I have no doubt that your doctor is correct.

Here is what I noticed over the festive period. I have numb feet with very mild sensation which I have grown used to and the numbness I can live with but the burning is still very much there .

I went to a few party's and participated in the holiday festivities including alcohol which for me is big irritant and lights up my PN like a xmas tree right from the very first sip. After a few the pain went but I knew I would pay for it in the morning.

Waking up my feet were on fire and felt like I had pillows strapped to my feet and no amount of meds would stop this but 2 days later it all subsided,

What I noticed was a definite increase in numbness eg I could wiggle my toes but couldn't feel them rub against each other. There was far less sensation on the soles of my feet as well and there was big weakness in my legs, very heavy and struggled with pain walking down stairs.

After my recovery I am back to normal with numbness back to better levels so my point being alcohol is an irritant that inflames the nerve endings causing further short to long term numbness so your doc is correct.

Aussie I hope you appreciate the sacrafice I have made (drinking beer) so I could help you with your question

I was recently diagnosed with Peripheral Ployneurophy in hands and feet, the result of a double dose of H1N1 vaccine given in error. It took 23 months to find the diagnosis and the numbness you describe is still evident in my feet. In response to the prescribed treatment of a regulated regimen of Prednisone, and the inclusion of an ATP booster D-Ribose, my hands are much better.
Now,the improvement could also be attributed to the length of time involved in the process of healing nerve damage, ( 2mm per week). Prednisone, used in this fashion is a very powerful anti-inflammatory. Healing is expedited when inflammation is reduced. Slow, steady improvement is taking place. I have done much research into the mitochondria and the effects of a polysaccharide booster such as D-Ribose, and will continue it's use but adding Alpha Lipoic Acid to the mix. The combination hopefully will speed up the healing in my feet. I hope this has been helpful.

What dosage was the prednisone?

Mrsd what are your thoughts on this as a treatment for nerve damage that is in a permanent" flair"

Cheer up Matey, your sacrifice has been noted.

Some PNs are inflammatory. Prednisone is only one way to
reduce it.

NSAIDs --esp aspirin-- seem to also help some with inflammatory issues. Hence the "AlkaSeltzer" success some of us have to reduce symptoms.

Antioxidants are also helpful. Grapeseed extract being one
that has a long history of benefits. 200-300mg a day.
The Ilex in Biofreeze is also helpful this way...it is a powerful antioxidant, and gets thru the skin because of the gel base, and helps nerves that way too.

Is the numbness your talking about -- do you have any feeling of someone touching the numb area? I'm not sure that what I'm experiencing is numbness because I feel the gas pedal (though i dont drive much now), I feel when I touch my feet, etc..

I guess I don't have actual numbness, but a feeling of numbness. Though the areas feel numb, if you touch me on those spots I can still feel that you are touching me.

Yeah, me too. Just in my feet, not the migrating patches you're afflicted with.

The only thing I can add is that when I'm active (a long session of hiking, jogging, or workout) and/or when I massage my feet it appears that the numbness is lessened. Maybe the increased blood flow has something to do with it -- flushing out natural metabolic wastes, increasing oxygenation of tissue? Just rambling thoughts.

And of course it may be a placebo effect -- I very much want to be able to lessen the symptoms by exercise and massage, so I "convince" myself that they help. If you know what I mean.

But my neuropathy isn't your neuropathy! Different onset, different etiology.

I agree. Activity especially exercise reduces the numbness for me too. Also when i take my jeans out of the dryer and put them on they are tighter than normal and this males numbness worse. After an hour of wear the jeans loosen up and numbness is better. Go figure??

That sounds like compression issues.

I cannot wear tight gloves for that reason... my hands go numb.
So now I have those 1/2 gloves, the ones with the fingers exposed and that works well for me.