I am having lots of side effects from this even at the 25mcg dose.

I am reading that Hup A can accumulate in the body...so I am only taking it every 3 rd day now. Hubby has no side effects from 50mcg a day. So I have him taking it every other day, just in case.

I'm wondering how it's been going with the huperzine supplementation? I purchased the same one from Amazon, then read your thread and reconsidered taking it.

I am currently using dextromethorphan as an nmda antagonist, and it is working great, but I'm looking into more options. Anyone know whether taking 2 NMDA antagonists at the same time is either a good or bad idea?

Im looking into this. Lately I have made a lot of glaring errors that have led me to ask my partner to double check all my travel itinerary's. I've had some difficulty not only with memory but with processing information. Its only mild and most of the time Im OK buts its something that's creeping up on me and at 52 its probably the right age

However Im even more interested if its something that may help with Pn Pain.
Mrs D your issues are ,mostly muscular and arthritis based, or are you seeing improvement in nerve pain as well

I deal with I herb and they have it there. Looks inexpensive

http://www.iherb.com/search?kw=Huperzine+A&x=9&y=22#p=1

I've given it up... for now. Hubby is not asking for any either.
He took one 50mcg dose last week.

I've had to go back on my SAMe as my right knee has flared up.
Then my shingles pain came back... so it is 1 gram of Lysine a day. With those two, I am doing quite well actually. The SAMe really helps me with mood and dealing with pain. 400mg is what I am using right now daily. I used SAMe for over a decade while I was still working. I thought my knee was fairly normal so I finally discontinued it. So now I think it might be a lifelong thing for me.

The huperzine is difficult. It might be good for some people, but it seems to make me very tense and congests my sinuses, which then leads to pressure headache feelings.

Yes, zorro, that is the one I bought too. They break easily so you can adjust your dose from 25mcg to a full tablet. Keep in mind that it can build up in the body, so you may have to skip days or take "vacation" days from it.

@Breia-- yes, I use DM too. I did notice once when I had a bronchitis, that high dose DM did impact my feet. But now I don't really need that much. I posted here about it in fact.
Keep in mind that using DM is problematic with any antidepressants.

Magnesium is a good NMDA antagonist too. The new Morton Epsom lotion is wonderful rubbing into problematic areas. I use mine every day.

Our PD forum (and also MS) has posts about low dose DM being an agent to prevent neurodegeneration in the central nervous system (CNS). There are many posts about this aspect of it.
If you visit and search those forums, there are lengthy discussions about it. One of our members, Nide44, tried the high dose DM with his doctor's supervision based on some studies that came out several years ago...but it didn't seem to work for him. So I guess it is a highly individualized type of treatment, where some people do well with it, and others don't seem to benefit as much.

I use Robitussin DM at night for excessive sinus congestion or coughing (I used to use an ACE inhibitor which can cause a dry cough)...and did notice that it can help with PN pain. At least it seemed to help with burning when I had that symptom often at night. But I have found over time, that avoiding the nightshade veggies reduced burning for me much more efficiently.

Mrs.D,

I have been taking SAM-e for a long time now. I am taking the 600mg daily. It helps me with my left knee arthritis but I dont notice improvement in my fingers though. As for the mood, the effect on me is not consistent..sometimes it helps, sometimes it makes me irritable.

Mary

Yes, there can be an irritability factor with SAMe... but I find for myself, that it wanes, as time passes. The first 2 weeks to a month can be very energizing.

If you back off to 400mg a day or alternate 400 with 600 every other day you may find it less irritating. I think one should remain flexible because everyone has different neurotransmitter status, and these doses are very broad and there is not way to identify yet how much people would need, other than trial and error.

Thanks for the information, Mrs. D! I suspected you might still be having trouble with the huperzine. Too bad. It looks like it works, but I wonder who can tolerate the side effects.

I actually browsed the PD forum extensively about DM before I joined. The information was very helpful, but at that low dose, I experienced no relief. I've been on DM for at least 2 months, going up slowly to find the level where I get maximum relief. I now find that it is 120 mg/day. I was pleasantly surprised to find that at this dose I could discontinue all my other pain meds (twice daily Tylenol and once daily Alleve) and have better control of my pain.

I then decided to discontinue my 50 mg Topamax to see if it would handle the PN. To my delight it did indeed. The topamax worked well, but it had side effects (severely dry hair-some report hair loss-and tingling in my fingertips). The only thing it doesn't handle is the fibro pain..didn't even touch it. Had to resort to the tramadol.

I don't take ADs because most disagree with me, especially the Serotonin acting ones (so that excludes most of them), but thanks for the tip! And I started the magnesium oil yesterday because of your recommendation in other threads..so thanks again! I bought the spray rather than the lotion, and it goes on really easy. Too soon to say if it's having any benefit, but it certainly isn't hurting anything and I needed to add magnesium to my regimen.

I think I got up to 80mg a day of DM... My elderly cat sneezed on me (right in my face) and boy did I get sick from THAT.

It was about a week at the round the clock DM for coughing that I noticed a big decrease in burning. But it was rather stultifying for me mentally, and I was searching for other causes of the night time burning and discovered NIGHTSHADES.... Once that was fixed, I rarely have burning anymore. I did get some salsa at Baja Fresh 3 weeks ago, and that started some burning for me that night. And some perch my son and I had last summer on vacation--whew!! much histamine burning for both of us! But the everyday burning is more or less gone for me.

You might avoid all MSG...as that will also make problems for me. MSG is a NMDA agonist and I think all PNers should avoid it.

I'm glad you are able to resolve yours with an elimination diet. Not taking more meds is a blessing. Unfortunately, my PN doesn't involve just burning..the pressure in my feet is the worst. It's hard to describe, but it's uncomfortable. It used to be just tingling until I took a nasty round of Levaquin, which hurt my tendons and I guess my nerves as well.

i just came across your post re: magnesium inflaming your heart lining & since i am one year post heart attack, i am concerned that the epsom lotion i use could somehow have a negative impact on my heart! how did your doc find out it was inflaming your heart lining? TIA!