Welcome Monica, to our place of wisdom, sharing, and caring for one another.

I have been on Lyrica since Spring of 2006, starting slowly at 50mg three times a day and now up to150mg in the morning and evening, and it has done wonders for me. I occasionally have a slight balance problem, but do not experience any tiredness and no brain fog (had that with Neurontin). I also take Tramadol (Ultram) for pain as the Lyrica does not 100% take care of the burning sensations and many vitamins that I have tailored with the help of many here. I also have a home Anodyne therapy unit that I use 4-5 times a week. All of these in combination have made my quality of life 75% better than it was a year ago. I have three granddaughters aged 8, 6, and 4, so I need to be able to enjoy them.

I have seen a huge difference since starting B1, 300-400mg a day on the advice of MrsD. Magnesium helps a lot as does Vitamin B12, the methylcobalamin kind, at 2000mcg a day on an empty stomach. Every one of us has different combinations of prescription medicine, plus vitamins and minerals that work best for them.

More people will be along that are more clinical with information than I am, but wanted to share with you my take on Lyrica.

Bienvenidos! ¿Cómo está usted hoy?
Mi nombre es Melodía. ¿Usted tiene diabetes?
Tengo diabetes y ésa es porqué tengo neuropatía. Usted hará a nuevos amigos aquí.
Le deseo el pozo y le espero hallazgo algo quitar su dolor.

Now back to english. There are many knowledgable people on these boards.
You will find many answers to your problems.

Adiós para ahora, y buena suerte.

Melodia

Gee, Melody - what a smart girl you are! I am so impressed. Where did you pick up Spanish?

Shirley H.

Hi Silver:

I'm something of a polyglot. I can converse in a whole bunch of different languages. Doesn't make me smart. It just means I have a good ear for learning languages. Can't count for beans, but put me in another country and in two days I'll be asking where's the salami? in their native tongue.

Around my neck of the woods, we are all italian, so if I want to talk to the person next door, the person who lives downstairs or my landlord, who lives on the other side of me, I better know sicilian or no one would have a conversation. Now the peope upstairs, are from Lebanon so they speak arabic and french. Since I learned french over 30 years ago, once they moved in upstairs, I naturally fell back into remembering it. It's good to know stuff, makes the brain work.

I once worked for a german office in NYC. They hired me because I could speak french. They spoke german, french, spanish and english. I will never forget the time Herr Schlubach (that was my boss), called me up from some country he was in and told me "Melody, you are getting a telex (this was WAY before fax machines came along). He said "I want you to read it to me "I said "Herr Schlubach, I don't speak german". He said "don't worry, you can pronounce anything so just read me the telex". So there I was, saying words like Gefstumple, bein ein, nicht, blah, blah. for a good 5 minutes. He started laughing and said "I understood everything you said, we must send you to school to learn german. I said "Listen, don't make my brain go nuts, it's enough that I can do stuff in french and maybe some spanish.

And oh, this might impress you. I used to work with Miriam Makeba's daughter, this was over 35 years ago. Her name was Bongi. She and I spoke French. I think I was in my early twenties. We never knew who she was until she left the company and then we learned that she was Miriam Makeba's (she's a very famous South African singer) daughter. What a lovely young girl she was. She died in 1985. We only knew she was from South Africa and she would curtsy everytime she was introduced to someone. She must have been 18 or 19. So once we were reading a magazine in the office and when we opened it, there was Bongi on the stage with Miriam Makeba and the description read: "Miriam Makeba with her daughter Bongi". Well, we all went nuts in the office.

See, I even knew some famous people. And if any of you ever watched the tv show TAXI, remember the bartender, when all of the cab drivers used to go into the restaurant after work), they used to call him Tommy!!!,well the bartender was played by TJ Castronova, (my mother's first cousin).

Too bad the acting bug wasn't passed on to me. I could have been a bilingual actress.

lol

Melody

Hi Melody:

I think you are smart, in addition to having "an ear" for languages. I always admire people who speak and understand more than one language. I was good at singing in German but did it phonetically. One man told me after a recital in which I had sung German art songs, that I spoke German well. Since my mother was German in background, maybe that was a kind of ear thing. I was pleased that he thought I sang the German well.

You already are an actress, Melody - in your dealings with others in your dailylife. And look how we love to read your postings! You write as well as you acquit yourself in your daily life with others.

Shirley H.

Shirl:

You made my day. Now if only I can calm Alan down so he doesn't think the guy is going to kill him during the spinal tap.

I assured him that this is a neuro-radiologist who Dr. Goldfarb highly recommended. IN fact she said "I wouldn't want anyone else doing this"

He's been a trooper. But the PN lately is driving him nuts.

He can walk around, do stuff but when he lies down or sits down, boom, and he told me last night. "The pins and needles have just turned into complete burning. This happens when I lie down or sit down" But this morning he sat down and was fine. Sometimes it seems the cymbalta is really effective for him.

But thanks again for the nice words.

Oh, here's an interesting fact if you watch soap operas. Erica Slezak (who plays Vicki on One Life to Live speaks absolutely perfect German.

I never knew this. I was watching the show one day and she had to speak german and boy did she speak german. I just looked at the tv and said "oh my god, she didn't just learn this for the role, this woman knows her german. Then it hit me over the head!!!! OF COURSE, Her father was Walter Slezak a VERY FAMOUS (I believe from Austria). actor from the 30's and 40's.

I think languages are fascinating.
When I worked with Bongi, she told us her native language was Africanse (sorry for mispelling) but her main language was the clicking language of South Africa. I believe it's spelled XHOSA

You should have been there when she was trying to teach me that language.
You have to put your tongue on the side of your mouth and in the back (someplace called the epiglottis I thing) and the whole language is clicking.
I mastered two whole words in that language.

What a hoot in those days!!!!

be well,
Melody

The Rebuilder was the one of the first things that helped reduce my PN pain, and is now the first thing I turn to to relieve the pain of flare-ups. When I first used it, it took three weeks of twice daily use to notice a definite difference in pain reduction, especially at night. I've found the company a pleasure to deal with the past ten years, always pleasant, helpful, and providing better than expected service. They have a 30 day money-back guarantee that some people in the old BrainTalk forum used. The company returned the money, no questions asked.

If you buy the Rebuilder, get the regular Model 2406 with the water bath, not the portable version. The water bath provides stimulation to the entire foot rather than just around the conductive pads, and the Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) in the water is pain relieving and soothing in its own right. Some is absorbed through the skin to calm and quiet the nerves in the area.

I think that Rebuilder Medical overcharges for supplies. You don't need their electrolyte mix with silver, just use a tablespoon of Epsom salts to each side of the water bath. Their cream is wonderful, but very expenses. Instead, use any skin cream (I use Blue Emu) with some Ben Gay or Tiger Balm mixed in for a nice soothing coolness. You can get replacement electrode pads on the internet for about 1/2 their price. The 9 volt batteries last a long, long time.

From reading about positive results in animal studies with TENS and micro-electric stimulation, I would guess that any mild electric stimulation in an Epsom salts water bath would help most of our PN. If you have a relative or friend with a TENS unit, or if your insurance pays for one, it would be worth a try in a water bath for a few weeks before shelling out $400 for The Rebuilder ( http://www.rebuildermedical.com/ ) (or their compeditor, The Rejuvenator ( http://www.peacefultechnologies.com/default.asp ) for $200. Before you buy, it might be worth your while to ask on this forum if people have had good results and support with the Rejuvenator. $400 is a lot of money for what probably cost them less than $40 to make. I can say, however, that mine has had a lot of totally dependable use for about 8 years now.

When you use electric neuro-stimulation, be sure not to set the current strength too high. The idea is to gently stimulate and electrically massage the nerves and muscles to reduce pain and promote healing, not beat them up and traumatize them. Sessions should be 1/2 hour each.

I hope this helps.