Full or part time work?
 

Just curious how many of you can work full or part-time with your Neuopathy and if so what type of work do you do? Also, have you found you need tools for example such as voice recognition software to assist you or other devices to get through the day?

Cliffman:grouphug:

I have found that I have been able to work a 9-5 job and in many ways it helped distract from the pain. Being on gabapentin affects my ability to remember things as quickly as i would like to as well as some of the other side effects causing some minor issues. Sometimes typing and detailed hand work could be a little more tiring than I would like. I just had to learn how to time the medication and the supplements to work within the work schedule - and learning when to expect pain and prepare for it. So, it basically kept me from being an aggressive climb the ladder - get out of my way worker and more of a busy worker guy. Which I was fine with because I felt at least, normal. And getting a check every week feels great. I currently work from home and certainly prefer it becuase i can always lie down for lunch.

We can do a lot more than we think with SFN, we just have to push ourselves to do it. I know small fiber is different from other forms. I know some are much worse than me, I SUPPOSEDLY have a mild case :confused:. Man it hurts though. But, the best thing any of us can do is FIGHT I know that. What doesn't kill you will strengthen you.

Hi Patrick,

I too work from home ..or at least I did until all this started with the heart attack and now the PN. I handled a tech support desk in the auto security industry. I have to return soon or I will lose the job and my health insurance.

I just started taking the Gapapentin...one pill last night and one this morning. My resting heart rate at the doctors and on a home monitor was 102...I assume this is medicine.

Cliffman :)

Gaba-chat
 

Gaba gets different results from different people so I will only relate my experience. I know that many go upward of 3000 mg/day so be ready if your Dr. suggests more dosage. I went up to 900 per day and had a little"brain fog" but no real issues. I quit it after a time because I thought it ineffective until I quit it. I realized that it had been doing a little good because the pins, needles,zaps increased without it. Being stubborn I am still off of it but would start back again if I became worse. I didn't get any sense of pulse changes. My stream of symptoms have changed over time so it's like the weather. The changes for me would cycle in and out about every six months. Ranging from pins, needles,zaps to deep muscle and lumbar,hip, knee pain. Medications that I am currently OFF are Hydrocodone-Gaba-Ambien. As far as your work, the less you think about PN the smaller it looms. Please don't quit because you THINK you have to. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

Mine has gone up a bit on it right after I take it. My resting at the doctor's office yesterday was 91. BP was 104/70. But there's some white coat syndrome in there as well. I was a bit panicky as I always am at the Dr. MY BP has either dropped a bit or stayed the same on it though. I worry about BP a tad more. The reality with gabbies like everything else is weighing the pain with the side effects and reduction of pain.

Hi Cliffman,

I'm a field engineer that works in industrial settings. About half the time, I am working in various industrial plants, which involves a lot of walking, stair and ladder climbing, etc. The rest of the time I am doing my paperwork from home.

My PN has taken a strange course, starting with rapid onset of mostly muscular symptoms, but then switching over to mostly sensory symptoms (mostly foot pain, numb toes, and burning/stinging sensations in various areas.)

I found this site pretty early on, and the advice here (particularly supplements) plus taking gabapentin has kept my pain at a tolerable level. I missed a little work early on when I had some days where I felt too weak to go out. But I've been able to tough it out since. There are a lot of days when I leave a plant, get to my car as fast as I can, and pull my shoes off to get some relief :eek:

I'm in my early 50's with 2 kids in college. I'm hoping I can at least keep working it until the kids graduate.

Best of luck to you. It's been tough for me, and I know there are many out there struggling with a lot worse symptoms than I have.

9-5 as a mechanical designer in the hightech industrie becoming 52 in a couple of weeks.
I dont have much pain anymore just starting to get more numbnes.
I dont take any medication i have taken the supplents for years,but when i started getting this the first years i had something like a 100 electro acapuncture treatments.
I am still looking for something that can heal my nerves

Not sure I'm going to continue with the Gaba because I was very nauseas this afternoon and that's on only 100 mg pill...once last night and this morning. :(

Cliffman

Wow did the acupuncture give you decent relief? Sounds like you're able to do a lot despite the pain/numbness.

Cliffman

All the best to you Ragtop262...you certainly have a lot on your plate. It's not's easy to raise kids, work etc even if one's healthy, never mind adding PN to the mix. I admire you.

Cliffman

Geez i already feel sick to my stomach on a couple of hundred mgs. I hope there's something else that works. How are you handling the pain since you're off the 3 mentioned meds?

Cliffman

Electro acapuncture is a very effective treatment for neurological pain not everybody Will benefit from it but most Will.
I did allot but there is no need for that 12-20 treatment should be enough for the wordt pain.
I still have soms pain or unrest in my feet and hand of i come out of bed
I crosfited for a couple of mounths before i had To stop becausr of a shoulder problem.

Did you find the treatment painful? I read it's not recommended for heart patients so it's probably not for me. That said, it sounds like it worked great for you. :)

Cliffman

Sure sometimes it was painfull but it is You that had the control over the volume button.
So You start with a low current and gradually You turn up the volume button in a way the current is numbing Your nerves and sometimes when i came home i had To take a nap because i was very tired of IT.
Secondly they treat patients normally for half a hout i would usually take a hout with no extra cost.
This treatment dient heal me but it made it in the begin stage more manageable
I dont know what my Life would have looked liked of i hadnt done this
It's impossible to make a claim what would happend or how bad it would turn out
But i think it helped me allot.
It al comes down on how motivated You are and hoe much You belief in what Your doing is right
To quote Arnold Schwarzenegger "no pain no gain"

Its one of the side effects, never hit me that way. Its not great stuff really, but it does take the edge off pain for me. Yet, still doesn't relieve it by any means. If I could be off it I would be. I am just someone who doesn't get a break from my nerve pain, its 24/7 without meds and none of the natural options have been of any real great help other than lidocaine cream, which is temporary at best.

Have you stopped completey at this point?

Yes, I stopped taking it already.

Cliffman:)

Working
 

I work at a building supply company as an inside sales person. I deal with customers for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. We have a place that sells lumber, doors, windows, plumbing electrical, paint, ect. I have a very good knowledge of the products and have sold just about anything in the store and ordered many things over the 18+ years there.
My PN started slowly about 4 years ago. I am on my feet almost all day and my PN in my feet is not like some folks. My feet do not burn, but are just numb and tingly. This past year or so my walking has gotten worse. I walk more flatfooted and my balance has is shot. I am taking Gaba and getting B12 shots monthly plus Meythl B-12 2500 mcg daily. I just bumped that up to 5000 mcg per day to see if that helps.
I just went through a deal with colon cancer, so I am hoping that maybe me immune system is a bit out a whack and will spring back now that I am back to normal :-)

Two and a half years after
 

first symptoms the pain is a lot more manageable. I still keep a RX of Tylenol with codiine to take on road trips. You might hang in there with the Gaba, maybe your stomach will get used to it. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

Have any of you tried benfotiamine? It's a form of B-1 that's available in the United States now. They've been using it in Japan for neuropathy pain for years. I know it's available from iHerb and Amazon, and I got a great deal of relief when I first tried it. I now use it twice a day, 150 mg each time. The brand I order is Doctors Best from iHerb.

I try to time my gabapentin at meals and if I forget, I eat a couple of crackers or something. If I take it on an empty stomach, I feel nauseous.

I have not tired Benfotaimine. Looks well worth taking. Thank you!

Cliffman

Good advice...thank you.

Cliffman

Thanks for the encouragement Ken!:)

Seasonal job
 

I am a CPA. I work seasonally in tax, usually January - July. I sit at a desk all day so it's not too bad, but I am usually really looking forward to July. :eek:

If it wasn't for these breaks I don't think I could do it. The pain level is just too much.

I'm happy to hear you get a break...it's not easy at all trying to work.

Cliffman:)

Benfotiamine and other stuff
 

I've been taking Doctor's Best Benfotiamine 150 for a few months and I truly believe it has helped with my SFN symptoms. The dosage according to what I read on a post I believe from MrsD is 300mg for the 1st month and 150mg after.

I also take Gabapentin (3) 100mg capsules WITH dinner. I can make it through the day but night can be bad. It took 2 weeks for my body to get use to it. I'm sure it helps with the burning and twitches because about an hour after I take it my sensations are considerably milder. If not for that I would get off of it.

I also use Aspercreme with Lidocaine for burning/pain and Morton's Epsom Salts for twitches. Also Topricin Cream is good.

I am looking into getting a compounded topical cream that includes Gabapentin and some other ingredients. Your doctor would need to be involved with that. There are posts on this if you search "compounding cream"

I didn't respond initially because I am retired and didn't fit into "Full or part time?" I was a teacher and if this had started when I was working I can't imagine what I'd have done. Probably been fired! Sleep is the minimum requirement to being surrounded by middle school students all day long:eek:

Hi Pinkynose,

Any side effects from taking the Benfotaimine?

Glad to hear you're retried...that must help a lot.

Cliffman

No side effects. It is not an immediate fix. This disease requires extraordinary patience. When this all began I started trying every supplement suggested I was so desperate. I now take very few. This is one of them. You can get more info on Benfotamine under "Supplements for PN"

What other supplements have you found to be helpful?

Cliffman

b12 methylcobalamin
slow mag

I had vitamin/mineral testing which showed deficiency in B1. My B12 was not high enough.

There are others I have taken in the past that may or may not have helped. I recently did a purge and am starting back on ones I'm not sure of 1 at a time. Generally speaking I'm a fan of anti- inflammatory supplements such as:
Curcumin, Omega 3's, folic acid and B vitamins in general. I will probably give alpha lipoic acid a try as many have said it helped them.

I do not know the cause of my symptoms so I gear myself toward supplements that decrease inflammation and ones others have suggested for my specific symptoms. I hope this helps.