Vitamin deficiency and the progression of neuropathy
 

Hi all,

Roughly 2.5 months after the onset of my initial symptoms (numbness, tingling in my feet), my neurologist found that my b12 and e numbers were low. I do believe that these low levels are involved in my neuropathy, as since I have started supplementing with vitamin b12 and eating tons of vitamin e-rich food the weakness in my ankles has completely vanished. But the numbness and neuropathic pain remain in both feet and I am now starting to experience cramping in the left leg, which is new. So this raises the question, even though I am aggressively treating what seems to be the cause of my neuropathy, can I still expect the damage to progress up my legs? Is my best hope to simply slow the progression? It seems like I caught this and began treating it fairly early. If my symptoms do indeed continue to progress, is that necessarily an indication that there is more involved than simple vitamin deficiency? Many thanks for your input! - HS

The vitamin deficiencies may cause some of the problems....but they also hamper repair, that our bodies do when damage from the environment occurs. B12 and folate help repair myelin which insulates the nerve axons. Fish oil provides the fatty acids for this.

Magnesium tempers the NMDA pain receptors, and relaxes muscles.
Vit D has some effects on chronic pain, and the immune system.

So it can be a mixture of both.... but I tend to think repair is the main function for most of the nutrients.

You can try some of the magnesium lotion...which is quite miraculous IMO.

Morton Epsom Lotion--
http://www.amazon.com/Morton-Epsom-L...n+epsom+lotion
Also at WalMart locally at most locations. Once a day on cramping muscles or targeted areas of pain/or the feet works.
Only a quarter's dollop sized amount is usually all that is needed.

Do any family members that you know of have similar symptoms? Thank you.

No, I have no reason to think my neuropathy is hereditary. My symptoms came on while I was living in China. I was eating a very unbalanced diet since local cuisine was not palatable and I did not have access to my usual foods. I was also vegetarian/vegan for a year or two before going over there, so I do believe low b12 levels could be a very relevant factor.

Thanks again for everyone's insight, this is truly an amazing community and I have learned so much from reading through the posts.

There may be a virus over there in China... that is a factor too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillai...C3%A9_syndrome

Quick Update
 

So I've been supplementing for several weeks now with 600 mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid and 5000MG of Methyl B12 (level was originally 295). To address my vitamin e deficiency (level was originally 5.4) I've been eating generous amounts of sunflower seeds, almonds and spinach.

Overall, my symptoms in my feet have greatly improved. The pain is almost non-existent. I do, however, have weakness in the area behind my left knee that gets worse if I try to walk for an extended period of time. The weakness seems mild and I have no trouble getting up and down stairs.

Since I began treatment some 2.5 months from the start of my symptoms, I am hoping that this weakness might be able to be healed with time. Has anyone out there been able to fully recover from muscle weakness brought on my vitamin deficiencies? Any input would be much appreciated!