Debi,

Thanks for the input. This is why I am at the end of my rope. Yes I did pain management for 2.5 years. Had to stop the pain meds (gabapentin, tramadol, lyrica) as they became ineffective and due to side effects. Now I'm on nothing for pain.
Saw a neuro several times. He's the one who did the skin punch test that came back positive for SFN. He next did a glucose tolerance test, which came back as normal. He told me to come back in a year and he'll do another glucose tolerance test. That was all he did. Nothing to relieve my pain or condition. Never went back.

I was always very active and up until 3 years ago, among other things, did walk/jog 3 miles 7 days/ week. Now if I walk 20 minutes, the pain carries through for 2-3 days. More exercise makes it worse. Rest makes it better.

This is really hopeless, isn't it? There's not really anything that will ever make life anything close to normal, is there?

Thanks

I lived with burn/tingle issues from nerve damage from hip replacement. Most of my thigh is still numb going on 5 yrs. But burn/tingle is gone thanks to Inosine and Sphingolin which I'm taking now about 3 months. I've posted about it here.

I deal with bodywide OA and a hip replacement mess and ibuprofen and Pain RX herbal are my pain controller and other supplements that also help reduce pain.

Many foods exacerbate pain too, work on eliminating sugars and carbs.

My friend who has neuropathy for many years and she realizes now from statins she took WAY TOO LONG, is having good help with grape seed extract she now is taking about 5 yrs. She took all the drugs for many years...now I think she takes tylenol and ibuprofen as needed. I take grape seed ex 20 yrs now.

When we talk about pain management we are talking about more than gabapentin, lyrica and tramadol.
We are talking about heavy hitters, fentanyl, morphine, Butrans, etc. I am on MS Contin, time release morphine, 30mg x 3 daily. I also have oxycodone 10/325 for breakthrough pain. I take gabapentin, baclofen for muscle spasms, and Valium for breakthrough spasms. I am able to walk several miles but can't right now because of open wounds. I posted earlier in this discussion.
I loved walking because it helped mentally but it certainly won't cure or even necessarily slow down SFN. Doctors love to push this exercise thing because it is easy for them, doesn't require anything from them and allows them to push all the blame for your condition back on you. Magazines are full of short, meaningless articles repeating the mantra that exercise cures everything. several new books on chronic pain make the claim that we could throw away all our pills if we just exercised more. Without my pills I wouldn't move off the sofa.
You are a victim of this modern mentality. While it is true sometimes it isn't usually true for neuropathy and your neurologist really should know this.
If your quality of life is deteriorating it may be time to look into something stronger. Nerve pain relief is a trial and error process but I believe there is something out there that will make a difference for you.

I've had to truncate my exercising- my walk from the parking lot to workwas built in exercise, I halved it by moving lots- and my hands have gotten so bad I can't massage my legs any longer.

So I understand the helplessness. I really do. Are there other pain management options near you, facility wise? Perhaps you need next level medication. If your past physician was unwilling you may need to find one who is. It sounds as if you have done a lot to try and mitigate thibgs already.

My best to you,

Jon