Living with Neuropathy - Welcome to the group

Your taking some heavy stuff! None worked for me except Kratom! Watch your liver!

I had back surgery in 2014. Didn’t do any good and have heard the same from other people.

Good afternoon @ronva2co, I think you are on the right track. First, are you using Medical Cannabis? That is different from Hemp CBD or recreational and even street drugs. CBD actually needs some THC to make if effective for pain management. One company has a dual pack that lets you mix your own. They also give you a chart to go by for the best relief for different presenting pain situations. Let me know if you would like more information on this topic. Be safe and free of suffering. Chris

CBD helps pain for some people. It has no THC (marijuana) in it but you can get some CBD with some THC.

Over the past 10 years, i've had 4 back surgeries and one brain ... 3 other minor surgeries too. I'm in pain 24/7 and nothing seems to help. About a year ago, they implanted a SCS (Spinal Cord Stimulator) and the trial was great, However when the implant was done, it was no where near as good as the trial. I also have Neurogenic Claudication in both legs ... no cure and not much to offer to relieve pain.

CBD did nothing for me. At night, i use 100% THC Tincture and i sleep thru the night. But cant afford to take it each day so i opt for a good nights sleep.

Don't remind me. Not happy about it either and trying to get to a point of ommitting one. Just not sure which will be able to be the first one dropped. Definitely plan to keep tabs on my liver as well. Have to.

I use medical and i buy from a dispensary .. no street stuff. I tried mixing CBD and THC but found it to be ineffective. With the THC Tincture, at a minimum i sleep thru the night. I do not smoke it as i dont want to mess with my lungs/breathing. I have a medical card and have tried a couple creams and edibles but i either did not like the effect or they did nothing to help with my pain,

So sorry for your pain. My friend's son had the same experience with the SCS. I wonder why the trial works and the real deal does not.

@ginthert

Like you, I have tried every medication available for neuropathy as well as the medications in my pain specialist's bag of tricks. Everything either was ineffective or had unacceptable side effects. Lyrica was the only medication that was relieving the pain, but I wound up in the hospital because I was incoherent, lost my memory and tachycardic. The ER staff concluded that I was having a very bad reaction to Lyrica, and I stopped taking it while I was in the hospital. They had put in an NG tube, which I've had several times ,and I hate the things. But this time I had a severe panic attack not too long after it was inserted, and they had to remove it. Bummer that I couldn't take Lyrica.

After trying a bunch of meds prescribed by my neurologist and my pain specialist, I had a Burst DR spinal cord stimulator implant (that's MRI compatible) in June of 2017. It was incredible! It relieved more than 80% of my pain.

But like most medications, after a year it was decreasing in potency and I had to have the amplitude adjusted every three months. When I went to the imaging lab for an MRI, the stimulator controller said "MRI not advised". The company who owns the stimulator equipment finally came out with an update that did make it compatible. The same company has developed the dorsal root ganglion stimulator (Abbot), and I believe it's also compatible.

Throughout this process, at some point I started taking Morphine sulfate contin, and it's helped take the edge off the pain. A couple of months ago the pain specialist prescribed imipramine - from the amitriptyline family - and it's been giving me some relief. My daytime pain level has gone down from 6-9 to 2-5. When I lie down, the pain jumps to 8, something I haven't figured out.

I've been putting lidocaine cream on the painful areas in my feet at bedtime, and it numbs the pain long enough to get to sleep. Unfortunately, Medicare no longer covers it, and it costs more than $100 for less than 2 ounces. So, I went to one of my favorite store, Amazon, and found Uber Numb, a cream that has the same ingredients as the prescription version, but instead of $140.00, I pay only $16, and without a prescription.

Capsaicin cream often does the job, but for the first month, it really burns. I learned pretty quickly not to touch my eyes even after thoroughly washing my hands. I didn't feel any benefit from it, so I stopped using it. If I were to try it again, I'd wear a rubber glove.

It sounds like we're on the same pathway in the search for something that would relieve our pain. I hope you find the answer to your pain soon.

Jim