Brother, you have my sympathy. You've been dealing with this a long time, spent a lot of time and money with no cure in sight.

Have you tried chiropractic? It helped me once. I've never had acupuncture, but many swear by it. The Eastern energy modalities might help, and your skin doesn't have to be touched. If you can stand light touch along the meridians, shiatsu combines Traditional Chinese Medicine with Western medicine, in that many of the trigger points are also tsubo (points) for accessing the energy meridians. the Bladder meridian runs from the medial orbit of the eye across the scalp and down the back into the leg and foot. Shiatsu helped a cousin a couple of years ago who had similar burning pain in the back.

MrsD's list of possibilities is quite extensive. Herpes gets in the body and never ever leaves; as MrsD reiterated, it hibernates in ganglia and when the body is weakened it can awaken and wreak havoc. And with all the throat problems, you were certainly weakened. All the drugs may be butting heads with one another.

For a decade I had the burning sensation in mid-back region after an industrial accident. Not as intense as yours, probably-- I could still function. The only thing that gave me any relief, every night I had my wife (100# or so) walk up and down my back; it would make the cracking sound and for a few hours I'd have relief. BTW, the cracking sound when someone cracks your back is said to be nitrogen bubbles in vertebra popping. Some people get an audible "pop" in the shoulders when they rotate their arms also.

I hope you find the cause, and it can be cured.

I have a good chiroprator and Accupuncturist. No they didnt help. The only thing you can do for Thoracic spine is traction and posture but again I am not sure if this is the cause of the burning in my upper back as its not supposed to go up into the neck and sholder area.Lord knows I probably had this hernitation for years as I did not have any accidents or tramua to the region.

The amount of magnesium in the P5P is quite small...it is listed as Oxide mix, and typically when this is done, it will be mostly oxide. Oxide is not absorbed.

However about 70% of people in US ARE low in magnesium and Nexium is a major obstacle for any being absorbed from food.
Most of the foods providing magnesium are not commonly consumed in US. So you may even need a quality mag supplement.
Blood work is only useful for very very low or high readings. This is because most magnesium is not in the serum, but in the cells. And the test you had most likely (unless a special lab did them) were serum tests.

This is my magnesium thread:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread1138.html

Many people with PN can benefit from magnesium. You can get it from some special lotions, or by soaking in a tub with epsom salts as well. Some of us here us CVS Epsom lotion for the topical type.

Take your alpha racemic type on an empty stomach. 1/2 of it is the active form R...the other half is inactive. When it is gone
switch to the R form, preferably with the RALA stabilized form listed on the label. You will not need such high doses then.

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can you recommend a brand of R-lopic?

Doctor's Best.

Here is a recent thread in fact on this subject:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread159210.html

Available at iherb.com and Amazon.com

Ok so take 200 pr 300mg of the Doctor's Best? People in thread are taking different doses. I assume 300mg since i was taking 600mg and half is absorbed. I always take mine with food as it can upset your stomach.

I just spent $144 on the vitamins you suggested.

If the ALA and Benfotiamine dont make any difference in my pain do you think that kinda of rules out nuropathy?

There should be a result in 1-3 months. It takes some time.

If they do not work at all, then look to the ganglionopathies. Viral especially.

And sometimes things are "self limiting"...meaning they run a course and you then recover. When a mysterious thing shows up, your body can fight it if it is in good shape, and you may recover on your own. Doctors know this, and this is why they seem unmoved and unhelpful at times. They think you will get better on your own.

200 or 300 on the ala?

That is up to you. When you use the R-lipoic you will need less.

Regular ALA the racemic form you really need at least 600mg a day and some use 1200. Regular ALA is the older version.

What about tactile allodynia? It sounds like whats happening with me.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/sensi...-to-touch.html