Anyone with numbness, what works?
 

Numbness is such an eerie feeling. My Gp believes that antiinflammatories help numbness. She participated in a pain study and they concluded that panadol osteo is a low level anti-inflammatory. She said I should take this because my nerve endings are inflamed and causing numbness. Can anyone tell me what they do, and anyway to help with numbness?
Thank you

Ps. I sort of had a feeling that panadol does not help with numbness.

What is Panadol Osteo? Is it an RX item or can you buy at drugstore? I live in USA so perhaps it is sold under another name.

I have found prescription gabapentin the best thing going for tingling pain or pins and needles.

There has been some talk here about acetaminophen being
a mild "anti-inflammatory".... I don't know if that is true, or just hype from the drug companies. :rolleyes:

Your product is a long acting form of acetaminophen, which targets patients who have chronic pain like arthritis.

The problem with chronic use of this is toxicity to the liver.
In US the trend is to use LESS acetaminophen rather than "more".

Numbness
 

I have a formulated cream that my neuro prescribed that includes several things. The formula is as follows:
Flurbiprofen 10%
Amitriptyline 2%
Gabapentin 6%
Lidocaine 2%
Prilocaine 2%

This combination is mixed into a cream that I apply to my feet when they start giving trouble. The tube says apply up to five times a day, but, thank God, I haven't had to use it that often. I usually apply it in the morning, especially if I plan on a lot of walking (like Christmas shopping). In doing so, it relieves both my feet, and hands. There is still some lingering numbness in the soles of my feet, but it is managable. Hope you find something that works for you. I know my biggest problem with numbness in my feet is not being able to feel the acellerator in my car. Sheesh!!!

I know that the gabapentin relieves some of the pain and burning, but to my knowledge nothing affects the numbness. It is, by definition, a lack of sensation, and no medication that I know of will fix that.

I cannot feel the accelerator at all, and keep a close eye on the speedometer. I also have to be very careful which shoes I drive in, some throw me off completely and make it impossible to keep my foot on the pedal. A few times my foot has slipped and I have had a scary second or two trying to put it back. I only drive locally, at low, in town, speeds.

what Susanne C said. IM not aware of anything that helps numbness, unless the numbness is from a pinched nerve or lack of circulation.

Though of course pain is a major life inhibitor and can be crippling physically and emotionally,and is not to be minimized in importance , Numbness is its own horrible symptom.

Panadol is acametaphene (sp?)
like Tylenol slow release 665 mg per tablet.

My GP gave me this for numbness. I actually am not in pain a ymore. Remember this past March I was in a car accident and got whiplash? I had a bad PN flare that lasted months due to a bulging thoracic disc that was aggravated. Suddenly in November all the back pain went away and I just started getting migrating numb spots all over. Very weird because I don't have pain anymore. I just have this numbness now and supposedly the panadol osteo was suppose to be helping that.

Thank you:)

Thank you Echo. I agree numbness is not very nice.

Be careful driving. I know what you are saying. I have had my shoes slip off pedal or my pedal get stuck in back of sandle and for a second it's like complete loss of control. It is scary.

I have no doubt that your doctor is correct.

Here is what I noticed over the festive period. I have numb feet with very mild sensation which I have grown used to and the numbness I can live with but the burning is still very much there .

I went to a few party's and participated in the holiday festivities including alcohol which for me is big irritant and lights up my PN like a xmas tree right from the very first sip. After a few the pain went but I knew I would pay for it in the morning.

Waking up my feet were on fire and felt like I had pillows strapped to my feet and no amount of meds would stop this but 2 days later it all subsided,

What I noticed was a definite increase in numbness eg I could wiggle my toes but couldn't feel them rub against each other. There was far less sensation on the soles of my feet as well and there was big weakness in my legs, very heavy and struggled with pain walking down stairs.

After my recovery I am back to normal with numbness back to better levels so my point being alcohol is an irritant that inflames the nerve endings causing further short to long term numbness so your doc is correct.

Aussie I hope you appreciate the sacrafice I have made (drinking beer) so I could help you with your question:p

I was recently diagnosed with Peripheral Ployneurophy in hands and feet, the result of a double dose of H1N1 vaccine given in error. It took 23 months to find the diagnosis and the numbness you describe is still evident in my feet. In response to the prescribed treatment of a regulated regimen of Prednisone, and the inclusion of an ATP booster D-Ribose, my hands are much better.
Now,the improvement could also be attributed to the length of time involved in the process of healing nerve damage, ( 2mm per week). Prednisone, used in this fashion is a very powerful anti-inflammatory. Healing is expedited when inflammation is reduced. Slow, steady improvement is taking place. I have done much research into the mitochondria and the effects of a polysaccharide booster such as D-Ribose, and will continue it's use but adding Alpha Lipoic Acid to the mix. The combination hopefully will speed up the healing in my feet. I hope this has been helpful.

What dosage was the prednisone?

Mrsd what are your thoughts on this as a treatment for nerve damage that is in a permanent" flair"

Cheer up Matey, your sacrifice has been noted.;)

Some PNs are inflammatory. Prednisone is only one way to
reduce it.

NSAIDs --esp aspirin-- seem to also help some with inflammatory issues. Hence the "AlkaSeltzer" success some of us have to reduce symptoms.

Antioxidants are also helpful. Grapeseed extract being one
that has a long history of benefits. 200-300mg a day.
The Ilex in Biofreeze is also helpful this way...it is a powerful antioxidant, and gets thru the skin because of the gel base, and helps nerves that way too.

numbness or??
 

Is the numbness your talking about -- do you have any feeling of someone touching the numb area? I'm not sure that what I'm experiencing is numbness because I feel the gas pedal (though i dont drive much now), I feel when I touch my feet, etc..

I guess I don't have actual numbness, but a feeling of numbness. Though the areas feel numb, if you touch me on those spots I can still feel that you are touching me.

Yeah, me too. Just in my feet, not the migrating patches you're afflicted with.

The only thing I can add is that when I'm active (a long session of hiking, jogging, or workout) and/or when I massage my feet it appears that the numbness is lessened. Maybe the increased blood flow has something to do with it -- flushing out natural metabolic wastes, increasing oxygenation of tissue? Just rambling thoughts.

And of course it may be a placebo effect -- I very much want to be able to lessen the symptoms by exercise and massage, so I "convince" myself that they help. If you know what I mean.

But my neuropathy isn't your neuropathy! ;) Different onset, different etiology.

I agree. Activity especially exercise reduces the numbness for me too. Also when i take my jeans out of the dryer and put them on they are tighter than normal and this males numbness worse. After an hour of wear the jeans loosen up and numbness is better. Go figure?? :confused::confused::confused:

That sounds like compression issues.

I cannot wear tight gloves for that reason... my hands go numb.
So now I have those 1/2 gloves, the ones with the fingers exposed and that works well for me.

Depends a bit on the force used in the touch. best way would be to have your eyes closed and have someone lightly lightly prod with a pen or a NEEDLE:eek:

My neuro broke the stick of a wood-handled swab and used the sharp end to gently poke my feet. I could feel every poke. Then he touched a vibrating tuning fork to my ankle, and I felt the buzz -- but when he did the same thing at the base of my big toe I felt nothing. (My GP had the same findings -- these tests are pretty well-known.)

But the upshot is, the feeling I have does register as numbness but it's an oddly selective numbness.

On nerve compression: I've had only one visit to my neuro so far, and he said my symptoms could possibly indicate nerve entrapment at the ankle, but there were indications of some other neuropathy as well. We'll see.

my legs feel more numb higher up when i walk or do exercize.

I have had numbness on the left side of my face since the beginning of March and have been to five Neurologists, had MRI, MRA and lots of blood work done, everything came out normal. My doctor diagnose it as Bell's Palsy, the first neurologist said it's a pinch nerve, none of the neuros said anything about Bell's Palsy.It started with pains from somewhere by my ear along my jawline, the next morning at work I started feeling tingling and numbness and to this day my face is still numb. The neurologist gave me Gabapentin but the side effects I don't like. Still trying to get answers. Hope someone reading this can help.

As far as compression is concerned, I think damaged nerves are more prone to the effects of compression than normal nerves. That's probably why tight jeans make my legs go numb. Something happened to the nerves there recently and they are more prone to compressive affects.

Numbness is a big pain. All I think about is the numbness now.

There is also a forum on here for cranial neuralgia. Please also look at that too.

still...?
 

With numbness in your feet, do you still drive normally (even though you have trouble feeling the accelerator)?? does this cream take the numbness away so you have normal feeling? can you walk normally (without aids)? can to move both ankles and wiggle toes??

thanks :)

Icy Hot for numb feet
 

I use Icy Hot 9on my feet and it really works. At the store for 2 or 3 dollars.

George

The new "safe" limits are 3000 mg / day (lowered from 4000 mg / day). The six-hour "safe" limit of 1000 mg within any six hour period is supposed to change early this year, but I haven't seen anything yet.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...9_medig29.html

Some folks will still need to take acetaminophen on a regular basis. For those people, liver toxicity from acetaminophen may be averted/countered by taking N-Acetyl cysteine - 750 mg. twice a day.
http://www.raysahelian.com/acetylcysteine.html

Doc

I don't know either way. What I have noticed is that inflammation aggravates/exacerbates my numbness/symptoms, so reducing inflammation reduces the additional numbness.

Doc

Waldenstrom and PN
 

Hello,

I found a post you submitted a while back (20th June 2011) where you described your sudden onset of PN and WM dx. I have a few questions re your post and I hope you don't mind me writing to you directly even though this post is about a cream for PN! Here goes:

I'm so sorry to hear that you've been dx with WM.

I had a sudden onset of PN in both feet in Oct 2010 and was diagnosed with cancer (Waldenstroms Macroglobulinemia) 6 weeks later. The IgM level at dx was 7,500 mg/dl (Dec 2010), but is now 230 mg/dl after 6 cycles of FCR (chemotherapy).

I have tested negative on EMG and NCV. Even so, my PN is severe. I can't wear shoes (only Crocks) and I can only be on my feet for an hour a day. I take Lyrica and Amitrypteline. The PN is actually getting worse even though the IgM level has fallen so nicely. They can't find anything else that makes the nerves unhappy so I can only hope that it will eventually get better now that the underlying cause (high IgM which destroys the myelin sheath) has been treated.

1) Did you have an IgM level of 8,000 mg/dl at the time of dx? Has that come down to 2,000 mg/dl?

2) How bad was your PN at the time of diagnosis?

3) I suppose you, like me, had chemotherapy first (?) and then Ritux maintenance (as I understand every 3 months). This is important to me: at what point in time did the PN get a bit better?? Was it during chemotherapy or much later?? I'm hoping your answer might give me some sort of hope - that's why it's important!

By the way, the life expectancy of WM is now 12 years - it was 5-7 years a few years ago. New treatments (e.g. using Rituximab in the chemo combo) has extended the life expectancy.

Sadly I can't give you my email adress as I've only written three posts.

Take care,
Grete

Hi Dr.Smith.
Thank you for your reply. I guess my concern is that I have been prescribed the paracetamol to stop the numbness. I am not taking it. I take 1-2 advils a day instead. That's about 400 mg of advil a day instead of 4 grams s of panadol a day. Since the advil is really an anti-inflammatory (panadol is not) I thought that if I really have inflamed nerves and this is the reason for the numbness... I have a better chance with the advil. It has gotten about 15- 20% better since it's onset. That's not very much but at least it's something. I have my doubts though that anything can really stop numbness. Numbness is not pain.

Numbness is ostensibly caused by damage to the nerves; they're not signalling anything (whereas pain is a signal sent by healthy nerves). Rather than stopping numbness, I think what needs to be done is stop whatever is damaging the nerves, and allow them to heal (if possible) or regrow.

I take a prescription anti-inflammatory, and I can't say that it helps my numbness one iota, though it does help the pain from inflammation. What I have noticed is that there are some things that aggravate/worsen the numbness, and that by doing the opposite of those things, the numbness lessens (and perhaps the nerves begin to heal/regrow). This takes a long time. I'm getting some results from the supplements I take (RLA, ALC, B5); they're not only controlling the pain (burning, stabbing, electric shocks), they also seem, over the long term, to be helping the numbness.

I can't say this will work for everyone (it depends on the cause of the PN, and I don't even know my cause yet!) but if we can figure out what's making us worse and halt/stop the progression, we can find ways to regenerate those nerves to some extent. I don't expect to ever be the way I was, but I'm old enough to compromise; there are a lot of things I'm learning to have to live with (though I don't do it quietly :eek:).

I learned some things that help by googling/reading all kinds of things related to neurogenesis. We must use common sense and caution because there's so much snake oil and hooey floating around out there, and no end to the charlatans eager to take our money. ;)

Doc

Dr. Smith:
Yep! I agree. And as you also mentioned, what works for one person's PN may make another person's worse. So even personal advice from sensible, experienced people should be checked against one's own symptoms and experience.

For example, Zorrro13 wrote:
I usually have a couple of glasses of wine in the evening, and it seems not to affect my symptoms. When I stop for a couple of weeks the numbness stays the same -- no decrease. Different response.

And Echos Long Ago wrote:
Again, that's opposite from what I experience.

What appears to be the worst for me is sitting for long periods. Even then -- like on a recent flight from Charlotte to San Francisco -- if I take care to be active before and after sitting I can keep the numbness at "normal" levels.

(I'm the nut in the airport doing toe raises while waiting for my flight... :p )

It seems like PN is like a set of somewhat related illnesses. It can be so different for different people.

It's... a lot of things; a symptom, a condition, a disease... (as many other things are).

Above all, it's a pain in the patoot and a cussed nuisance. :ranting:

Doc

RE: Help is on the way
 

Do not believe that anti-inflammatory drugs help. They help bone inflammation but not nerve. You need drugs such as Lyrica and Neurontin to restore feeling

Dr. Smith,

I have tried to reply twice over the weekend from my ipad. It just wasn't working. Thank you for your reply to me. I agrre one can't stop the numbness only try to stop the damage assuming we know what is causing it. That is why I didnt want to take all that Panadol. I did take a single dose Diflucan for a yeast infection one week before this sensory PN came on and I am wondering if Diflucan causes PN. In saying that last March I was involved in a car accident which gave me whiplash and caused a massive flare of PN all over my back, head,arms. This might also be from that. I give up. Just glad I am ok most days. Thanks once again.:)

May I ask how do Lyrica and Neurontin reverse numbness??
Thank you.

A known, rare (less than 1/10th of 1%) adverse/side effect is paresthesia, so I spoze it's possible, but permanent PN from a single dose seems unlikely, unless it was a trigger (catalyst) for some underlying situation.

Have you tried all the "MrsD-recommended" supplements? :)

Doc

Hi Dr. Smith, In regards to the supplements I am so unsure what to do. I am ordering the R-Lipoic acid today but it seems everytime I go to take something either my neuro or rheumo tell me not to murky the waters. I come here and read what seems to be good results with supplements etc. I have so many supplements in my closet at home. I had a doctor at the Sjogrens clinic at Hopkins tell me to throw them all in the trash, don't even take a daily vitamin. How do all of you handle it if your docs tell you not to take supplememts you think may provide some relief? I have a medical background but yet I am so confused with all of this. Good nurse bad patient!