Hi Janie,

I have been taking 500 mg 2x per day. It's what I've read in journals. Dr. Teitelbaum also made this recommendation in one of his books.

I think this supplement may have helped my fatigue along with d-ribose when I was pretty much recliner-bound at disease onset.

You might want to look through some of these studies too. The PMC database will give you full text articles. The search terms can probably be refined to get more targeted articles. You can click on "Advanced" and use the search builder for journal article optimization.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?ter...+neuropathy%22

Thanks much, MadisonGirl. Very helpful!

I've tried this for a day and a half, and it seems a little strong for me. I'm going back to 200 mg per day. Maybe go as high as 400 mg per day.

I take the same dosage, sometimes I go as high as 1500 becuase I take it with every meal. I find it really is very good for keeping blood sugar in check as I monitor often with a glucose tester. I don't have diabetes but i always like to see if when my blood sugar gets high if my pain raises which is usually the case because blood sugar stimulates nerves. I have found also that it is quite the fat burner. So, if you don't need to burn fat i would start out slow. It helps a bit with energy but i think you build up a tolerance to that aspect and it stops doing that. Supposedly ALCAR in conjunction with the R-Lipoic is very effective for neuropathy. I would give it a shot.

I beg everyone's pardon. I was confused on this. Please disregard the above.

@mrsD
Love your awesome answers to so many peoples questions. I wanted your opinion on this. I'm trying to get as much help, without breaking the bank. I know that all these supplements are important, I just wonder if this kind of "all in one" supplement is worth it, or should I get them separately?
I'm also taking Nerve Renew, which has B vitamins, as well as vitamin D, benfotiamine, and R-Alpha Lipoic acid.

*edit*

@ KentuckyRanger.....Hi there. I saw your post on our moderator page.

Mixtures like cal/mag/zinc typically have magnesium OXIDE in them and this one does. The oxide has been shown to not be absorbed.

Most people who are not vegans don't need extra calcium, or zinc. Both are in dairy (calcium) and zinc (animal meats).

Too much unbalanced zinc will actually cause neuropathy, but these mixes typically are low in dose.

Newbies coming to our forums should see if the "big three" helps.

1) methylcobalamin on an empty stomach.. at least 1000mcg a day.

2) a good quality magnesium like SlowMag twice a day
and/or magnesium lotion applied sparingly... called Morton Epsom lotion available at WalMart, Walgreen's and online at Amazon.

3) Vitamin D3, dosing based on testing results from your doctor.

The product you mention Nerve Repair will have to be done on an empty stomach to make sure the methylB12 is absorbed at all. It is quite pricey for what you get.

The Big Three are deficient in many American adults..so starting there may show improvements.

Heavy drinkers get depleted of magnesium, B-complex and other nutrients. The gastritis you may have had could lead to malabsorption of many other nutrients too.

If you use an acid blocking drug, you will get low in these nutrients which require acid to be absorbed:

B12
folate
iron
zinc and other trace minerals
calcium
magnesium

This is a high quality modern B-complex product that many posters have and do use here with success:
http://www.amazon.com/Jarrow-Formula...jarrow+b-right

When you use up that pricey Nerve product you can decide if you want to add in, one at a time something else besides the Big Three. The one I'd try next or if you want a Big Four ...is the Benfotiamine. This can be helpful for recovering drinkers.
I'd start with 300mg a day for a couple of months.
Doctor's Best is a good brand many of us use and is affordable.

We have a recovering alcoholic thread here that is very nice.
Here is the link... you may find the members there very helpful and supportive.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread104096.html
Icehouse has been in a wheelchair too... and now he is mobile, sober and running his own business.

Not one to advocate drugs of any kind. But, a good way to see if you are having an allergic/histamine related reaction is with Allegra or Zyrtec. If something causes a symptom and a dose of either of these seems to alleviate the symptoms it acts as a good diagnostic tool to the fact that you indeed are having a histamine reaction. Taking these long term is not a good idea regardless, they lose their effectiveness over time. Sometimes though you can still be having a histamine reaction even if these don't deal with the symptoms.

Completely New To Supplements
 

Hi mrsD,

As an Alcohol PN newbie to the group, and a TOTALLY "NOT YET" SUPPLEMENT NEWBIE, after spending these first weeks attempting to glean a meaningful regimen from marvelling at the wealth of knowledge in these threads through experience and research(the phase I'm at now), I finally made my first purchase through Amazon yesterday. It includes:

Doctor's Best Benfotiamine 150mg

Jarrow Formulas Methyl Folate 5-MTHF Supp. 400mcg

Jarrow Formulas Methylcobalamine
(Methyl B12) 5000mcg

Jarrow Formulas Vitamin D3 5000IU

Jarrow Formulas B-right Comp. Veggie Caps

Have been currently taking Men's One-A-Day multi which contains only 115 mg Magnesium, as well as a natural B Complex falling way short of the basic dosages I've read discussed in these PN threads.

Possess no signs of even pre-Diabetic blood #s, experience no burning, stabbing pains, heat or cold spells, ears ringing, etc. such as I've heard unfortunately visited on so many of my fellow members.

My symptoms are pretty much textbook variety loss of muscle with accompanying loss of strength(have no way to determine how much is due to PN or sedentary atrophy--probably a combination), lingering numbness and walking pain in my feet, lingering weakness and sensitivity in hands and fingers, ready loss of balance, all added to continuing recovery from surgery to remove a large Necrotic Ulcer approx. 2" x 1/2" x 5/8"-3/4" deep to which I was completely impervious due to numbness and in a hard to see location at the bottom rear heel. The numbness was so complete that I was completely unaware that as I was in his chair going through the usual doctor/patient health history discourse, he was surgically removing that huge mass without my foot feeling any sensation of even being touched. Afterwards he told me it had grown to within a credit card thickness proximity to my heelbone--which if reached would have necessitated amputation of the right foot. I really just dodged the bullet on that one and my podiatrist/surgeon was extremely pleased with the pace of wound recovery, though that kept me off my feet pretty much for 4 months thus adding more atrophy.
The persistent problem for me that does not seem to be mentioned frequently, is that when I sit for any length of time, even for a meal, I stiffen up completely from my entire shin/Achilles area down through my ankles and entire feet. In order to arise I need someone or something stationary to get me to my feet as well as stabilize my unsure gait for at least the first ten steps, after which I still must proceed with concentrated diligence.

Would greatly appreciate, after hearing this litany of symptoms, any suggestions for specific additions to the supplements listed above. Also please inform which are to be taken on an empty stomach.

Many thanks in advance.

Well, you can do what you have in your list so far for a month and see how you feel.

You can add Morton Epsom lotion applied to your legs once a day... and use that as your magnesium source. A quarter's dollop divided between your lower legs each night will show if magnesium is your main need. Walmart carries this, Walgreen's and online at Amazon.

But I suspect you may need carnitine... acetyl carnitine helps with mitochondrial energy production when the mitochondria in the cells are damaged.
You may try this after a month if you are still having the muscle weakness. Starting at 500mg a day and increasing by 500mg a week to a upper level of 2000mg a day.

If that doesn't help within a month or so, no need to continue with it.