This started with me the day after I started PT for neck and back pain. I mean it went from 0-10. This was back in March. It was intermittent at first, now it is all the time. I am under the care of a physiatrist who is ordering a cervical MRI to diagnose this. He does not think these symptoms are related to my many chronic back issues (scoliosis, spinal stenosis, buldging and herniated discs, degenerative joint disease, arthritis, etc..). He is doing the MRI to rule out (or in) MS or similar neurological conditions.

The swiftness with how this started baffles me and I'm sure no medical professional can explain it - especially a cause and effect (PT and the symptoms).

I am not diabetic nor do I have vitamin or thyroid deficiencies. All have been checked. I am 61.

Has anyone had this happen to them? Has anyone found any treatment that has worked for them. I take 600 mg of ALA daily for about 2 months - not really helping.

Thanks.

.

Well, 600mg of ALA is not as effective as the newer form that is now available. R-lipoic acid stabilized.. at 100mg a day will be a better test to see if it can work for you. Taken once a day on an empty stomach--- Doctor's Best Brand. (not all formulas are the new highly absorbable form).

You also need to look at your vitamin tests, and see if B12 is over 400 (in US units). Lab ranges in US have not changed to reflect new information on low B12. Many drugs can interfere with B12 too. So this is important. Don't accept "normal" as 200 is NOT normal.

It is possible you have something wrong in the ganglia along your spine, and these were stimulated by the PT. I had a massage once that set off my shingles in my neck. (I had them down my right arm many years ago). The massage was nice at the time but the next day I was in agony!

The dorsal root ganglia can be damaged by viruses, or chemicals, and in some people never heal up properly. This is a genetic thing, and there are now some researchers looking at using stem cells to correct this problem. But that is still experimental.

There are many drugs that can cause neuropathy. One family of drugs called fluoroquinolones are very very common. A simple infection, treated with these can then lead to PN for some people. The PN follows the use of Cipro, Levaquin or Avelox and can be for life.
Also statins for cholesterol can cause neuropathy.
Here is a post on that:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread122889.html

You might want to cruise the subforum above and read about all the things that posters here have collected about this topic.
Just do a bit a day, as it can see overwhelming.

Thank you for your reply and information. My B12 was 774 in April and 710 last June.

I have problems with many antibiotics so the only ones I can take are Cipro or Levaquin. I took them twice recently - prior to root canals for absesses. Plus in the past for UTI's and other infections. If their use is what is causing this (and with the suddeness) there is nothing I can do now.

Same goes for the 40 mg. of statins I take (pravachol). I could stop but with a strong family history of heart disease and without any way of knowing for sure taking them is the cause - doctors wouldn't know either - it would be risky.

I had a massage last summer and it felt good but the next day I have leg pain, back pain, stinging sensations, etc.. lots of stuff going on - none of it good. And it lasted quite a while, too.

Navigation these forums is time consuming, but from what I have gathered so far, except for some very obvious medical conditions (like diabetes or B12 deficiency) - doctors don't know what causes this and there is very little in the way of treatment that is effective. Total relief doesn't seem possible.

Thanks, again.

Dr. Cohen has on his website a few suggestions for fluroquinolone damage. But they are not cures.

At this time little is understood on how to fix this damage.
I have the link to it on the Medications link I posted above.

If you continue with the statin you need to supplement CoQ-10.
This is because statins block our own manufacture of this nutrient.

A good water soluble (new form) at 100mg a day or the old gel cap with oil type at 300mg a day would be a good place to start.

You can Google "statins CoQ-10" for more information. It is no longer the secret it was when hidden by Big Pharma for so many years!

These may help, but continuing with neurotoxic drug exposures is really going to be problematic.

I called my physiatrist to throw out the possibility of the Cipro and my symptoms being related and his office called back and said he doesn't think their related. But when you're a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

To a chiropracter - every medical problem is spine related.
To a PT -every problem required therapy
To a surgeon - every problem can be helped with surgery.

I am exaggerating, but you get my point. So, to a physiatrist, every problem is muscle/nerve related.

I will look into that CoQ-10. I contacted my oncologist about this and he said to stop taking femara (for my breast cancer) that I have been on for 9+ years. He was going to stop me on it anyway in January.

The most puzzling thing about this is the suddeness of this. O-10 in one day. One day I'm fine, the next day I'm not.

What kind of doctor is Dr. Cohen?

Thanks again, you have been very helpful.

He has a website & newsletter about medications & natural therapies. The only board certification I have found is Psychiatry.

Doc

I got the 100 mg of r-lipoic acid and the CoQ-10. We'll see how that goes. Thanks for the advice.

Dr. Cohen:
http://www.jaycohenmd.com/

His website is very informative and his books are researched and
easy to read even for laymen.

I've read his Cholesterol book and part of the Magnesium book.

Here is another reference that is a collection of side effects reported to the FDA:

http://www.drugcite.com/?q=cipro

http://www.drugcite.com/?q=Levaquin

Levaquin by far has more joint/ligament damage reports.
You can click on any category and it will open up with details on that site. Keep in mind that many doctors do NOT report drugs to the FDA when a patient has a problem, typically, so statistics of this type are only a small indicator of a potentially larger issue.

Remember the Anthrax scare... how the gov't steered people away from Cipro? The general public may have missed that, but the medical community knew the risks with huge numbers of people taking that drug for "protection". The media came out with using doxycycline instead (much tamer).

Also if you continue to use these drugs, be aware that the elderly need lower doses, as the neurotoxicity goes up with age.

A good book came out years ago written by Stephen Fried, Bitter Pills. He is a professional writer whose wife suffered from permanent seizures from Floxin (no longer commonly used).
He wrote that book, which I have, about his efforts to get a black box warning from the FDA.
http://www.stephenfried.com/bitter-p...pillsbook.html
His observation was that the truth about these drugs was concealed from doctors and patients.

About the sudden onset.... I think some PN is like "the death of a 1000 cuts"... there is some flexibility and tolerance to insult built into nerves, and when a critical overload occurs (which may be several things together) then, you get major symptoms.

Did you also have other chemo when you had the cancer? Chemo often leads to PN. Drugcite is down right now, but I'd look up Femara on there and see what the toxicity range is.

edit: for Femara:
http://www.drugcite.com/?q=femara
Keep in mind fewer people take this drug than Cipro or Levaquin so total numbers are smaller.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post869572-23.html

Doc

Femara isn't a chemo in the true sense. It is an oral anti-estrogen. And it is fairly new - probably only used in the last 10 years or so, so I was given it when it was new. I think you can find just about every side effect with every drug - at least one person has every possible side effect. The problem is the cause and effect is difficult to prove, unless there is definitely some biological/physiological expectation of the drug. Like niacin for cholesteral. Since it can open up the capillaries, flushing is an expected side effect.

How does anyone in the medical community look at a list of medications someone has taken (either maintenance or occasional) and have the ability to say definitely that this drug caused this side effect? Sometimes so many people have such a severe or life threatening side effect (like heart problems with vioxx) that the FDA removes it.

But for any doctor to say - my femara, or cipro or pravachol caused this would be nearly impossible. And even if they did, what would be the treatment - other than going off the medication (which I am for 2 of these 3)?

I did not take any other chemo. Also, the femara is very effective in reducing the recurrence of breast cancer, which can kill. So it has been a lifeline for me. But now I'm off it. Most women don't last as long on it as I have due to bone and joint pain. So, we'll see how it goes with my being off of it.

Thanks for the links and information.