I became a hostage of chronic PN mostly in my lower legs and feet in the past few years. I still work in the school system full time, but the pain in my feet became increasingly difficult to mentally contend with. My symptoms are a burning pain in my feet, numbness in my feet and toes, cramping in my legs, and an overall discomfort in my legs and feet that at times makes it difficult to get to that point where I can comfortably doze off into dreamland at night.

I wake up in the morning knowing I'm going to be contending with rising and falling pain spikes like an EKG graph. My pain spikes are usually based upon usage, or the type of exertion I'm putting on my legs and feet. Certain kinds of movement just happen to set it off on an upward spike where I have to relax, get off my feet, take my shoes off, massage my feet, and get to that point where the pain starts to recede back down to what might be called an acceptable level.

My PN is always there. I've learned and accepted the fact that there is no cure for it as of yet, and maybe never so. To me and many others, it's just about managing the pain and discomfort. At almost any given moment, I can tell myself or anyone else who might want to know the level of pain or discomfort I'm at on a one to ten scale. I call one to one and a half a pleasant near full retreat. I call a six to six and a half the level where I have to stop and deal with it because I'm in danger of it spiking to that eight, eight and a half level where it's excruciating.

I have hit this thing from so many angles, stretching/yoga exercises; supplements designed to target nerve damage; working my feet and legs on machines at the health club even at the cost of the pain endured; chiro; massage therapy (my PN supposedly resulted in my lower spine; getting off a cholesterol drug I was on; trying out better shoes; using inserts in them; and this past year finally trying Lyrica (which, by the way, is challenging in the weight department for me).

I will report that in the last month I've had a noticeable reduction in my pain cycles. I have no idea what of the things I've been trying in tandem might have led to this reduction in my pain cycles. I have no illusions about a real recovery, and my pain cycles may well return to their previous levels. But this recent, say, 25-30% improvement in my pain cycles has been a welcome respite for as long as it lasts.