Am I getting worse, or do I need a different med?
 

Over the past week I feel like I've been getting worse. Shooting pain up my feet/heel, the feeling that somebody just stood on my foot even though nothing touched it. A little pain up to my thigh.

Switched my med about a month ago to Oxcarbazepine because the Gabapentin was making me totally stupid. This one isn't making me so stupid, but I'm REALLY forgetful (but I'm hoping that it gets better as I get used to the medicine). I've been upping it by 150 mg each week, so yesterday I just added a 150mg dose in the morning, have been taking 600mg at night. The worse feelings started about a week ago.

I've also been fighting a cold, got it three days before Christmas. It seemed to get into my lymph nodes, I've been having night sweats for two weeks now, I know it's my body trying to get rid of the rest of this stupid cold. The way that I've been fighting it is very unusual for me, but everyhting else my body is doing lately is weird, so I'm not surprised.

Do I go back to the Neuro and tell him this isn't working? Or do I need to just tough it out a few more weeks until I get more meds in my system? I HATE taking all these meds, but without them I probably would want to chop off my legs.

I've also had some wrist pain. I was trying to cut fabric yesterday to make some pants for my husband. I had to stop a few times and come back to it later. Something I could have done in an afternoon will take me all week now :( Not sure if the wrist pain is the cold, new SFN symptoms, or something else. My grip isn't what it used to be though.

And all last night my wrists have been hurting. The actual joints, both of them. It hurt worse than the day before. I took a bath and let them soak in the hot water hoping that would help, which it did while I was in there, but not after.

This is too much! I can't deal with this much longer.

I don't have an answer, I know nothing about that med and the side effects. Sending good thoughts, I am sorry.

It would be a good idea to contact your doctor.

That medication you are on has toxic potential and serious side effects, so your doctor should know all new symptoms since starting it.

Heat can make PN pain worse. Try an ice pack on your wrists, and see if that works better.

My Chiro warned me about heat...so I avoid it. 10 minutes tops if I need a heating pad, etc.

How does heat make it worse? So far (for me) it seems cold makes it worse. I've actually been wearing my Uggs to work (and keeping flats under my desk in case clients come in) because my feet are so cold all the time. I also have a space heater, but the noise bothers me.

My jaws have been clenching too. Could be the cold, could be the meds.

I've been wondering about Toxic PN/SFN. I've seen it mentioned a few times. When I was injured a year ago (SFN started July 12) I was in the hospital and put on a ton of meds at the time, some antibiotics both orally and by IV, pain meds both, I'm sure some other stuff, but I can't remember right now. I'm not an alcoholic, diabetic or any other self-inducing kind of thing. I need to get my doc to figure out *why* this is happening (injury, burn, epidural, toxicity, hypothyroidism, etc).

I just want to crawl up on the couch and stay there for a few years. I know part of that is my lymphatic system still fighting this stupid cold, part of it is the meds. I wish I didn't have such a great job or I'd ask to go on disability. But I sit at a desk all day and don't have to deal with people, so it's not horrible. They don't seem to notice too much when I'm having bad days.

Regarding the toxic issues, the one drug that I had a HUGE problem with in the hosiptal was Flagyl, which is on this list as possible toxins causing PN:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/1998/0215/p755.html (table 8)

It ended up making my stomach horribly nauseaous, and caused me to not be able to take more meds and that's why I had to have an epidural (because the pain meds weren't in me enough to work).

How much does one have to take for it to be toxic? How long after would the PN/SFN/? show up? It was 6/7 months before it started for me.

Sorry for all the questions, but I have a lawsuit going on and I have to get my doc to admit who caused what.

The drug you are on now is not toxic PN wise....it is basically
potentially toxic to your whole body in other ways.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post829772-9.html
The newer form which you are using has less drug/drug liver interactions, but it still has the properties of carbamazepine.

While you have not been on it long enough for some of the major problems to manifest, you could still be intolerant of it in other ways. So don't hesitate to call your doctor.

Wearing warm clothing is not the same as soaking in a hot tub.
HOT stimulates the neurons for heat, which then cause most of the sensory PN symptoms.

People who cannot tolerate an ice pack (which is not the same as being COLD) often have RSD...which is a different form of neuropathy. An ice pack for PNers is only a 15-20 minute thing, it is not like being COLD in winter, etc. We are talking about
degree here.

The toxicity I was speaking about was possible reasons FOR my SFN. I'm still wondering what caused it, and Flagyl is on that list, and it's something they gave me in the hospital that I reacted poorly to.

I'll remember what you said about the cold and hot. I wore my Uggs all day yesterday, got home and asked my husband to feel my feet, see if they were cold. Nope he says. To me my toes felt like ice, obviously a reaction to the nerves, not actual cold. So I guess I just need more furry shoes? My uggs don't really match my work clothes.

I had him work on my back last night, something was out and I'm hoping that was what was causing my wrists to hurt. But I will call my doc as my feet couldn't stop moving last night. I'm not a restless leg person, but yesterday felt like it.