The doctors who tell you to throw them out.... don't even understand them or study them or read the newest papers.

There is a decade of information about PN for acetyl carnitine, lipoic acid, and benfotiamine now. CoQ-10 for statin damage. Some is from Europe and other countries, where people are more open minded.

If you have kidney damage, supplements must be carefully used.

But if you have nerve damage, there are some supplements that help repair that. It has been shown in biochemical papers! Remyelination does happen, and now some in the MS community actively pursue this path.
example:
http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuse...how/pageid/772

Hi Mrs. D. Good article. I have ordered the R-lipoic acid. I am going to try it. If they disagree then they disagree. I'll see if it works for me. How long does it usually take before you see results? I sure could use some energy! Thanks a lot! I forgot to ask how are your cats? I saw that yu think possibly oreo was misdiagnosed and that you have a new kitten.

The lipoic acid works on ME energy wise in a day or two. Not everyone feels this from lipoic acid, but I've had some messages who agree with me on this.

The effects on the PN are slower at least for me. I have noticed that I don't have cold feet and legs this winter like last one, since I switched brands from SourceNaturals to the Doctor's Best R-lipoic stabilized.

If you start with ONE thing and add on later, you will see more clearly what is doing what.

Anti-inflammatory drugs do not work. Breaking up nerve transmission is the ticket for inflamed nerves. Sometimes the nerve endings are so burnt out that there is no help for that numbness. You might want to consider Lyrica. If your nerve fibers are somewhat intact it will work for you. It has cured my pain and numbness in my feet and legs.
Good Luck

It is nice that you are seeing some relief in the early stages of Lyrica. I seem to recall this is your 3rd day only? (from your other posts). I can understand your enthusiasm for yourself, but for others, there can be different outcomes.

I would not venture to say "cure". It is relieving symptoms only and that is called palliative. Many here have tried Lyrica, and found it wears off with time. (tolerance). Some cannot stand the side effects, and with time even depression and suicidal thoughts may occur. You may want to have some bone scans done in a few months since you take both gabapentin and Lyrica now. There can be calcium loss with some patients in the bones.

So take it one day at a time, and let us know how your are doing say, in 3 months from now. Cooperate with your physician (who I think is very rare to give you high dose of both) and be monitored closely.

And BTW anti-inflammatory drugs are useful for the PNs that are caused by inflammatory factors. Because YOURS is compressive or trauma related, does not mean others cannot benefit from anti-inflammatories at times. PNs vary from person to person and there are over 100 distinct causes.

That's a tough one... but a really good one!

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... I was sitting in a (former) doctor's office asking about something I wanted to pursue. I can't remember exactly what it was (It wasn't something out there on the fringe; I'm generally pretty conservative, and was even moreso back then) but I'll never forget his response, cuz it burned into my brain (as well as burning my posterior... )

He said, "That's not in my belief system."

WHAAAAAA? His "belief system‽"

That was my first introduction to that phrase. Until then, I had always thought that medicine was medicine, and while doctors may hold different opinions on subjective matters, they were pretty much on the same page as far as objective science went.
(I'll wait for mrsD et al to pick themselves up off the floor.... )

The moral is, these guys/gals (doctors) can be just as opinionated, despite scientific evidence, as any of us.

I referred to the doctor above as my former doctor - not just because of the above incident, but for a lot of reasons; he just wasn't a good fit for me, so I, in effect, fired him.

The moral is, doctors work for us - not the other way around (though many of them see it that way). WE have the final say in any decisions regarding our medical care - not them.

Now, in fairness, from their perspective, half of the patients they see are below average (think about it), and they usually see/interact with most patients for only a few minutes a YEAR, so it's not all that surprising that they become jaded about certain things they see a lot of, and something they see a lot of is patients coming in with some article/ad about some vitamin, supplement, or new prescription drug* that will cure patients of just about anything, including "in-laws". There are some people (and I'm not talking about anyone here), who do take all kinds of supplements they don't need and could probably do without - some, even hypochondrial.

* Ask YOUR doctor if Progenitorivox is right for YOU!

Most doctors I know have no problem with things like daily vitamins (even if they don't believe they're doing us any good, they're not harming us) and there are many (like calcium for women) that are just plain a good idea, especially since the Industrial Revolution, which changed a LOT about what nutrients we get and how (but that's a whole 'nother ball-o-worms in itself).

So, while I can understand where your doctors are coming from, I don't agree with them.... entirely (but I'm just "some guy on the internet" - seriously!) My feeling is, if there's a good reason to be taking a supplement (and that's the tricky part), then there's a good reason to be taking it, along with, if it can't hurt to try it, then it can't hurt to try it (redundancies intentional). I do agree that supplements can sometimes muddy the waters (if taken willy-nilly), so we should be careful to document what we're taking, why, and provide the doctors with lists (all my doctors ask for such lists anyway - I keep an Excel Sheet that I can update/print off each time I go to a doctor).

How we add/discontinue supplements is important. It should be done one-at-a-time (with a few exceptions), and not too close together, so we can determine what, if any, effect they are having. It's probably also a good idea, if practical, to be tested before starting something, and again periodically, to determine if there is in fact a need to be taking/continuing it, and if there isn't, or there isn't any positive result/benefit from taking it, we should probably discontinue it so that it doesn't muddy the waters.

Bottom line - it's your body - your health - your life - your decision. How do you handle it? "Doctor, I respect your opinions, but I have researched this carefully, and I believe this is worth trying, and the potential benefits outweigh the risks." or words to effect. That's how I'd handle it, and have handled it.

Best Wishes & Good Luck,

Doc

I saw results in 48 hours - my burning pain stopped completely and has not returned (it's been about a year now) except for a couple times when I overdid things (and probably deserved it ) and it burned for less than a day.

My results are not typical; it may take a month or two.

Doc

Here is a video link showing how some doctors get their information:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfNULvGcMsc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQYxZ...eature=related

and Merck even had FAKE journals made to convince doctors about their drugs and treatments:

http://www.lifescientist.com.au/arti...ical_journals/

I think I have seen some reference to doctors beliefs and training as comparable to cults in the indoctrination of new students. By the time a doctor leaves med school, his/her mind is trained to accept the drug salespeople and Big Pharma as their prime source of information in current treatments.

Nothing surprises me anymore.

Dr. Smith,
Thank you for your words of wisdom. I do agree with doctors work for us but I know I don't act that way when I am around them. I need to work on that. I also like how you said to approach things with them. You also gave me some giggles. Thanks!

Hi Mrs. D. Those are really scary and when you think about it there is no real way to change it. I actually thought that once a Pharm company came up with a drug and did the research the federal government took over and did their own research. This is why I am so scared of taking these meds. Also, most of them are fairly new so there are no long use studies done on them.