Dear Karen,

You mention a few times that if you eat the wrong foods that you feel the neuropathy.

I was wondering what those foods were so that I could try avoiding them also.

Could you please spend a moment explaining the types of food that give these reactions?

Debbie

I'll repeat my experiences..... while we wait for Karen's answer.

Nightshade veggies--- really cause burning feet for me. Potatoes are the worst, then come concentrated tomato products. All the peppers upset my GI tract...even paprika.

Red wine and white wine, and MSG (monosodium glutamate) also bother me. Chinese restaurant food...ugh! I even get blurred vision from MSG.

MSG is an inorganic form of glutamate which floods the blood quickly when absorbed. (glutamate naturally in foods has to be digested to be absorbed--and this is a slower process). Then this glutamate goes to the NMDA receptors among other things, and may trigger them... NMDA =pain

Sugar and ice cream may increase burning too, by thickening the blood.

Hi Mrs D

Thank you for that info on foods which trigger for you. I have a feeling some of those are problematic for me also. Had Thai food for dinner tonight and it didn't go down so well, at all! I used to eat it regularly, but this was the first time since giving up gluten (gave up Xmas time) that I've had Thai food. I didn't know about MSG. The fellow who owns the restaurant has a motto of No MSG. So, either he lies or something else upset my plumbing tonight.

The nightshade vegies are a surprise to me. Will give them a miss for a month or so to see if it makes a difference.

Thank you.

Debbie

In my case, triggers are sugar (test negative for anything close to diabetes), sugar alcohols (in many "sugar-free" foods and others), nightshades, white carbs (bread, pasta/noodles, rice, taters), dairy (except cheese).

Doc

Hi Ms. Aussie Debbie!!!

First of all, hey Mrs. D and Dr. Spock!! My triggers are any food that increases blood sugar too, Doc Spock, but the Benfotiamine and Alpha Lipoic Acid took care of that... that and a little over the counter Progesterone Cream (Refer to "What you Doctor May Not have told you about Menopause" or "Perimenopause" by Dr. Lee.

You see, menopause is what happened to me. When you hit menopause, your ability to process sugar gets crappier... it's not as good as it used to be before when you were younger. That's how come I came to wind up with a disease that is mostly caused by diabetes when I in fact had sugar levels that were within the normal ranges. This is what I suspected on my own (the menopause theory) and was later confirmed by two doctors in Annapolis. Although a third in the same practice said there is no scientific proof that progesterone (cream or oral gel caps) relieves neuropathy. I thought to myself, well that may very well be but my 'burning legs and but' study gave me all the scientific knowledge I desired thank you very much.

Again, the mud I will point out, in addition to lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure (all purported benefits here) is also supposed to cure most menopausal ills. That's because it helps level out hormonal imbalances, which when added to my regimine, brought down my neuropathy symptoms from manageable to ZILCHO.

I used to take coconut oil for my arthritis and heel spurs, it used to help tremendously, enter, neuropathy - BUZZER SOUNDS!!!! Burning pain and tingling of all sorts, feet, legs but.... even up into the arms and the neck.... plus it's sneaky. It doesn't start right away. I take it, think I am getting away with it, then it hits me like a ton of bricks at night.

Next, fish oil. Used to take it all the time, gobs of it, made my mood lift. Enter nueropathy, buzzer sounds again!!! Now immediately and severe nerve pain in Left foot - the GOOD FOOT, mind you... one doc theorized it might be the mercury. Mercury is one of the items removed, porportedly, by the mud.

Then there was the wonderful promising tumeric root for arthritis!! You simply eat about a third of a raw tumeric root, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, and wella - arthritis gone!!! And boy did it work! I was in complete amazement. But it didn't last because surprise surprise, like most things that dont react well with my neuropathy, the tumeric root is a powerful phytoestrogen, sending hormones additionally out of whack. The arthritis relief was quickly overshadowed by some of the most powerful nerve burning in legs I've experienced to date. I was heartsick. Next came the mud!!!

So, pretty much my theory on neuropathy is this.... it's due to hormones draining out of your body (menopause and for both men and women, aging) or imbalances some people are unlucky enough to have at a young age... Sugar is just not processed as well as it was when you were younger and had more youthful hormone levels. That's my theory. Diabetes you say? Ok, what age did that happen? I know some children have it but I mean the run of the mill type 2....

I even saw noted on menopause symptoms lists "tingling of the hands or feet." Gee, what does that sound like?

So therefore, coconut oil and fish oil I can't take, no miraculous tumeric root either (tastes like crap, turns your teeth orange, but your arthritis will improve in a few hours if you can tolerate it).... Then I think I had an itch prick attack over vitamin E pill once, Canola oil makes for burning nerves whereas Olive Oil is ok.

I did bring my tolerance up to eat once piece of salmon per night, I put up with the somewhat slight burning, it eased over time and now completely gone with the wondrous mud.... and I am able to take Flaxseed Oil too, but I have to use a bit more progesterone cream because of that as it is also a very powerful phytoestrogen. Flaxseed oil does a LOT for arthritis too, like the coconut oil used to, but even the mighty Flaxseed oil has been trumped by the Diatom Fossil Flour Mud! I still take my share of flaxseed and flaxseed oil for arthritis help and the cardio benefits.

For me, I have to carefully check each oil. Supplements too, Acacia powder, dirt cheap and great to help with weight loss, used to be able to use that, now, just brings on those burning nerves particularly in the calf that Mrs. D. helped me get rid of with getting the Vitamin D level worked out.

This is all from my experience only - I've only tested all on myself, so far I haven't died, who knows, I could, so take all I've said with a grain of salt please. I found out Google helped me more than my nuerologist because Google is what brought me here. Google is what helped me figure out the sugar/menopause connection and Google is what helped me figure out that coconut oil was causing me problems even though it didn't used to. I believe in Google.

Karen that is pretty interesting.

I am approaching that age. I need to have my hormones checked. Did you have yours checked and they said you needed progesterone?? How did you decide which direction to go with that? Very interesting.

I take tumeric, but it has helped my burning, the amount in my zyflamend. Then I just added curcumin pills also, I don't think it is making it worse but I dont see it helping either.

Again, so glad you are doing so good!! I wish I were too!! I started iodine protocol today hoping that helps.

GEt the book, "What you Doctor May Not have Told you about Menopause." What happened was, I suspected menopause because was given neuropathy and athritis diagnosed same summer, age 48 and a half. I suspected menopause. I was also hardly having any monthly you know what's... gave me a clue !!

About this neuropathy, with my useless doctor... a little bird kept telling me to call an doctor I knew personally from years ago, used to be a friend of mine. I wondered if he would remember me. He was a urinary surgeon, dealing with cancer mostly. The little bird kept saying, "He's going to know what's wrong with you..." He's one of those doctors that knows a lot about everything, not just his specialty. He's developed and patented surgical devises having to do with urniary surgery, he's written a couple of books, etc etc etc.. He is also hilarious if you know him in person. So I wrote him a letter, sent it to his house cause I never really had his phone number.

He wrote me back and told me right away, to get the book I told you to get, read it and go get some over the counter progesterone cream. Here's the website related to the book, by the way... http://www.johnleemd.com/

I got the cream. I thought, yea, sure... what's a little over the counter cream going to do for me? Put it on, went out to ride my bike. Low and behold - I had 1/3 more power than I used to instantly! I was stunned. In fact, I was stunned and overjoyed for three weeks cause light neuropathy pain that had been sneaking into my back which was not covered by the other stuff I told you I got here, Gone in three days!!! It was like the fountain of youth.

I will remain on that cream for the rest of my life. Never to go off of it, I am so much stronger.

In your case, you may not be completely out of progesterone yet whereas I believe I was. Can't explain all of that and estrogen dominance here in one little thread, you're gonna at least have to go to read the website or book.

If you still have 'some' progesterone left, then it's probably enough to balance out the extra jolt of phytoestrogen you'll get from the tumeric.

Dont' know anything about iodine but Im recommending

1. Vitamin D level checked and straightened out (Vitamin D is very close to a hormone)
2. Diatom Fossil Flour (the mud)
3. Benfiotamine
4. Alpha Lipoic Acid
5. Progesterone Cream

If you don't want to do the mud, you should still see if the other 4 help you. They have hormone balancing for men now too. Thanks for listening!

PS, that doc I told you about last thread, he still is a unrinary surgeon but now also specializes in hormone replacement therapy for men and women. He is writing a book about same. He wanted me to do the artwork for his book. I actually only do wildlife though. .

That doc, he charges 300 bucks per appt., doesn't take insurance, doesn't need to bother with it and has hordes of ppl pouring into him for help. In fact, one of my previous (female) gynos is his patient. He says ppl don't think doctors have problems, but they do.

Not every gyno will help you with hormone replacement therapy. A lot of them don't even understand it. Best bet is to go to a compounding pharmacy, get names of docs from them who order prescriptions through there, then call those docs and find out if they take your insurance. If they do, then that's where you should go.

The first gyno I went to see said no way was my pn related to menopause because otherwise she would see it all the time, and furthermore, she told me I should find out what caused it. (Neuros already told me in my case, not diabetes, they never find out.. it's cause that don't know anything about hormones, really). Then later, one specialist and gyno at another practise said it certainly is related to hormonal changes!

Not all doctors know but it's ok 'cause there's always google. Seek and ye shall find....

Just skimmed it, but this looks like another web page that is talking about what I have been trying to explain,

It’s probably hard to imagine, but Diabetes, Menopause and Obesity are all related. In fact, they might be the same thing, caused by the same root issue, just expressed differently by the body.


Similar topic anyhow.... menopause, sugar and diabetes...; another sugar disease besides PN that sometimes goes along with it...

http://www.askdrgarland.com/?p=7770

Yes, it is important to me to have my hormones balanced with bio identical hormone creams. I found that out years ago.