I understand the price is a bit more affordable now.

Regular thiamine works for me, and is very inexpensive.
We all have priorities...my SAMe is very expensive so I have to choose which ones to invest in.