Viagra improves long term peripheral neuropathy in diabetic mice
 

Treatment...with sildenafil significantly increased functional blood vessels and regional blood flow in the sciatic nerve, concurrently with augmentation of intra-epidermal nerve fiber density in the skin and myelinated axons in the sciatic nerve.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25689401

I wonder how insurance companies will handle this one. :cool:

Can woman take it? Il try anything. In canada I dont have to worry about insurance aporoval. Side effects?

Canagirl, there is general information about possible side-effects and contra-indications of Viagra/Sildenafil here; http://www.drugs.com/mtm/sildenafil.html .

The paper is very interesting but it was a study of mice with a mutation which makes them susceptible to diabetes and diabetes-associated PN.

Whether or not Viagra will help people with diabetes-associated PN or people with PN which is not linked to diabetes remains to be seen.

There is already a drug form of Viagra used for
Circulatory disorders also made by Pfizer. I have
Seen it tried for scleroderma with Raynauds syndrome.

It is used for pulmonary hypertension.
It is called Revatio and is 20mg per dose .. Much
Lower than the Viagra version.

Yes, females can take it. It was originally designed
for treating cardiac and circulation problems.

However this drug has recently been implicated in
Raising the risk of melanoma in males taking
The higher doses for ED.

Do u think it would be harmful to try for a couple of months if u don't have diabetes? Just as my own experiment ?

20mg once a day would be the dose to try. I would think a one week trial would demonstrate if it were going to work. You might get a headache from it. It would only work if your problem were tied to a circulation issue. This drug dilates blood vessels. Since you have throbbing already, this might increase throbbing feelings.

I don't know if this dose of the drug is available in Canada.

I have some Viagra that I have not tried because I have not needed it for its intended purpose but a friend who is a Pfizer rep gave them to me as a joke.

I did a Google search for Viagra & melanoma and found an equal number of articles pointing to it being/not being linked to melanoma.

It appears the study was interpreted in different ways but from what I read, a link was indeed established.

Keep in mind that the doses of Viagra for MEN are too high to take every day. It was never approved or designed to take every day. There may be significant blood pressure drops with Viagra, so if you take blood pressure medicine you need to consult your doctor and/or monitor yourself

Cialis does have a dosage form for daily use.
The Revatio is designed at 20mg for once a day use only.

GREAT.......diabetic mice with erections, whats next?? ;)

If the billing is for Revatio... there may not be much friction with the insurance. (with Viagra daily...yes, I could see a decline coming forth forcing you to pay cash.)

This would all seem to make sense as ED drugs increase Nitric Oxide levels in the blood and increase blood flow throughout the body/open the arteries. A lot of men with diabetes already have to take ED drugs for "quality of life" anyhow. They have Ed because of the diabetes. So, for them, it may be a win-win. Side effects from ED drugs are minor (if any) when taken in low doses.Most iof the awful side effects you hear about are from people taking very high doses and have weak hearts. They are also finding these ED drugs help with Prostate Enlargement issues in men. This is why a lot of insurance companies are still covering what was once believed to be a recreational drug.

Would be interesting if it became something women could look into as well.

A non-diabetic IPN Beatle with an erection! ;)

Well, if you try it, let us know how it goes. (Specifically, if it helps with PN symptoms - I don't really care about the other "side effects">)

Deal! :winky:

This drug enables erections ... Used properly in the correct
Dosage range, it does not cause erections per se.
Taking too high a dose can cause erections that do not
Go back down called priapism, which can damage the
penis.

lol.....I love it---sometimes we just have to have a little humor on here :)

I can't laugh about Viagra... like other people do... I had to DEAL with it everyday and patient questions... when that happens you get used to it in a different way.

But it is very important, Beatle, since you are SELF MEDICATING...with samples not prescribed to you by your doctor, to understand that you are in dangerous territory.
Your PN could be affecting your blood pressure and heart and you are not aware of that, so if you add in the Viagra, and don't understand the dosing etc.. you could get into trouble. Men have died on Viagra...and it is no small# either.

This article is rather old now, but illustrates that death is not so rare with this drug:

http://www.psa-rising.com/medicalpik...aths031500.htm

There were fewer deaths from other drugs taken off the market, in the past. Seldane and Propulsid are examples.

So I am sorry if my humor is lacking on this topic. :o

Horny Goat Weed
 

At the high cost of Viagra it's not funny to me either. Have you ever heard of Horny Goat Weed? I would be scared to try it, but I have quit Nicotine trying to increase circulation and I still miss it every day,hour,minute. I will Google but would appreciate your opinion. If Viagra increases motor and sensory velocities in mice would we not have heard some guy shouting the good news from the rooftops somewhere on this forum if it helped Neuropathy in humans? Thanks Ken in Texas.

The original article is about improving circulation in diabetic mice....not all types of PN are the same.

It will take a long time for rodent data to reach human trials. With a drug already approved once by the FDA it can make it more of a fast track...but still human studies will have to be done.

Given that Viagra--
 

--affects the nitric oxide pathways as part of the process of increasing circulatory ease, it makes sense that it might help certain types of ischemic neuropathy; that is, damage to nerves caused by damage to circulation which "starves" the nerves of nutrients and oxygen and does not allow efficient takeaway of metabolic waste products.

But, of course, by that reasoning (as we've talked about before here) ANYTHING that promotes better circulation, from exercise to essential fatty acids to cayenne peppers, might be useful in those situations.

And, of course, not all neuropathies are primarily ischemic in mechanism. Promoting good circulation is probably not a bad idea even for those, but it may not have the effect it would in ischemic-based neuropathies.

Caution with L-Arginine
 

One of the CAM approaches for enhancing the nitric oxide pathway is use of an amino acid named l-arginine.

The use of this amino acid is heavily promoted.
However, there are some side-effects and interactions which are very important to note.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supple...ame=l-arginine

Please fully research and use caution before adding this amino acid to your regimen.

There are likely more safe methods of increasing blood flow, as mentioned by glenntaj, above.

To Our Healing,
DejaVu

Here is a link to a study that was completed on people.. Using .25 , .50 , and 100 mg per day.. Also listed is guidelines for use blood pressure readings etc.. I would love to find the results of the study if anyone can find them...
An Open Label, Dose Finding Trial of Viagra for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain (in Diabetes Mellitus) - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov