I have been using the r lipoic acid in addition to the b12. I have been using the r lipoic acid for 3 days. I havent felt any relief yet for burning skin I have been dealing with the last 5 years. I guess I need some advice to stick with it because it is way to early to tell. Since I have been experience this for a long time its hard to stay positive and be in it for the long term.
Thanks Andrew

3 days is not enough. Supplements are not drugs. There is no
quick fix. If this is to work for you, it will take some time.

Maybe within a month or so. Make sure you are taking it on an empty stomach. And not eating alot of sugar and starchy carbs.

If after a month there is no change, then I'd add in Benfotiamine, 300mg a day. Doctor's Best is affordable and easy to find on Amazon.com or iherb.com

thanks mrsD you have been very helpful. I knew I could count on you to answer my questions. Thanks again

I started taking r lipoic acid about 7 days ago. I took 50mg for 2 days and did not notice any side effects so upped it to 100mg. I can not believe that I am already feeling a significant decrease in the feet burning at night. I had spoken to my neurologist last month regarding the r ipocic acid and she said it's been around a long time but does not work. This last visit she did a compound cream for my feet but no relief. I have already been through all the traditional PN meds and refuse to put up with the brain fog and other side effects. I also take B12 and B6. The B6 helps with the electric shocks.:

I am glad it is working for you...

So much for your neurologist, though.

That response is typical. But some neurologists are beginning to
recommend lipoic acid and acetyl carnitine for some of their patients. Dr. Blaylock MD has a website and he is very active with healing using nutrients. So do Google him.

I am new to this site all the way from NZ so I am hopeing that you can help with the right amount of vitamins to take. It started about 5 years ago with what felt like I had thing crwling under my skin on my face and also pain in the jaw it sort of went away and then I woke up one morning to lumps under my feet and terrible pain in them i couldnt walk that settled as well. After a couple a years I started getting pain in the back of my legs around my calf muscels I went to a nuro and he said small nerve nuropathy but only minor. In and around all of this I have had several episodes of a red raw tongue and very dry mouth ...the sore part went but the very red toungue never did. I now have skin pain all over my body I cannot brush my self dry after a shower My skin has changed and cannot wear any cloths close to my skin and that is all over my body. I get really tired. I have sever sponylisis L4-5 and the disks below that as well I have had blood tests done and will enter these as well

Total protein 65g/l
ANA 1.80 homogenous / nucleolar
Thyroid Free t4 9-19 TSH 0.4-4 Free T3 3.6
Albumin 42 gl
Total Globulin 23 gl
Mangnesium 0.88
Serum 12 405pmo1/1
serum folate 18nmo1
CRP 7.3mg/1
I want to order some B vitamins but not sure about dosge and was wondering if might be able to help
Many thanks for reading this. My life has been very stressful over the last ten years and was thinking that this may be partly stress.
Many thanks
Heather

Welcome to NeuroTalk, Heather.

I really can't do lab ranges from other countries. It is too complex for me.

But a red (beefy red) tongue is indicative of low B12 levels.
So get a B12 level and also a Vit D one while you are at it,
and bring the numbers back here.

Thankyou.....my B12 level serum is 405 and folate is 18nmol1/1

Thankyou for your help

B12 in pmols? then that would be 540 in US units pg/ml.

That is borderline, as 400 is the lowest normal. So you could try to raise that up some. Here is my B12 thread explaining.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread85103.html

You can do 1mg of methylcobalamin orally daily on an empty stomach (wait an hour to eat) and get retested in 3-6 months. iherb.com ships overseas.
Many of our international posters use iherb because they are affordable and do international orders.

I had really fast results too -- 48 hrs. and the burning was gone.
B5 helped the needle jabs & shocks for me.
http://www.diabeteslibrary.org/View....ntothenic_acid

Doc