I am curious as to what is the most successful thing you have tried that has helped the most. For me it was changing my diet to a plant based natural state diet and avoiding inflammatory foods.

Giving up on the buscuits & gravy & potatoes. Learning what turns into sugar and how quickly. Picking my way to a better diet but still leaving enough comfort to be able to eat that way for life. Also Morton Epsom Salt Lotion. I take many supplements but cannot attribute lessening pain to any one item, may be simply passage of time. I am afraid that a plant-based natural diet may be too much of a quantum leap for me. I am still getting used to 100% whole grain bread. haha. Thanks for your post, I will look at the diet with a sense of morbid curiosity,haha. Ken in Texas.

This is good to read for anyone interested in a vegan diet and how it may help PN:

http://arizonapain.com/vegan-diet-heal-neuropathy/

In my experience and opinion after trying literally everything, cannabis is the most effective neuropathic pain treatment.

For anyone who still thinks of marijuana as an addictive street drug, you need to rethink it. It is also a very effective medicine and an invaluable gift from our planet.

I agree on all counts

I think r-lipoic acid has helped me. While I'm certainly not asymptomatic, I'm much better than I was before I started taking it. In the NutreVal test I took, I did show as being low on alpha-lipoic acid too.

The only other thing I'm doing differently which may or may not be playing a role is that I've switched to a very low carb diet. My fasting glucose is 80 and my A1c 5.2, so I'm not even close to being pre-diabetic, but I do have metabolic issues in the form of reactive hypoglycemia. When I took the oral glucose tolerance test, my glucose at the two hour mark was 71. (The pre-diabetic level start at 140, and diabetic at 200.)

Given that half the people with SFN are diabetic or pre-diabetic, I decided it couldn't hurt trying to keep my glucose levels lower even if I don't meet the "disease" criteria in case there's something the docs just don't understand. Maybe some of us unlucky souls are just genetically predisposed to SFN, and "normal" glucose levels are enough to cause it. Maybe we need to be even lower than normal. Just grasping at straws with that of course.

Anyway, besides losing a quick 10 pounds, I have to say I do feel better after I eat. My heart doesn't pound the way it used to after a high carb meal (always whole grain BTW). I prefer not eating the amount of meat I'm eating now, but going low carb eliminates a lot of food I used to eat instead of meat. Still working my way around that issue.

Oh, and lidocaine patches do help on my feet when I have a bad night. I think I'm more prone to bad nights the more sedentary I am during the day, but I can't say that for sure.

wow....thanks...great website.
diandra

Also for me it was changing to a nearly all plant based diet. I almost never eat beef or chicken, but slide sometimes when my family orders pizza, then I eat some cheese. I also have the intention of avoiding processed food as much as possible but it is so tempting that I slide on this as well. Also I have a problem with shrimp.

Some good sites:

http://fatfreevegan.com/--vegan (no animal products) recipes with nodded fat.
http://www.drfuhrman.com/--Dr. Joel Fuhrman
http://ornishspectrum.com/--Dr. Dean Ornish
http://nutritionfacts.org/--Dr. Michael Greger
http://www.dresselstyn.com/--Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
http://www.youtube.com/user/johnbchiro--Dr. John Bergman

http://www.extremehealthradio.com/--Great podcasts on good health and healing. Also, everyone, please listen to Episode 328 with John Bergman. The title involves arthritis but this is only a small part of the material. Dr. John Bergman is amazing. He discussed all sorts of health topics. He is all about the body healing itself given the right conditions, and knows more about the human body than anyone I have ever been exposed to.

Ron

I wanted to correct my links:

http://fatfreevegan.com -- vegan (no animal products) recipes with no added fat.
http://www.drfuhrman.com -- Dr. Joel Fuhrman
http://ornishspectrum.com -- Dr. Dean Ornish
http://nutritionfacts.org -- Dr. Michael Greger
http://www.dresselstyn.com -- Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
http://www.youtube.com/user/johnbchiro -- Dr. John Bergman

http://www.extremehealthradio.com -- Great podcasts on good health and healing. Also, everyone, please listen to Episode 328 with John Bergman. The title involves arthritis but this is only a small part of the material. Dr. John Bergman is amazing. He discussed all sorts of health topics. He is all about the body healing itself given the right conditions, and knows more about the human body than anyone I have ever been exposed to.

Ron

Ron,

Any other suggestions on episodes related to PN? I have a few drives in my day plus time for audio. Thanks.

Jon