Does anyone treat their neuropathy without pharmaceutical drugs?

I have peripheral neuropathy with numbness as a symptom, not pain. Makes balance and walking difficult. I was on gabapentin, then duloxetine and got off both because of debilitating side effects.I have been following information about research in molecular studies. One study found that benfotamine, a compnent of vitamin B1, has a positive effect on neuropathy. Other B vitamins, magnesium, Alpha Lipoic Acid also were cited. I suggest you talk to your doctor about these alternative treatments. (Don't try to self-medicate -- there may be interactions you don't know about.) This approach seems to treat the source, not just the symptoms, of neuropathy.

What kind of doctor treats neuropathy?

What kind of doctor treats neuropathy?

I don’t have pain. Does it help with numbness?

Hello @annashby, Welcome to Connect. Sorry to hear you have joined the neuropathy club. An 80+ year old neurologist that I had an opportunity to listen to at a Minnesota Neuropathy Association meeting back in 2018 commented that if you live long enough you will develop neuropathy as nerves die like any other cells in the body. Mine started in my late 40s but I am fortunate that I just have the numbness and no pain. Before I was diagnosed in 2016 or so one of my PCPs had started me on gabapentin but it didn't help the numbness so I stopped taking it only to find out later from the neurologist that there aren't any drugs that help with the numbness. I shared my neuropathy journey along with other members in another discussion here - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/member-neuoropathy-journey-stories-whats-yours/.

Best suggestion I have is keep doing what you are doing with a healthy diet and exercise and learn as much as you can about your symptoms and what treatments are available that might help. A great site for learning more, including complementary and alternative treatments is the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy - https://www.foundationforpn.org/living-well/.

You might also want to scan through the different discussions in the Neuropathy Support Group to learn what others have shared helped them - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/neuropathy/. Connect has a really nice search function if you want to give it a spin. Here are the search results for "neuropathy what helps" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/?search=neuropathy+what+helps

Have you done any research on complementary or alternative treatments?

I take ALA and benfotiamine (which seems to help the most), do exercise, massage Voltaren gel and topical anesthetics.
So far these have addressed the pain and tingling, but nothing has touched the progressing numbness.
One of those electrical foot stimulators had no effect.
I'm hoping the exercise is at least slowing it down.

@annashby
If you have nerve pain, burning, pins and needles, etc., you can try alpha Lipoic acid, Acetyl l carnitine and magnesium supplements. They have helped me when my small fiber neuropathy was really bad in my feet. Also, capsaicin and lidocaine creams and patches can help with localized nerve pain. Compression socks can help some, too, if your neuropathy is in your feet/calves.