HI Belinda, Good Morning!
I just wanted to say to be careful taking so much Ibuprofen. I have Barrett's Esophagus from taking major amounts of it before my back surgery. I lived on that stuff and it slowly ate away at my esophagus.
I hope your pain meds are helping with your pain today. I know how rough it is. I have bad days and not so bad days. PN isn't easy to live with!

Belinda.
I just PM'd you something called
A Letter to Normals From One in Chronic Pain:
(I also placed it in the 'stickies' above)
It may help for you to print it out, and give it to those near to you.
Its been passed around for at least 5 years that I'm aware of,
and I'm passing it on to you

Bob,
Thank you so much for the letter......I have a few people I will be sending that too....OMG...it so touches on everything that you want to say but know they won't hear. That letter might even shame a few of them, in a good way!

Oh, Belinda. Don't be afraid of becoming a drug addict. People who take marcotics for pain almost never become addicts. We don't get a hight from the drugs -- just pain relief. Find some research on this. You may be just a fentanyl patch away from some real pain relief. I hope you can find a doctor who will help you explore this avenue. I relate so much to what you are going thourgh.

For those who think this pain is in your head...Just get a great big HAMMER,
and hit them in there big TOE...Well of couse don't do that,it's my
way of getting through this..But boy oh boy same days just let them have
it right on the nose...PN pain is everything in Bob's letter isn't it,and
we are all so different,well welcome 2 your new family..Oh we will talk more,
and i hope you tell us more about yourself.. I'm on Neurotin,3600mg
and morphine SR. Well put away your hammer for now.. Sue

Well, don't anyone take this as getting on the anti-smoking bandwagon, but doesn't smoking narrow the blood vessels and possibly compromise whatever it is they are supplying?

I don't even know if this could relate to this, but maybe???

Cathie

Hi Belinda;

I read your thread with much interest because it could have been me writing it a few years ago. I was in constant pain, I was angry my career was ruined and all the plans my husband and I made for the future were gone. I was 49 years old, scared, stressed out, depressed and sick of doctors telling me there was nothing they could do for me. My husband was the only one who believed in me and that was because he has his own neurological issues. Besides the neuropathy, I also have fibromyalgia and I think that even he had problems with the fibro at first.

One of the things I did for myself was to get into counseling. It has been a slow road on the way to acceptance but progress has been made. My neurologist was thrilled I had taken this step so quickly because the stress does make the pain worse, I've felt it happen.

My husband got me into a Pain Management Clinic as soon as I was diagnosed. I was also afraid to take narcotics but the pain was so severe, I was desperate for some relief. I've been on the same meds for 4 years and while narcotics don't even take the pain completely away, it made life tolerable 75% of the time. The other 25% is spent off my feet (with ice, that's what helps my feet cool off) as I'm unable to walk. That's life, the cards I've been dealt.

Slowly my family started to understand as much as they are able to. I gave them Bob's letter and other medical information. My sisters are great but live too far away. E-mails keep us close. I thru caution to the wind this summer and started to travel again. The feeling of being free again far outweighed the extra pain, so I will continue to push myself to go places and see people. However, if I need to be down and off my feet the plans for that day must wait. So be it, that's the best I can do.

So honey, please give yourself permission to do whatever you need to do to have a better quality of life. It's better for you to stop worrying about what others think and concentrate 100% on you. Eventually, they will come around. Everything takes time.

Love,
Nancy-H

Hi , there has been a discussion about smoking on one of my posts. I find that when im smoking that I get increased numbness and altered sensations, and when I read this post and the fact that the only 3 members of the family that smoked are also the only 3 that are experiencing neuropathy its really starting to make me wonder if there is some sort of correlation, although it was suggested that it may effect the vascular/circulation which may cause problems...

Mark,

I smoked 2-3 cigarettes per day and my neurologist made me stop immediately. While you may feel better during the smoke, it is doing just the opposite for your pain. You can research this on the internet as it's a common subject in regards to neuropathy.

Take Care!
Nancy