[melon]

Just wondered if any one here had every tried or contemplated using isolation / deprivation tank to help with their pn?

I don't have any local centers round here to try one myself , but from what Ive heard about them, they seem like it could possibly be something that could help - at least in terms of possibly reducing stress - through inducing weightlessness.

Any one have experiences they'd be willing to share ?

melon

[Dr. Smith]

Originally Posted by melon

Just wondered if any one here had every tried or contemplated using isolation / deprivation tank to help with their pn?

I did wonder about it briefly at one time, but dismissed it for myself. In my case, other chronic pain issues have proven sensory distraction to work better for me than deprivation. Stress reduction may have some merit, but a deprivation tank seemes a little impractical (unless you're Daredevil ) compared to other methods like meditation. I don't know if there would be any/enough residual effect to warrant the expense/inconvenience.

But if anyone has access and mean$, I wouldn't discourage trying it. For some people, any relief, for even an hour or two, can make a difference.

Doc

[melon]

Originally Posted by Dr. Smith

I did wonder about it briefly at one time, but dismissed it for myself. In my case, other chronic pain issues have proven sensory distraction to work better for me than deprivation. Stress reduction may have some merit, but a deprivation tank seemes a little impractical (unless you're Daredevil ) compared to other methods like meditation. I don't know if there would be any/enough residual effect to warrant the expense/inconvenience.

But if anyone has access and mean$, I wouldn't discourage trying it. For some people, any relief, for even an hour or two, can make a difference.

Doc

If I could meditate like I used to 18 yrs ago then id agree , but this has been one of the most frustrating things about my pn or whatever it is - in the sense I just cant relax at all unless i stay up ( as I do ) just to fatigue myself
so I can get to sleep.

The Tank was actually more an idea for someone who has chronic pressure sores and a disabling connective tissue problem ( not a good combo ) so they could hopefully take some pressure off their joints and perhaps some relief , but the more I looked into it, and saw things like this the more i
started wondering if it might be possible to construct something like that myself to see if it could help.

Maybe it wouldnt given I usually dont get much relief in water ( apart from when the rebuilder worked briefly ) but Im getting a little tired of supplements that dont really dont do much unless my pain gets triggered by something ( so far only lidocaine )

It certainly would be nice to see something new but since 99 Ive seen no signs of it happening.

melon

[echoes long ago]

there was a poster on here years ago that was doing experiments on isolation tanks and had peripheral neuropathy. he hasnt posted here since that i have seen and no conclusion had been reached at the time he was still posting. maybe you could do a search and find something but this board is newer than when he posted and the other board brain talk i dont think has all of the archived posts available.

[nilram]

I tried a flotation tank twice this last summer. I was especially interested since they use magnesium salts to provide the dense solution that makes one float. Magnesium can be absorbed through the skin (varies from person to person, though) so I was hopeful that either that or the relaxation would provide some relief.

The short story, though, is that while the experience provided some relief the first time, I didn't find it anywhere near as relaxing the second time. My sleep apnea woke me up with a start and I couldn't get re-relaxed. Although I have a mild case, I don't think my apnea will let me enjoy that form of relaxation.

Reminds me of an old Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where Hobbs says he was "meditating and meditating... and then I woke up!"

Try it, though, see how it works for you.

[mrsD]

Originally Posted by echoes long ago

there was a poster on here years ago that was doing experiments on isolation tanks and had peripheral neuropathy. he hasnt posted here since that i have seen and no conclusion had been reached at the time he was still posting. maybe you could do a search and find something but this board is newer than when he posted and the other board brain talk i dont think has all of the archived posts available.

I think I know about whom you are thinking... that poster went on to explore high dose B12 which "cured" him as I recall.
He is posting on the net exclusively now about THAT and no mention any further of the tanks. Those posts were lost in the big crash
of '06...and were not backed up and are unavailable still.

[melon]

Originally Posted by mrsD

I think I know about whom you are thinking... that poster went on to explore high dose B12 which "cured" him as I recall.
He is posting on the net exclusively now about THAT and no mention any further of the tanks. Those posts were lost in the big crash
of '06...and were not backed up and are unavailable still.

I wonder how using something like that might make using supplement / vitamin regimes more effective ?

I suppose , like nearly everything connected with channelopathy of some sort you have such massive range of varied responses its hard to tell .

melon

[Dr. Smith]

Originally Posted by melon

If I could meditate like I used to 18 yrs ago then id agree , but this has been one of the most frustrating things about my pn or whatever it is - in the sense I just cant relax at all unless i stay up ( as I do ) just to fatigue myself
so I can get to sleep.

I guess I'm not understanding what specifically is keeping you from relaxing/meditating - pain? shocks/jabs? anxiety? Some folks who are taking gabapentin or other meds for PN have the opposite problem - they can't stay awake.

I have some insomnia issues myself. I usually like to resolve them on my own like you (just not fight it until I fall asleep) but there are times when medical assistance is necessary/prudent.

Have you discussed this with your docs, and are they doing anything for you?

Doc

[mrsD]

I find a big geology text book very good to help falling asleep.
(or another big wordy book! )

I use 3mg of melatonin, and now I have since Aug been using Theanine. It is very relaxing. I've upped to 300mg recently.

Don't take lipoic acid at night...I find it jives me up quite a bit.
I take this in the morning.

[melon]

Originally Posted by Dr. Smith

I guess I'm not understanding what specifically is keeping you from relaxing/meditating - pain? shocks/jabs? anxiety? Some folks who are taking gabapentin or other meds for PN have the opposite problem - they can't stay awake.

I have some insomnia issues myself. I usually like to resolve them on my own like you (just not fight it until I fall asleep) but there are times when medical assistance is necessary/prudent.

Have you discussed this with your docs, and are they doing anything for you?

Doc

Originally Posted by Dr. Smith

I guess I'm not understanding what specifically is keeping you from relaxing/meditating - pain? shocks/jabs?

No, but then when you have so many things going on its hard to know how you define pain or separate it , or at least it is in my case.

Part of the reason for this is I believe due to years of having used exercise techniques based on proprioception ( esp haptic ) to " rewire myself " so I could isolate and deal with problems that had been causing me bad scapular winging in the past , but had since progressed to other things. ( no thanks to the nhs )

By trying to the strengthen this connection between touch , sensations lost though injury I started creating this loop which was causing a reflex reaction in response to my injury - and in turn made me more aware of the joints and their surrounding space.

This was a problem in the sense the more this happened the more powerful it became , because it was being fueled not just by my desire to fix my joints but also a very powerful emotional desire to return to sport again.

It may sound trivial but without that and the memories it evoked to use as sensory trigger, i do not believe I would of been able to recreate the same sensations or had the feedback response I required to start building my own self momentum ( almost like my body was becoming sentient to itself )so I did not have to even think , it just felt instinctive and resolved itself.

I did not think about much because - i was too to excited - about what i had been able to achieve myself , but unfortunately my learned ability only allowed me to hold my shoulders in place when they were not moving , and not when exercises or attempting repetitive motions instead.

With surgery not an option and ,in my mind coming so close to a solution, I decided to try something Id read about called Prolotherapy instead which hindsight seemed good idea - but turned out to be disastrous .

3 months into this treatment of injections using dextrose / lidocaine / sarapin I started noticing i could no longer breathe properly , which in turn became chronic belching and finally gerd itself .

Apparently this never happened before to any one ( lucky me ) so as usual I found myself with another set of problems that could easily be explained by themselves to go with my preexisting ones with my joints ( which by this poit already had sizable history - no thanks to incompetence of nhs )

Two years after unsuccessfully dealing with that ( because the nhs refused me an endoscopy ) I went to Bulgaria to get Endoscopy instead and in doing so was given antibiotics and metoclopramide which started me down this now familiar road of neuropathy instead.

It took this forum and people like Mrs Ds wisdom to eventually stop the anxiety and all other classic symptoms associated with pn , and when they eventually calmed down ,and I managed to control my other reflux issues ( round 2002 ) I
something else even worse which trumped both the pn , and everything else Id had had instead.

It was something thats really prevented me talking about my history here for lots of reasons , and perhaps could be the biggest factor of all because ( without sounding like fruitcake ) there is no symptoms or history of anything else like it ,so its why ive chosen to just try
to focus on the more , " common " issues instead.

The doctors /system here is broke, and I am crippled now as result of that something that is impossible to prove through current means ( even if the nhs did pay for it ) so I jut trY to focus on improving what i can instead - but could just easily me misinterpreted by the same sort of
bigot ism / skepticism that was responsible for me getting this bad the first place.

Without a way to prove this then, there is simply no way I can talk to any doctor and realistically expect them to believe - much less help me.

I either pretend i just have this or that , and left out the rest - as Ive done here or risked getting locked away / lectured by some biggot instead.

I tried going privately 3 years ago instead of being helping got charged almost £600 for mistake they made themselves ( or rather the private gp ) and then insisted i pay for , because the GP hadnt bothered to send my information to someone else..

No offense, but I lost faith in western medicine long ago.

melon