Which cancers are you saying this might help reduce?? And i love
the beauty of Tai Chi but unless i can sit down may end up with
more problems. Sue

It's the aspirin that helps reduce the incidence and severity of some types of esophageal, stomach, breast, lung, prostate, urinary bladder, and ovarian cancers.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/a...cer-prevention

As far as Tai Chi, it's great, but some can't do it. We each have to find what is appropriate for us.

Rule #1 of exercise is to not injure yourself. You have to exercise judgment (sorry about that). Sometimes what is hardest to do is just what we need. When I started yoga, many poses had to be near or against a wall because my foot pain was excruciating, balance was gone, as was the ability to control the large muscles of my legs. After years of yoga, I can balance on one leg easily, walk a curb, and can control all the muscles of my legs, thanks to the training of yoga. I had a great teacher, Kathy Goodman, who wouldn't accept "I can't do it" from me. Her answer was, "You can". Then she'd find a prop or modification of the pose to help me along. She never gave up on me (and neither did I). BTW, my feet still hurt, but not nearly as bad, not 20/7, and the numbness is less.

Make no mistake about it. Without being over dramatic, none of this is easy. We're in the struggle of our lives with no guarantees, and it's for the long haul.

But the struggle itself is well worth it. Sometimes the past 14 or so years I've felt like child learning basic things and had the total joy of getting a function back, or being able to do something that I couldn't do a few years previous. That's why I'm somewhat of a zealot about this approach, hoping others here can go from the depths of despair to a good life worth living.

Hey, if my Alan can go from being a 300 lb man with Idiopathic PN, using Fentanyl patches, and vicodin.....to a 200 lb bodybuilder (as long as his foot ulcer doesn't act up), who is on no pain medication whatsoever, well I think anything is possible.

And I, myself take B-12 methyl.

But hey, if I needed a joint, I'd go to the park a few blocks from my house. Or I'd stand on the corner at 3 a.m. and just see who walks by. You can smell the stuff. It's all over the place in NYC. But I know it gives you the munchies, that's why, after my first experience with pot at age 24, there wasn't any more experiences. I could not afford the weight gain.

lol

Melody

When my pain reaches a point that I need to do something, there turn out to be a LOT of things I can do, short of taking a narcotic.

1. stimulate the area that hurts with a different sensation. ANY sensation. Cold, heat, hot wax (heated safely by a spa machine),

2. Lidocaine patches. If the pain is localized, these really do help. I've had times when the pain has gone away and that was the only thing I changed.

3. TENS. I love this. It's easy to use and lightweight.

4. movement---feldenkrais movement is about lying on the floor and making the most gentle of movements and gradually rocking around a movement. It hlps muscles let go, if muscles are the cause.

I think we all have our own bag of tricks

Liza Jane:

The one thing Alan has never tried is the Tens Unit. Dr. Theirl, a long long time ago, said he could borrow one and bring it home to try it. Alan never took advantage of this.

I do know what TENS stands for and the fact that it sends a mild electric current but how does this help with the pain? Wouldn't it make is worse (like when the podiatrist put that vibrating tool on my toes and feet and when I went home, my whole foot went bonkers) I never had one symptom before that.

I'm just curious how a Tens Unit helps PN.

Thanks,

Melody

Thank you for this. I thought maybe I would add a few that may help others that I learned in my treatment to help with anxiety. I'm having a hard time using it for pain but it stil helps with the anxiety a little. All of these take practice and time too. Guided imagery where you listen to a lady on a tape and she helps you with deep breathing or ways of healthy distraction. Different forms of therapy such as biofeedback or dbt. I also journal a lot and helps to see the connection of mood,issues,coping.
As for tens I have no idea but I heard it has helped others too. Isn't it a form of pt? As for the licodine patch. I just got these and try to use them but like yesterday it hurt to have anything on it. Today I'm trying and have 3 but does this also help in the long run to relieve pain overall like the precription meds for nerve pain?
Wing I agree its a combo of things. I was wondering are you also on meds pain and the nerve meds?Also to me the exercise issue is way off but even being on my feet more makes it feel worse. Is that in the short run but in the long run makes it better? Is it really just about trying to live and be more functionable with pain or does the nerve regenerate quicker?

Thanks for all these suggestions. You can bet I will be trying some of them. Right now nothing seems to help so I can sleep. I'll try anything!

TENS (Transdermal Electro Neural Stimulation) helps by;

- Interfering directly with pain signals. The TENS unit substitutes its own frequency and pulse.

- Interfering indirectly with pain signals by a process called lateral inhibition. If you stimulate a nerve, the adjoining nerves are inhibited. Instead of coming from a point like your locus of pain, the TENS stimulation comes from one or more large (1-2 inch across) pads, or better yet, in a Epsom salts solution bath so that the pain locus is inhibited.

- Stimulating the production of endorphins, the body's own natural pain killer and healing agent, in the synapses where nerves meet.

- There is a large body of research that TENS and other micro-electrostimulation help heal nerves and reestablish synapses.

TENS and other electrostimulators don't irritate the nerves, they calm them down IF USED PROPERLY!!

I don't use exclamation points often, but this is important. Understand what you're doing before doing anything to the damaged nerves and nerve endings in your poor feet, legs, spine, hands, etc.

Somebody in the old forum, for example, reported that the ReBuilder had caused bad pain that lasted for days. It turns out that they had turned up the level as high as it goes. As the instructions say, you're supposed to start where you can't feel it, and slowly increase the level to where you feel a tingle but no pain.

The same principle applies to ANY therapy, including pain killers and supplements. If a little is good and good for you, a lot may make it worse and may be extremely harmful.

Thank you David.

Tomorrow Alan has his appointment with the neurologist. He's going to ask her about the TENS Unit.

We shall see!!!

Will update.

Melody