I am a 21 year old male recently diagnosed with Small Fiber Neuropathy, though I have wrestled with these symptoms for years under the guise of RLS. I tried every medication on the market (herbal, OTC, prescription) for RLS with little to no success until read that Tramadol could be used to treat RLS symptoms. So I went to my doctor and asked to be put on the Tramadol. It was the only medication to give me any relief from my symptoms up to that point, and even though it was very minimal, I was ecstatic. I then began to feel some of the side effects after a few weeks, and after consulting with my neurologist, I began to ween off of the medication...

...Four and a half days later i found myself in the middle of my room hyperventilating, having a panic attack after not sleeping since the morning of the appointment.

Needless to say, I decided not intend on taking any prescription drugs any time soon.

This leaves me in a very tough spot... I feel miserable - all the time. I barely sleep, which results in my having little energy when I'm awake (which is all the time now...), I can barely concentrate in class, or at work or in church or anywhere else because of the neuropathy --- it literally affects every aspect of my life.

So here's the dilemma: I've been tested for all the obvious/common causes of neuropathy and none was to be found. This means, the only route left for me is pain management.... This means Vicodin (or comp.) at an increased dosage for the rest of my life. -----> Addiction, Horrible on Kidney, Liver, Heart....

OR

I can continue to smoke marijuana - which helps with every aspect of the neuropathy.------> No real long term affects known of