a number of years ago i was given ambien because i wasnt sleeping well at all. couldnt get to sleep, kept waking up,etc. well one night i apparantly made a spaghetti dinner, put away the leftovers and did the dishes all while i was asleep, i remembered none of it. last time i took it.

Well good news is the MRI was normal.

In other news I have been having an electric shock like pain on my right face that seems to travel down. It comes on very randomly and hurts quite a bit. Is this common with neuropathy?

Also my neurologist has no idea what is wrong so he is sending me else where.

Hi John
Glad about your good news! I have sfn and I get shock like feeligs in my legs and feet but not in my face. I get pins and needles on my right side of face cheek and my mouth and my lips tingle. I beleive it is common with neuropathy. Fun stuff! what do you take for pain?

Currently the only thing I am taking for neuropathy Elavil, the doctor removed me from everything else since they were not helping.

Does Elavil help with your PN pain?. Its old school med but it seems to help many for pain. My sister took it for many years for migrains. My neuro basicly told me he was done with me, there was nothing more he could do in finding a cause. Told me to to go to columbian/ Weil (sp) Hospital Ctr In NYC!! All dx tests and bldwrk were normal except skin biopsy showed sfn. What kind of doc\ specialist is your Doc sending you to? Cymbalta and Nuerotin didnt help and now Im getting off the lyrica. I will be with no meds and that scares me, I feel vulunerable to severe pain that sticks its ugly head out at any given moment! Doc ordered ultram (tramadol) but im afraid to take it cause of bad stories reported on here ..Did you try Ultram??

Hi echoes, Dont think I want to take ambien altho I need something to help me sleep sooo bad..Did you ever take Ultram for your PN? What do you take for pain?

I haven't posted for a long time. I've had body-wide neuropathy for about 4 years now. After Neurontin made me near suicidal, I went on Elavil. Elavil makes the pain much more tolerable, but most important of all, it enables to sleep well most nights. I started out at 10 mg and have worked my way up to 40 mg each evening.

So far Elavil does not help with the pain I am on 50mg a night. Once I see the doctor next month ill see if I can go up to 75mg. I have been on tramadol before but this was before I had Neuropathy. It helps with minor pain. I did not have any issues with it. I was given Elavil at first to help me sleep at night combined with a max dose of Neurontin. Seems almost as of lately as if things are getting worse and not better with my neuropathy, can it actually get worse or am I just starting to go crazy? I have been having the electric pain in my left side and left leg most of today.

no, i never took ultram. i took amitryptylene(elevil) for a few years and it helped with the pain especially at night. i have become much more numb since then and the pain has decreased, except when i stand or walk it always feels like im standing on broken bones in my feet. nothing touches that pain.

from time to time i take benedryl when my feet hurt when i lay down to go to sleep. i also use melatonin at night to get to sleep.

i also use interferential therapy ( sorta like tens) in a divided foot bath. its the only way i can feel it.

by the way i live on the same sandbar

Hi there
I appreciate your post, as I can relate, and am learning from your questions and others responses.
Regarding your initial question: elavil 12.5 mg at night for me in the beginning was not effective
Lyrica seemed to help after 3 weeks, for about a month or two at 100 mg/day but then seemed to drop in its effectiveness against burning. However, when I missed a dose 3 nights ago due to falling asleep before I could take it, I suffered enormously for 2 days with burning everywhere. Now 2 days later I'm back to my baseline amount of pain
Just got a script for 30 mg of cymbalta which I am totally reluctant to try since the last anti D I tried made me grossly ill and dysfunctional. But, I am willing to try everything.

I don't want to hijack your thread, but somebody mentioned that LOW blood sugars can cause nerve damage? What! This is important for me to know, since I have had hypoglycemia for 20 some odd years.
anyway, best of luck and update us soon with any news.