Neuropathy: What works and what are scams?

I recommend you do a longer trial of TENS. It may take many months to repair the nerves. I’m having some success with it, I think, after three weeks.
I used a TENS unit 40 years ago after back surgery and it took about a year to repair the nerve. My best…

Thanks for the heads up.. I'm going to try the TENS

Tried Cymbalta over a year ago. Did nothing for me but some weight gain and irritability at times. Everyone is different.

Hi, I'm new on this forum. After 13+ years of struggling with PN, I'm still looking for the panacea. Drugs don't help. Night times are hell, especially as I live in a hot climate. However, a few months ago I was told to try wearing short compression socks ( open at the toes) for sleeping and guess what, they really do help.

I am glad to hear something has helped you. As I have written before nothing has helped me (except one pill that I use when I want some small relief - Tramadol) however I do not take it as prescribed, 4x/day, as I could not function under that drugged state. I guess that after 10+ years of this insidious malady and false ads I stopped looking for a panacea. Nooro was the latest I tried and after 2+ months and being bombarded by their advertising machine offering more and more devices I returned it and surprisingly the ads bombardment stopped! Good thing They were true to their word and refunded what I had paid for it. I am under the care of a very understanding and caring pain management physician who has also tried to find some relief for this frustrating illness. Epidural injections, a pain management implant that also did not work. The latest is another type of implant, that he said it might work and to see if it could help I had a “lumbar medial branch block” that is a diagnostic procedure to determine if the implant a”Dorsal Rout (or bout) Ganglion would be adequate to “mask” the pain as doctors consider to be the numbness, tingling and cold/burning sensation that affects me the most. No dice! So I guess that for me, a panacea does not exist. To top everything off, I have now became a diabetic, type 2 to deal with. A new fight to undertake! We must not give up and try to live with what we have been dealt in life. Good luck to you all in the quest for a better life.

I have severe foot neuropathy, I am not diabetic. I’ve seen a podiatrist, orthopedic, rheumatologist, neurology, and now go to a pain clinic every month. A fantastic medicine I am on is Xtampza. They have tweaked this medicine to take away the habit forming euphoria you find with other pain meds. This is critical for me as an electrical engineer to be able to function. The bad side now, it’s costing me over $600.00/month, and I’m now working with my doctor to find something less expensive. Someday, the patent will expire on Xtampza, I’ll be back if that happens. I have tried a product called Qutenza wrap, it advertises it will zap the n-pain for up to 4-months. It did nothing for me $1100.00 wasted.

Welcome @kdehaven, I think Xtampza is a form of oxycodone. Sorry to hear that it's the only thing that provides relief for you. I did see that they had a savings card - https://www.xtampzaer.com/savings/.

Have you checked with the manufacturer's site to see if you can get it at a reduced cost?

Yes Xtampza is an opioid but I liked it because they tweaked out the euphoria and it cut the pain 80-90%. I don’t think much of the cautionary labels that it’s habit forming. I was working overseas for a month and couldn’t get the Xtampza refilled. I had been taking it for 2-years and the only side-effect when I stopped was some interrupted sleep but that went away after 4-5 days. I went 2-3 weeks without, feet were in the frying pan 24/7 but I lived. The savings card on the website is for commercially insured, I’m Medicare but still working and if you don’t sign up for the Plan D at the time of enrollment, they can stick it to you when you enroll late. None of the plan D now cover Xtampza, it’s all on me. I might call the manufacturer and cry but I’m not hopeful. Xtampza patent was originally supposed to be up in 2025 but they got it extended to 2036 by the FDA.

Have you looked into any complementary or alternative treatments, or supplements to see if they might provide some relief? - https://www.foundationforpn.org/therapies/

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