Periphal Neuropathy. Is there any help out there?

"PawnKingThree" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I am an uninsured person who is suffering from peripheral neuropathy from the mid-calf down. I've
been treating it over the counter with Naproxen and Ibuprofen which seems to have been helping,
but it seems to be getting worse. I work on my feet which makes my days real interesting.

I expect at some point it will get even worse in the near future. Any tips or points? How does one
work with this? How does one function?

Occasionally I will go off my meds to keep from building an immunity to it. It's like my feet are
going to explode or being cramped into a little ball and thousands of needles being shoved into
my calves.

So what is out there on the counter that I can try?

You need to get your sugars under control. Do you have a BG meter? Are you taking any meds for your
diabetes? I too have the same condition, my feet used to swell up quite a bit. Sometimes it felt
like I was standing in a vat of acid. I went to Walgreen's & bought some socks designed for
diabetics. They're ugly as hell & only come in black but they made a world of difference. My feet no
longer swell up. The tops & bottoms of my toes are pretty numb & I suspect they always will be. I
know it's tough being without insurance, but you must get your BG under control or you might wind up
losing your feet! (If you smoke, stop ASAP) Go to Wal-Mart and buy a cheap BG meter & start testing.
Come back and report your readings. There's a lot of folks here that can help you.

Good luck

PawnKingThree said:

I am an uninsured person who is suffering from peripheral neuropathy from the mid-calf down. I've
been treating it over the counter with Naproxen and Ibuprofen which seems to have been helping,
but it seems to be getting worse. I work on my feet which makes my days real interesting.

I expect at some point it will get even worse in the near future. Any tips or points? How does one
work with this? How does one function?

Occasionally I will go off my meds to keep from building an immunity to it. It's like my feet are
going to explode or being cramped into a little ball and thousands of needles being shoved into
my calves.

So what is out there on the counter that I can try?

Here is a webpage worth a read

geocities.comneuropat.htmOpen ↗

The best treatment is to keep your bgs as close to nondiabetic as possible. Some have reported a
worsening of symptoms before an improvement. I don't suffer from neuropathy.

HTH

Vicki

"PawnKingThree" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I am an uninsured person who is suffering from peripheral neuropathy from the mid-calf down. I've
been treating it over the counter with Naproxen and Ibuprofen which seems to have been helping,
but it seems to be getting worse. I work on my feet which makes my days real interesting.

I expect at some point it will get even worse in the near future. Any tips or points? How does one
work with this? How does one function?

Occasionally I will go off my meds to keep from building an immunity to it. It's like my feet are
going to explode or being cramped into a little ball and thousands of needles being shoved into
my calves.

So what is out there on the counter that I can try?

More importantly, how is your BG? If it's too high, the Neuropathy won't ever get any better. I find
if my BG goes much beyond 150, the pain begins. I take Evening Primrose Oil and that helps. I take
2,000 mg each morning and evening. Costco is the cheapest place to buy it. If you're not a member,
you can buy from them online.

I don't think Ibuprofen or any other pain relievers will help and I also don't think it is safe to
take on a regular basis.

How do I work with this? I don't! I can't. I also have a problem with the veins in my legs and was
told I will probably not be able to work again, except perhaps a couple of hours a day, no more than
10 hours a week. You'd think this would qualify me as disabled, but according to my Drs., it does
not. I am a writer. I am able to do that from home, but I have yet to many any money at it.

--
Type 2 users.bestweb.net~jboveOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Subject: Periphal Neuropathy. Is there any help out there?
From: [email hidden] (PawnKingThree)
Date: 11/12/2003 12:54 PM Mountain Standard Time
Message-id: <[email hidden]>

I am an uninsured person who is suffering from peripheral neuropathy from the mid-calf down. I've
been treating it over the counter with Naproxen and Ibuprofen which seems to have been helping, but
it seems to be getting worse. I work on my feet which makes my days real interesting.

I expect at some point it will get even worse in the near future. Any tips or points? How does one
work with this? How does one function?

Occasionally I will go off my meds to keep from building an immunity to it. It's like my feet are
going to explode or being cramped into a little ball and thousands of needles being shoved into
my calves.

So what is out there on the counter that I can try?

Looks like what you want to do is balance the antioxidant defenses in your body. Peripheral
neuropathy is caused by a lack of antioxidants. This is evidenced below in this article in which
they specifically show a tocopherol / vitamin E deficiency leads to neuropathy.

Dr. Shute .. coincidentally .. over forty years ago .. called tocopherol / vitamin E a cure or all
but a cure for diabetes.

Diabetes. 1997 Sep;46 Suppl 2:S38-42. Related Articles, Links

The roles of oxidative stress and antioxidant treatment in experimental diabetic neuropathy.

Low PA, Nickander KK, Tritschler HJ.

Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.

Oxidative stress is present in the diabetic state. Our work has focused on its presence in
peripheral nerves. Antioxidant enzymes are reduced in peripheral nerves and are further reduced in
diabetic nerves. That lipid peroxidation will cause neuropathy is supported by evidence of the
development of neuropathy de novo when normal nerves are rendered alpha-tocopherol deficient and by
the augmentation of the conduction deficit in diabetic nerves subjected to this insult. Oxidative
stress appears to be primarily due to the processes of nerve ischemia and hyperglycemia auto-
oxidation. The indexes of oxidative stress include an increase in nerve, dorsal root, and
sympathetic ganglia lipid hydroperoxides and conjugated dienes. The most reliable and sensitive
index, however, is a reduction in reduced glutathione. Experimental diabetic neuropathy results in
myelinopathy of dorsal roots and a vacuolar neuropathy of dorsal root ganglion. The vacuoles are
mitochondrial; we posit that lipid peroxidation causes mitochondrial DNA mutations that increase
reduced oxygen species, causing further damage to mitochondrial respiratory chain and function and
resulting in a sensory neuropathy. Alpha-lipoic acid is a potent antioxidant that prevents lipid
peroxidation in vitro and in vivo. We evaluated the efficacy of the drug in doses of 20, 50, and 100
mg/kg administered intraperitoneally in preventing the biochemical, electrophysiological, and nerve
blood flow deficits in the peripheral nerves of experimental diabetic neuropathy. Alpha-lipoic acid
dose- and time-dependently prevented the deficits in nerve conduction and nerve blood flow and
biochemical abnormalities (reductions in reduced glutathione and lipid peroxidation). The nerve
blood flow deficit was 50% (P < 0.001). Supplementation dose-dependently prevented the deficit; at
the highest concentration, nerve blood flow was not different from that of control nerves. Digital
nerve conduction underwent a dose-dependent improvement at 1 month (P < 0.05). By 3 months, all
treated groups had lost their deficit. The antioxidant drug is potentially efficacious for human
diabetic sensory neuropathy.

PMID: 9285497 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
------

Who loves ya. Tom

Jesus Was A Vegetarian! jesuswasavegetarian.7h.comjesuswasavegetarian.7h.comOpen ↗ Man Is A Herbivore!
pages.ivillage.commanisaherbivoreOpen ↗ DEAD PEOPLE WALKING
pages.ivillage.comdeadpeoplewalkingOpen ↗

PawnKingThree wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

I am an uninsured person who is suffering from peripheral neuropathy from the mid-calf down. I've
been treating it over the counter with Naproxen and Ibuprofen which seems to have been helping, but
it seems to be getting worse. I work on my feet which makes my days real interesting.

I expect at some point it will get even worse in the near future. Any tips or points? How does one
work with this? How does one function?

Occasionally I will go off my meds to keep from building an immunity to it. It's like my feet are
going to explode or being cramped into a little ball and thousands of needles being shoved into
my calves.

So what is out there on the counter that I can try?

1. Folks don't become "immune" to diabetic meds. Going off your meds merely makes your neuropathy
worse, perhaps causing permanent damage. "Going Off" your meds actually can make some of them
not work as well when you start up again! !

2. The only real "cure" for neuropathy is very tight control of blood sugars. You must approach
non-diabetic blood sugars. One example is never going above 140 mg/dL at 2-hours-after-a meal.

3. I hope you are using a meter after eating to help you control.

4. The sense of many medical reports I have read about neuropathy is that high blood sugars cause
some temporary damage and some permanent damage. Keep "having high blood sugar" and the
permanent damage builds and builds until normal function can never be regained. You must
control blood sugars as quickly as possible.

5. Evening Primrose Oil has a good reputation for helping with neuropathy IF you are keeping your
blood sugar in non-diabetic ranges.

One of our former posters, David Stampe, a college professor in Toronto reported good results with
Evening Primrose Oil. His technique is listed below:

", , , , to start with take 2 to 4 grams a day (1 to 2 grams twice a day is best, taken with a
meal). It will probably take anywhere from 2 weeks to a month to start affecting peripheral
neuropathy, and its effects will fluctuate for at least the first month. You may notice some "hot
flashes" (sweating, feeling warm, and flushed) 3 or 4 hours after taking it. It will probably cause
an increase in any inflammation you may have, so once you have gotten improved sensation (if it
works for you, nothing's certain) then you may want to cut back some.

I had good results with greatly improved (although still not normal) temperature, touch, and
pain (as in pinch or burn avoidance) sensation to fingers and feet. I had to cut back to
500mg/day because of problems with inflammation. but I still have far better sensation now than
6 years ago. . ."

Regards
Old Al

On 12 Nov 2003 11:54:52 -0800, [email hidden] (PawnKingThree)

Quoted message said:

I am an uninsured person who is suffering from peripheral neuropathy from the mid-calf down. I've
been treating it over the counter with Naproxen and Ibuprofen which seems to have been helping, but
it seems to be getting worse. I work on my feet which makes my days real interesting.

I expect at some point it will get even worse in the near future. Any tips or points? How does one
work with this? How does one function?

Occasionally I will go off my meds to keep from building an immunity to it. It's like my feet are
going to explode or being cramped into a little ball and thousands of needles being shoved into
my calves.

So what is out there on the counter that I can try?

The only thing that helped my severe neuropathy was finding a method to control my blood sugars well
Control is an 24/7 thing. When I get lax I experience some symptoms

If you want to suffer, don't bother with control and do what you want. Or listen to some magic cure.

I think I have seen several hundred fixes for the problem. So many research grants with some PR
releases. All of them disappeared in time.

When I first had diabetes I was told I could function better with some elevation of blood sugar and
a fasting blood sugar every month. Given a diet that I now know was totally wrong. Still don't know
about diet except to limit calories and use the scales to set my food input.

Today I had an eye lased and was informed I have a small cataract in the right eye.

I wish I had the chance to be where a lot of you are. I would go to the trouble to establish good
control. That is a the most important thing. You could get hit by a car tomorrow so we have no
guarantee. But I would like to take the chance of the better odds of good control. To hell with the
great meals. I think other activities can be found that are greater.

Guy.

Thanks for the good advice folks. I shall try it out and see how it goes. Will keep a close eye on
my diet. Again thanks.

Guy <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

(PawnKingThree) said:

I am an uninsured person who is suffering from peripheral neuropathy from the mid-calf down. I've
been treating it over the counter with Naproxen and Ibuprofen which seems to have been helping,
but it seems to be getting worse. I work on my feet which makes my days real interesting.

I expect at some point it will get even worse in the near future. Any tips or points? How does
one work with this? How does one function?

Occasionally I will go off my meds to keep from building an immunity to it. It's like my feet are
going to explode or being cramped into a little ball and thousands of needles being shoved into
my calves.

So what is out there on the counter that I can try?

The only thing that helped my severe neuropathy was finding a method to control my blood sugars
well Control is an 24/7 thing. When I get lax I experience some symptoms

If you want to suffer, don't bother with control and do what you want. Or listen to some
magic cure.

I think I have seen several hundred fixes for the problem. So many research grants with some PR
releases. All of them disappeared in time.

When I first had diabetes I was told I could function better with some elevation of blood sugar
and a fasting blood sugar every month. Given a diet that I now know was totally wrong. Still don't
know about diet except to limit calories and use the scales to set my food input.

Today I had an eye lased and was informed I have a small cataract in the right eye.

I wish I had the chance to be where a lot of you are. I would go to the trouble to establish good
control. That is a the most important thing. You could get hit by a car tomorrow so we have no
guarantee. But I would like to take the chance of the better odds of good control. To hell with
the great meals. I think other activities can be found that are greater.

Guy.

Vicki Beausoleil <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

The best treatment is to keep your bgs as close to nondiabetic as possible. Some have reported a
worsening of symptoms before an improvement.

Before I was diagnosed by a doctor, I only occassionally (once a month or less) experienced the
burning feeling in my feet. Intense itchy burning that you can't scratch.

This was not a case of selective attention; I knew full well what it was and what it was called,
before diagnosis and treatment.

However, after lowering my bgs, I now experience it much more often. I haven't been able to
correlate it to anything. My doctor said, "That's not an unusual pattern.

I was also told that it will inevitably progress from parathesia to anasthesia, which is why it's to
important to get into the habit of checking your feet for injuries, every day.