I am a 41 yr old male who was relatively healthy until my physical in February 2010. At that time i was prescribed Lisinopril for moderate high blood pressure 140/90 and simvastatin (210 cholesterol reading prior to medication) - due to family history i thought this was a good idea at the time. I lost about 40 or 50 pounds through diet and exercise in hopes to get off of these meds due to the side effects. Dr. insisted i keep taking the meds even with low BP readings 80/60 and low cholesterol 125 total. In February 2012 i had a pseudo heart attack due to my BP going to low - Dr. finally took me off the BP med but kept me on the statin. In March 2012, i started waking with numbness in hands and feet that has gotten worse with each passing day. i have had a multitude of tests, i.e. blood work, nerve conduction, mri's on neck and lower back - Dr says i am fine and that he can't pinpoint the root cause of my PN. i took myself off the statins after finding that they could cause PN - neurologist states it is almost impossible to pinpoint the cause of my PN. i have tried b12 injections, iv vitamin therapy, reflexology, accupuncture and none of it seemed to work but its only been 2 months and i am inpatient. I do not want to take the cymbalta they prescribed me in fear of developing different problems/symptoms. I wonder if anyone has any additional suggestions before i lose my mind.

Sorry to hear of your troubles...if it's the statins your nerves will need time to heal...they heal very slowly. Have you done bloodwork or an EMG?

Its a common answer patients get, which is, we don't know why we have PN.

I wish I knew why too.

Just have to keep researching, trying things, and for me, praying.

good luck

Doctors don't always like to blame meds. Pharmacists usually know though. We have to find the causes ourselves and do all we can to repair the nerves. Very true, nerves heal slowly and thankfully there are ways to get them healthier.

I was so scared and now I am doing so great. Diet and supplements. No medicine. I stay as far away from that as I can, but I am blessed that I found the causes and improved so I don't need them. Everyone is very different.

This is a great place to learn and we all understand.

Sally, would you mind sharing what supplement and regiman you do?

thanks

Stacy, I take a lot of supplements. My integrative MD's know how to test and help with hormones, cortisol, thyroid and supplements. Diet also.

We talk about a lot of supplements here like Alpha Lipoic Acid, Benfotiamine,
l carnitine, vit D, B12 and B6 is good, but you have to be very careful with that B6. Antioxidents are key. Magnesium and Fish oil. So many good ones.

I have Chronic Fatigue Sydrome as well as Autonomic Neuropathy/Dysautonomia, (POTS). Peripheral Neuropathy also. The PN is doing GREAT. The Dysautonomia is VERY hard to deal with but much improved. Thankfully, after 20 years, my CFS is doing very well.

I stopped eating gluten two years ago, stopped most all sugar about 7 months ago as well as simple carbs. The nerves need a steady level of glucose so this has helped me.

It would take a long time to list all of the supplements. I can if you like.

I make a really nutritious smoothie every day that is an important part of my diet.

i have had the gammet of testing done, blood work, nerve conduction, MRI's etc - b12 was relatively low high 200's low 300's and vitamin d was low - working on that via supplements - sublingual b12 and one a week vitamin d pills - other than that dr says i am healthy - eventhough i feel like crap -but the vitamins dont seem to be raising the levels - prob due to malabsorbtion - started having digestive problems after 3 months of antibiotics due to bronchitis that turned into pneumonia, then sinus infection that lasted for 8 weeks - once i started feeling better the numbness started - been almost a year of feeling like crap - wished i knew of a specialist who believed in natural healing instead of throwing prescription meds my way which only create more symptoms to try and figure out - i've done enough research to warrant a doctorate in PN - i am hoping things will eventually start subsiding - psychologically i am a wreck because of this which is like pooring gas on a fire - just trying to take it one day at a time - i cant imagine how people deal with PN for years

What was the antibiotic you took? Cipro and Levaquin (and many others) are known to cause neuropathy. Are you saying that your PN problems started after taking these for 3 months? You might be interested in reading some of MrsD's posts on this subject. If you search the forum using Cipro or Levaquin I'm sure you'll run across many of your comments. Here's one:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ighlight=cipro

Are you taking the Vit D as an RX from your doctor? Doctors are not keeping up with new developments, and hence they still prescribe the ineffective D2 (ergocalciferol) on RX.
Please consider switching to a daily D3 OTC. Do you know your D test results? You can figure your OTC dose by this general rule. 1000IU D3 for every 10 points needed to raise.

Simvastatin is very lipophilic meaning it crosses fatty membranes and also gets into the brain more so than some other statin drugs. The axons of nerves are coated with lipids for insulation. We have some posters here who developed PN from Zocor (simvastatin).

You also have to do the B12 on an empty stomach. Most of it if you choose to let it be sublingual, is swallowed with the saliva and not absorbed in the mouth. Using methylB12 is best, as it is the active form.

If you used fluoroquinolone antibiotics, for your infections, then you are possibly reacting with PN to them as well. Here is a post about that:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post661103-2.html
If this is the case with you, do not strain your muscles as tendon ruptures can occur months and even up to a year after you use fluoroquinolones. These drugs do something as yet not understood to the tendon attachments.

Sorry to be late replying, as I've been away for 5 weeks with
no computer connection except for a distant laundromat free wifi.