Hi Guys!

My problem has been resolved but I sure haven't forgotten the people who helped me! My sugar is in the normal range, (not diabetic), but when I was was 48 1/2 this horrible PN happened to me.

Would like to mention Mrs. D. again, of course, who helped me with my Vitamin D Deficiency and allowed me to use my right leg again more than three hours a day.... took away that chronic pain in the calf, the "ball and chain leg pain" as I used to call it - first person to give me my life back. Mrs. D.

Shout out again to StaceyD who told me about Benfotiamine (was taking 500mg to 1000 a day, Life Extension brand) who relieved that awful all over pricking and itching I was dealing with and the occasional electronic shock in the left cheek and left foot. Woot Woot to you, second person who gave me my life back here.

Also the hordes of you who told me about Alpha Lipoic Acid 600mg per day. When I added that, even more of the lighter annoying nerve pain went away (I just used Spring Valley from Walmart).

But now I have found something else and it's CHEAP so I'm sharing, why the heck not. I started trying it for my knee arthritis which was precluding me from riding my bike... I started just walking but then my heel spurs threatened to return so then I was stuck, weight going up again, etc. A friend of mine from long ago at my first job after college told me about it.

Diatomaceous Earth - Food Grade (fossil flour). It just kind of looks like flour (will provide you with links) and you take a heaping tablespoon per day - or most people do. I paid 10 bucks for a giant 5 lb. bag. Because I have neuropathy, I started with only 1/3 a teaspoon per day.... My knees felt better immediately. I was able to start riding my bike again right off the bat. The fossil flour did seem to kick up the neuropathy a bit more when I started - most things do, but after about four days, the neuropathy symptom increase started backing off.

When I try something new, if it makes my neuropathy symptoms worse and worse as the days go by, then I just figure I can't use it. In this case, the neuropathy symptoms kicked up a bit, but gradually diminished in just a few days.

Now I am up to about a level tablespoon of fossil flour a day, some in the morning, some in the early afternoon. I don't take it past 4PM because it gives me an energy boost and I stop so I can sleep. Here I am about 4 weeks into it and for the fifth day in a row, I woke up with ZERO neuropathy pains - no light pains in the legs, thighs, no zipping pins in the feet (these had become manageable, but never went completely away).

I have not run to take my Benfotiamine (which is kind of pricey to take) and Alpha Lipoic Acid first thing in the morning anymore....I haven't taken either in days and days now - this is unheard of for me. I've completely forgotten to take my morning 10mg of Nortriptylene that my neurologist gave me that is an antidepressant with benefits for neuropathy... Why? Because there is zero nerves going off in my legs, not even little tiny ones. NOTHING. ZILCH.

Other benefits: My face looks really beautiful and much younger, family and co workers have noticed. I can ride my bike everyday now. I am literally riding my bike with a smile plastered to my face ear to ear because I cannot believe that I am climbing the trails (mountain bike in woods) that I used to climb at the pace that I cam climbing them with no pain in my knees. I can walk up and down steps with zero knee pain. I can sit and hop up from potty without a zinging pain in my knee caps. I can stand up and bend down and wipe up goop spilled on the floor without zinging pain in my knee caps. I have lost the weight, fast. Family and co workers have immediately noticed that. I no longer crave chocolate and sugar - people who know me know what a life long slave I have been to chocolate. It is so easy to walk past chocolate and other 'like items' in stores now, without picking them up. I am so much less depressed. I get so much more done in a day now. I wake up and get out of bed much more easily, no more dragging myself out of bed.

Here is the best website on it I have found. What it is, why it works, frequently asked questions, testimonials (not many on neuropathy though)
http://www.earthworkshealth.com/human-use.php

Here is one article that I found related to neuropathy. I am no doc. I have no idea if what they say is true. Diatomaceous Earth is one of those things that people try and if it works for them they keep doing it. There is not a lot of info on the web. Diatomaceous Earth is mined from the ground - it can't be patented or prescribed, therefore, not a lot of interest in 'studies' as you can imagine why - financially. But here you go, someone might find this interesting.
http://www.westonaprice.org/environm...ad-as-a-hatter

I feel I have a duty to come here and tell you guys because of how much help I was given here, how I was able to have a life again because of this site. I have no other motivation. I hope it helps just one other person, then that will make me happy, thanks for listening, Karen

Under the title, "Dirt Cheap Solution" in this article, just a clip...

Peripheral Neuropathy improved by purging build up of the metal cadmium in the intestine using Diatomaceous Earth (fossil flour).

All you have to loose is pain. It's helping me. Good luck to all of you , you'll get help here, if not from me, someone else. To Seek is to Find...

http://www.westonaprice.org/environm...ad-as-a-hatter

Thank you so much for sharing Karen.

I will definitely look into this, try it out. After all, what have I got to lose? Only pain!

If only more people like you would post their success stories, this forum would be filled with hope, and a little less despair. I think it's easy to forget to come back here if life returns to normal.

I appreciate your time coming here. Hopefully your advice will help some of us.

Thanks for noticing my post!! Yes, I found some success stories here and I would come in and read them over and over and over and over... even if not everything they said helped me.. even if something they said I tried and made me worse, didn't matter, I just kept reading them

My neurologist, who helped very little, said to me, how did you find out about this? My supplements and such.. I told him, from other sufferers. He just nodded his head. I went in for a second opinion with another neurologist. By the time my appt rolled around for the second opinion, I just sat in the guys office gushing about my improvement. When I gave that doc my list of what I take/supplements, the last thing he said was, "See... you figured it out yourself!" They know, but they don't tell. My first neurologist was however, the only doc that agreed with the level of Vitamin d that Mrs. D told me to take. The orthopedic guy advised much less. What ortho doc said wasn't working so I went with what Mrs. D said, much improved in five days - tears of joy were welling up in my eyes, on and off, all day, by day five on Mrs. D's level of Vitamin D I had been taking.

I gotta wonder about the first person who thought of/tried DE as a "food"....

"Hmmm... diggin' this dirt here. It's good as a pesticide, fertilizer, metal polish, and makes a dandy cat litter too. Think I'll scarf some down! Blech! Tastes like chalk, only grittier. Think I'll snack on a tablespoonful of this stuff every day from here on!"

Doc

I am going to look into this in depth. It can be used internally, but mostly seems to be an insect deterrent.

Breathing the powder however would put silicon in the lungs, and that can be very bad, and lead to scleroderma as one other scenario.

But it looks like it may be absorbing some toxin from your GI tract.
Various clays are also used in treating certain diseases. Bentonite and fuller's earth are examples.

Dysbiosis is a common feature of our lives since antibiotics were invented. It is thought that Candida infects just more than 1/2 of the US population! So it figures that the FDA would take Kaolin (an absorptive clay) off the market! LOL
What happened is that products with Kaolin needed studies to remain OTC in the US = Kaopectate. But Pfizer wouldn't pay for this so sold its NAME to a company who put Bismuth subsalicylate in it...so Kaopectate is now the same as Pepto Bismol!

Anyway, I digress... there may be some reason the absorbent, is working for you, Karen. Either it is absorbing heavy metals from your GI tract or killing off some critter that was dumping byproducts into your system via the GI tract.

Just be careful with that powder and don't inhale it (maybe wear a mask when measuring it out).

As time passes, it would appear to me that you could eventually
not need it.

But you do win the award today for the 1st post on this topic. And perhaps maybe we will all benefit from it too!

Dear Mrs. D thanks for coming by!

Also Dr. Smith - very funny name. You almost had me fooled. I can understand why you're like.... "Warning Wil Robinson ... Warning!" That's cool. Most would probably agree with you.

I am completely prepared for many to scoff and not believe me. To those I would say, guess your not in enough pain yet. I was worried, not primarily for PN anymore thanks to this site as I have mentioned, but that knee arthritis and heel spurs were going to cripple me soon; that was my desperation for trying it, as I stated.

Here's a sheet of frequently asked questions that explains why someone would take something that also kills bugs, the inhalation concern and why if it's so great you never heard of it before.

http://www.earthworkshealth.com/Diat...-Earth-FAQ.php

Here's one of my favorite quickie, "the gist of Diatomaceous Earth" on youtube; this guy is President of Earthworks, so yes he's selling something. But it's a good "explain it to me like Im a Kindergartner" speech.

Love that gritty, foggy water taste... that's because I know how Im gonna feel the rest of the day. I can't promise you it will help you, but if everything everyone else including doctors has promised you has failed, then it's something else and it's dirt cheap, pardon that pun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQn6GSHNzBE

Peace people and good luck to all of you... this thread aside, I hope you all find your way like I did!!! Happy St. Patty's day

Karen I am so happy for you that you are doing good!! That is wonderful!! People like you give hope to others.

Very interesting topic, you never know what odd thing is waiting to be your miracle. Interesting.

Wanted to add, reading your link I read this:

Secondly, an unexpectedly dangerous compound to avoid is N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a high-priced product heavily recommended by alternative medical doctors and other health practitioners. NAC is a form of cysteine often recommended as a more powerful form of the much-needed amino acid L-cysteine or in lieu of glutathione, an antioxidant that is rarely effective in supplement form.66 Although dozens of journal articles support its short-term use as immunity booster and detoxifier, evidence is mounting of potential long-term harm. The NAC form of cysteine conceivably can poison vitalethine, a vital component needed to activate humoral immunity.67-69

Interesting, I wondered how safe NAC was long term

Stacy- was it you that told me about the Befiotamine? (spell?) Couldn't remember for sure. That kept me from being bed ridden three or four days a week. that was huge for me.

Most people do fine with NAC. I have not had a problem. Good to build up Glutathione, lung health etc.

Yes, Benfotiamine has been very good for a lot of reasons along with the other supplements. I have used them a long time.