I want to thank everyone for there reply' s. Everyone here on this forum are great in giving their time and information. I have learned more from many folks here then from most of my Drs. The people here know first hand as to what may be wrong where as a lot of Drs. learn from their patients.

Dennis

Thanks Dennis. I was optimistic that this surgery could potentially resolve this terrible thumb pain and inability to even use my hands for simple things, like buttoning and opening pill bottles....I will talk to my doc this week and see how he does the procedure.

I hope you can find relief. Have you tried neurontin or lyrica, or a combination of those with an opiate?

I have tried Gabapentin, Lyrica, Cymbalta. and have side effects. Cymbalta was the worst after 8 weeks on it could not wait until it was out of my system. Something about nerve pain meds I have problems with.

My PM wants to do the SCS but I am a little gun shy with anyone messing around my back. After all the pain meds that I am on I still have pain around 7-8 most of the time throughout my whole arm because of the nerve damage. A/C in buildings and vehicles are the worst. My hand Dr. told me that I basically have a raw nerve in my lower arm that effects my whole arm. It hurts very bad in my arm pit where it feels like someone has a 7" heel in my arm pit and is trying to remove my arm by turning and ripping it off like a turkey leg all the time. Each week that goes by gets worst as far as pain level. Right now early morning it is 81 deg. and climbing over a 100 by noon. I feel so bad for my wife because she knows how the a/c effects me so she leaves the a/c way down for me. Anyone else out there with nerve pain like this I would like to here from. I know that there are a lot of people on this forum that are in worst shape then me. But any help would be great.

Dennis

Just a tip....my neuro says a lot of the 'spinal picks' I had did NOT help my small fiber neuropathy. He hates spinal needling....so, for what that is worth, your concern on SCS may be valid.

Dennis,, I have SFN,, and I have the same exact feelings as you do,, except I have it body wide,,, I understand what your saying about feelinglike your arm is being ripped off,, and any kind of breeze from teh Air Cond sets it off,, I have tried just about any med out there,, and even though it might be taking the edge off,, its just making everything worse in my opinion,, my guts are a mess,, and I dont know if its from teh meds or from the neuropathy

I got a steroid shot in my median nerve and my wrist feels very good....so apparently there is some inflammation there despite the negative emg.

Anyway, would a steroid shot help your situation, Dennis?

Cyclelops

One Dr. tried this 2 years ago. The shot worked for 1 hour then everything right back to the way it was. Very painful.

Dennis

In July I had a t12 fracture, my spinal cord was swollen and bruised. My bones are healed and now I'm just waiting for nerves to regenerate. I currently have B&B issues and i'm seeing docs to try to take care of that. I know a combination of nerves need to rework themselves and I'm wondering if regeneration happens one at a time 1mm a day, or each nerve 1mm a day??

I currently have a dropped right foot, my ankle has very little movement up and down. I have sensation/feeling in my legs all the way down to my feet but my calves and hamstrings have been reduced to very little.
Possibility of building muscles while nerves are regenerating??

I used to be in really good shape, healthy eater/exerciser, and now I just don't know what to do with myself. my doctors say I'm doing everything I can but its just that, that drives my crazy. PT 3x a week in the gym, acupuncture, massage therapy, workouts at home, walking (w/cane & AFO), eating well, electronic stimulation, therapy, research & thats about all folks - but I also need adequate rest. I feel really stressed about all of this and don't want to hinder any progress. Any tips?? ANYONE!!!


Thanks,
Lisa

--which means no further damaging processes, sufficient oxygen and nutrients, and the like, the figure usually given for nerve regeneration is around a millimeter each day. This would apply to all regenerating nerves--the body generally doesn't concentrate its efforts on one nerve tract to the exclusion of all others, and then, when that tract is "restored", shift to the next one.

What this means is that a fiber that begins in the dorsal root ganglia and reaches down to the fingers or toes might take years to reach its destination, if it ever does. Many people have nerve regeneration that is patchy or incomplete. And seldom do the nerves take the exact same route to their afferents that they occupied before; along the way the nerve growth cones have to fight through and around connective tissue, muscle and the like, so I think the millimeter/day estimation is fairly optimistic.

There are certain nutrients that facilitate nerve repair.

methylB12 (which does cross into the spinal cord and CNS)
folate
P5P (activated pyridoxine B6)

fish oil to provide the lipids needed for cell membranes

Magnesium to facilitate lipid metabolism...

These are the basics. Mitochondrial support may help too...
acetyl carnitine
CoQ-10
R-lipoic acid

These three may aid the cells in the axons to provide more energy for the repair.