About 10 years ago, at the age of 58, I first started noticing a faint numbness in one of my toes. What followed was a steady and very slow but sure progression to a point of relative numbness across the bottoms of both feet with intermittent pain, especially when walking.

Over these ten years I've tried everything from acupuncture to spinal decompression. At one point I went to the most highly regarded neurologist I could find in Los Angeles and submitted to a preposterous number of tests (including a nerve biopsy) in what turned out to be a routine exercise in the calamitous expense and futility of our modern medical establishment. Diagnosis: idiopathic (I love that word) large fiber pn. Prognosis: unknown.

At this point, 10 years into the saga, the gradual worsening has stopped (maybe even slightly better) and the pain now is very rare. I still have numbness and have given up hiking (once my favorite form of exercise) but otherwise I'm doing fine and no longer have very much attention on my condition. Compared to what I've heard elsewhere, I will take this as pretty much of a huge success.

While I claim no expertise in this subject, I thought I would at least share my very subjective, non-scientific findings on this forum in exchange for all the help I have received here:

* My feeling is that of all the variables, exercise is the most important. As I mentioned, I had to give up hiking but have replaced it with biking, swimming, rebounding and weight machines (to counteract the muscle wasting in the legs). The more I exercise, the better I do.

* Over this period I have continued gradually modifying and I hope improving my diet. I've mostly eliminated sugar, alcohol, processed foods and animal protein while piling on the dark green vegetables. My guess is that this is the second most important variable.

* I take most of the supplements recommended here. Can never be sure they're really helping but my guess is that they are.

* I take no prescription medications. We live in a culture that has gone berserk on the the dangerous idea that the pharmaceutical industry possesses the panacea to our problems. Quite the opposite, medications for pain, anxiety, depression etc. only temporarily mask the problem while exposing us to a host of dangerous side effects and complications.

* I've long since given up consulting doctors on this subject. Doctors are great for setting bones or removing your appendix, but not too much else. In the vast uncharted field of idiopathology (think I'm coining a word ) they tend to take their orders (and sometimes pay) from the pharmaceutical industry. In their stead, I would recommend you simply study some of the many posts of the indefatigable and very learned MrsD.)

In sum, the improvement I have experienced has been very slow in coming but also very sure. I figure, since it took me about two thirds of a lifetime to mess up my body with a poor lifestyle, toxic exposures, etc., why should I expect it to suddenly reverse? Bodies usually respond slowly and like anything of real value, it often requires dedicated hard work and patience.

That's my story. I hope perhaps someone will find it of help. Meanwhile, thanks to all of you who have contributed on this site -- and a special thanks to MrsD!

Terry