When I took pain meds (percocetts) for my pain management not only did it not help with the burning tingling pain but it made me into an addict. I'm not saying that narcotics wont help anyone, this was only my personal experience. I do hope you get some relief, stick in there..

Always consult with your doctor when it comes to treatments, especially vitamins as they can be harmful if taken in excess. They are not a cure-all, nothing is.

I tried all kinds of things, B12 and D vitamins (works just like sugar-pills for me), other supplements, accupuncture, etc. My neuro doc said pain management was all there probably was for me and he was spot-on. I take 3600mg of Neurontin a day and Methadone. They are the only things that work for me, but I am probably one of the worst cases around. But these meds come with a cost, for me, partial bladder failure, low testosterone giving way to muscle atrophy and muscle/bone loss, dependence, etc., etc.

All I'm saying is there is nothing that is a cure all and I know of no cure for PN (though in some cases progression can be stopped if the cause is found). I work with the best Neuro center in the Southwest and these guys really know there stuff and are not afraid to tell you exactly like it is. I'm sure there are many that think meds are some evil thing, but I'll tell you something, they allow me to maintain a pain level of 5-6 everyday (on a 0-10 scale) which in turn allows me to enjoy each day with my young son watching him grow up. Of course, I cannot do everything with him, like ride a bike or swing a baseball bat, but what I can do, I enjoy so much more. I have many other neuro issues that effect my memory, balance, cognition, etc., so maybe I am not a usual case, but please just find what works the best (and accept it when not all the pain is gone) and adjust your lifestyle to match and just try and enjoy life as best you can. :-)

...narcotics you will become addicted to them. Of this there is no doubt. So when you are going to stop taking them you will need to go through a protocol of decreasing doses and a period of medically supervised withdrawal. If you are taking narcotics under a doctors supervision and following the administration recommendations you interact fine in your daily responsibilities, interactions, etc. You can go on indefinitely without any adverse affects although you may need your MD to increase the dose periodically.

The problem with narcotics are when you abuse them, i.e, start taking them other than as presribed or have no regular access to them when you are likely to experience withdrawal and increasing act irregular in order to procure more drugs.

So yes, you do get addicted to narcotics.

Mike

I would suggest that you do a lot of research on opiates before you accept advice on Internet forums. I have heard a lot of scare tactics, but realistically you become dependent on them for your pain relief, not addicted. Addiction is a psychological response, when you crave them for emotional reasons. Pain relief is a legitimate usage, unlikely to result in true addiction, and opiates have few side effects compared to many other drugs.

That said you want to try anti-seizure meds and always take as low a dosage as possible to achieve functionality, not total pain relief. That is too much.