The Most Successful Thing You Have Tried
 

I am curious as to what is the most successful thing you have tried that has helped the most. For me it was changing my diet to a plant based natural state diet and avoiding inflammatory foods.

learning to eat better
 

Giving up on the buscuits & gravy & potatoes. Learning what turns into sugar and how quickly. Picking my way to a better diet but still leaving enough comfort to be able to eat that way for life. Also Morton Epsom Salt Lotion. I take many supplements but cannot attribute lessening pain to any one item, may be simply passage of time. I am afraid that a plant-based natural diet may be too much of a quantum leap for me. I am still getting used to 100% whole grain bread. haha. Thanks for your post, I will look at the diet with a sense of morbid curiosity,haha. Ken in Texas.

This is good to read for anyone interested in a vegan diet and how it may help PN:

http://arizonapain.com/vegan-diet-heal-neuropathy/

In my experience and opinion after trying literally everything, cannabis is the most effective neuropathic pain treatment.

For anyone who still thinks of marijuana as an addictive street drug, you need to rethink it. It is also a very effective medicine and an invaluable gift from our planet.

wow....thanks...great website.
diandra

I agree on all counts

I think r-lipoic acid has helped me. While I'm certainly not asymptomatic, I'm much better than I was before I started taking it. In the NutreVal test I took, I did show as being low on alpha-lipoic acid too.

The only other thing I'm doing differently which may or may not be playing a role is that I've switched to a very low carb diet. My fasting glucose is 80 and my A1c 5.2, so I'm not even close to being pre-diabetic, but I do have metabolic issues in the form of reactive hypoglycemia. When I took the oral glucose tolerance test, my glucose at the two hour mark was 71. (The pre-diabetic level start at 140, and diabetic at 200.)

Given that half the people with SFN are diabetic or pre-diabetic, I decided it couldn't hurt trying to keep my glucose levels lower even if I don't meet the "disease" criteria in case there's something the docs just don't understand. Maybe some of us unlucky souls are just genetically predisposed to SFN, and "normal" glucose levels are enough to cause it. Maybe we need to be even lower than normal. Just grasping at straws with that of course.

Anyway, besides losing a quick 10 pounds, I have to say I do feel better after I eat. My heart doesn't pound the way it used to after a high carb meal (always whole grain BTW). I prefer not eating the amount of meat I'm eating now, but going low carb eliminates a lot of food I used to eat instead of meat. Still working my way around that issue.

Oh, and lidocaine patches do help on my feet when I have a bad night. I think I'm more prone to bad nights the more sedentary I am during the day, but I can't say that for sure.

Sugar is dangerous
 

After 10 years of PN small fibre, I have found that sometimes it has a mind of its own. I have had exacerbation after viruses and after antibiotic use mainly.
I am on the thin side and active so blood sugar was never a problem for me.

That changed a couple months ago as I found I could no longer eat carbs and sugar. It was exacerbating my PN in a bad way.

Why? Who knows?? But sugar seems to be a big aggravator of PN for a lot of people not just diabetics. Processed sugar is toxic.

I find that sugar is a big flare for myself, as is any kind of fried foods and meat (I can usually get by with Tuna without a flare). And I do agree, it sometimes has a mind of its own. I have a few "secret weapons" that I use when I have a really bad flare, but here lately nothing really works. Stress is another big instigator I suppose. Of course, its hard not to be stressed when dealing with something like this.

Thanks for this thread. I too can identify with much of what everyone said. Sugar, carbs, viruses, even processed foods can all cause a flare and like H1N1Guy said, PN is stressful... and the stress, in turn exacerbates the PN symptoms. It's a vicious circle.

I went full throttle to vegan. I have a hard time attributing any improvement to my changes, rather I am certain they have made my progression more managable.

Walking as much as I can a day, stretching and self massage are a few of my daily activities I feel most when I miss a day or two.

I recognize some of the things, especially the walking, are not a possibility to the moderate to severe PN sufferers, but if yoy can bear the start and stick with it I bet you will see subtle differences. I am as limber as I have been in twenty years.

I hope everyone finds tools for their bag of tricks. I rotate Salonpas, Morton's epsom cream, lidocaine patches as they lose their mild effect with overuse for me.

Jon

I'm knocking on the door of full vegan. I guess what I'm really trying to get close to now is a raw food diet. Regardless, the proper diet does help a great deal.

By far the most helpful thing for me is acupuncture. Many people here have found no relief from it, but it has been a godsend for me. I do need to have it once a month or by the fifth week, I'm in bad shape. It took about four session or so for me to start noticing any relief.

Also for me it was changing to a nearly all plant based diet. I almost never eat beef or chicken, but slide sometimes when my family orders pizza, then I eat some cheese. I also have the intention of avoiding processed food as much as possible but it is so tempting that I slide on this as well. Also I have a problem with shrimp.

Some good sites:

http://fatfreevegan.com/--vegan (no animal products) recipes with nodded fat.
http://www.drfuhrman.com/--Dr. Joel Fuhrman
http://ornishspectrum.com/--Dr. Dean Ornish
http://nutritionfacts.org/--Dr. Michael Greger
http://www.dresselstyn.com/--Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
http://www.youtube.com/user/johnbchiro--Dr. John Bergman

http://www.extremehealthradio.com/--Great podcasts on good health and healing. Also, everyone, please listen to Episode 328 with John Bergman. The title involves arthritis but this is only a small part of the material. Dr. John Bergman is amazing. He discussed all sorts of health topics. He is all about the body healing itself given the right conditions, and knows more about the human body than anyone I have ever been exposed to.

Ron

I was remiss in my previous message. I would have to say that gabapentin and tramadol has been the most helpful in relieving my pain. But not the ideal long-term strategy. Amitriptyline was also a good pain reliever but I switched to tramadol because of side effects.
Ron

I wanted to correct my links:

http://fatfreevegan.com -- vegan (no animal products) recipes with no added fat.
http://www.drfuhrman.com -- Dr. Joel Fuhrman
http://ornishspectrum.com -- Dr. Dean Ornish
http://nutritionfacts.org -- Dr. Michael Greger
http://www.dresselstyn.com -- Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
http://www.youtube.com/user/johnbchiro -- Dr. John Bergman

http://www.extremehealthradio.com -- Great podcasts on good health and healing. Also, everyone, please listen to Episode 328 with John Bergman. The title involves arthritis but this is only a small part of the material. Dr. John Bergman is amazing. He discussed all sorts of health topics. He is all about the body healing itself given the right conditions, and knows more about the human body than anyone I have ever been exposed to.

Ron

Ron,

Any other suggestions on episodes related to PN? I have a few drives in my day plus time for audio. Thanks.

Jon

I listen to podcasts, mostly on health, all the time I'm in my car alone. I really enjoy this and recommend it for anyone. The podcasts at http://beatingneuropathy.com are all about neuropathy and are very informative. Otherwise, I have just searched the net for "neuropathy podcast", and found a few more, but these are mainly short and just talk about the basics that you have probably heard before--"Neuropathy has many causes, typically starts in the feet, there may be tingling, etc." These will mainly be from neurologists, which don't help much.
Ron

I'm glad that helps. In my numbness/tingling but no pain condition I really can't speak to what helps folks with the latter, and I really feel for you all. You have it much worse than I.

Along with cannabis I'm going to suggest kratom, which the original poster H1NIGuy mentioned in a different post with that name. It's another natural herbal pain reliever and based on my initial testing could be good for pain. He put some good links in that thread.

Plz elaborate
 

If you have tried the herb, where did you get it, and how was it to take? I guess the 64K question is do you think it helped your pain? Thanks Ken in Texas

Ken, as I stated in my original post: my PN is not painful. So although I can't accurately answer the big bucks question I can infer, based on my experience with opiods during cancer treatment, that it might. That is, the whole body experience felt similar.

One can easily find it through various online vendors. I'd recommend looking up a kratom forum and also typing it into YouTube, there are plenty vids.

Mine came as a powder. It looks and smells like green tea, and can be mixed into liquids or solids. One can also make tea with it but from what I've read it's less effective that way. If you want to PM me I'll tell you more.