Help with refining my current supplements
 

Hello, everyone!

I have alcoholic induced idiopathic peripheral neuropathy in my feet, extending to my ankles. I do have sensation, my feet just feel buzzy all the time, somewhat achy, and occasionally have stabbing pains (think large needle being stabbed into the tip of a toe.)

I've been sober for almost 3 years now, and have been trying to take better care of myself. I'm looking for some help with my supplements, to see if I can improve on what I'm taking currently. I've also had a hysterectomy last month, so I'm trying to maximize healing, and noting that the change in hormones could affect otger issues. I have some specific questions:

* I currently take alpha-lipoic acid 600mg 2x daily. I think it's really helped my neuropathy! But it dies somewhat upset my stomach. Could I switch to RLA, which I understand is less harsh on the GI tract? Is RLA still effective for treating neuropathy? If so, what is the ratio? (I think I'd take half as much of RLA as I do ALA, but I'm not positive.)
*I take Protonix 40mg 2x daily for a hiatal hernia. When could I take this in my regimen to help it not interfere with my supplements?
*From what I've seen here, I'm considering adding ubiquinol/CoQ10, Omega3/fish oil/krill oil, and possibly Omega6/evening primrose/borage oil to my regimen. Advice on these would be appreciated. (Even just pointing me towards the appropriate threads!)
* I've noticed mentions of grape seed extract, and I'm intrigued. Is it helpful for neuropathy, and overall health?
*I'm hoping to be cost conscious, and love any way to keep the number of pills to a minimum, so combos are a big plus!

Thank you in advance for any advice, links to relevant threads, or suggestions for outside reading. It's a lot if information, my ADHD is having a field day, so I'm grateful for any way to narrow things down so I can make some decisions.

My current supplements:
Nature's Way Alive! Women's 50+ Ultra Potency 1 a Day Multivitamin
Jarrow Formula B-Right Optimized B Complex (with methylcobalamin B12+Pantethine+P5P)
Further Food Curcumin 500mg 2x daily
Nature's Blend Folic Acid 1000mcg
Solgar Zinc 50mg
Solgar Vitamin D3 25mcg
Dr's Best Magnesium Glycinate 200mg 2x daily
Dr's Best Alpha-lipoic acid 600mg 2x daily
Ester-C 1000mg
Jarro-dophilous EPS 1 capsule at 5PM
Nature Made Melatonin 3mg with 200mg L-theanine at bedtime

Meds:
Metoprolol tartrate 12.5mg 2x daily (prolonged QT interval, another great reason to stop drinking!)
Protonix 40mg 2x daily

I would start with diet - cutting out all junk foods and eating as healthy as possible, then add vitamins & supplements..

Consider testing to find out what your vitamin levels are at now with a full blood work up..
Then use that info to add vits & supps for best results..

If you smoke that is a whole other negative to health..and more vitamins /supplementing are needed to offset that if you can't quit..

The useful sticky threads in upper area of each forum have saved info - and our search tool can be very helpful too..

Maybe something it this forum might be helpful too..
https://www.neurotalk.org/medications-and-treatments/

Sometimes vitamins & supplements just can't do it all...
Alternative therapies info thread - PEMF, LLLT, Acupuncture , etc.

R-lipoic acid--
 

--was originally formulated precisely because people with reflux and the like were reporting more symptoms with alpha lipoic (which, after all, is an acid).

The R form contains only the right-handed isomers of the lipoic acid molecule, which is the active form. Generally, I have seen ration of anywhere from 6 to 1 to 10 to 1 regarding dosage equivalencies for a given level of effect, so that would mean that someone taking 600mg/day of alpha lipoic acid daily should try somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-100mg/day of R-lipoic for a similar effect. And yes, that reduction in overall dosage does seem to help with gastric acidity symptoms.

Thank you very much! I am currently off ALA due to my recent surgery; I had to stop fir a week orior,because the surgeon wasn't really certain that it would not interfere with bleeding, abd afterwards I was taking a lot of ibuprofen, and didn't want to risk the added stomach irritation. I'm going to restart it this weekend and see how it goes. I think I will switch to RLA when I finish this bottle, or if the ALA proves to be intolerable, whichever comes first.

Thank you very much! The search tool has been working a bit erratically for me, so I tried a post. I will keep trying!

I did quit smoking about 10 or so years ago. I've been trying to eat a much healthier diet, but it's been hard in some respects; I used chocolate to get me through the 5PM point in my day when I'd normally start to drink, and augh, giving that up has been incredibly difficult! I'll keep at it, my waistline will thank me.