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Toe Pain Associated with Peripheral Neuropathy
I have had peripheral neuropathy for many years, and it has progressively gotten worse, especially in my toes. Specifically in my pinky toe in my left foot and in my big toe in my right foot. The pain in these toes is unbearable at times. I even have a spinal stimulator. The only thing that addresses the pain is Oxycodone medication.
Does anyone else have a similar experience with toe pain? If so, what have you done to address the pain.
Thank you.
Rdear45
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@heisenberg34 I used to have that whooshing sound in my right ear. I drove me crazy until I discovered I could I could put my finger about an 1/2" right under my ear and it would stop. I slept that way for years. I went to a ear Dr. and he washed out my ear and it got louder then. It eventually stopped. So weird. Good Luck
@faybe Thanks! Can’t wait to try your methods.
@faybe Did you clean your ears out at home or in doc’s office? Also, how long after cleaning ears out did you notice the whooshing was gone?
Thanks
@heisenberg34 The Ear Doctor cleaned my ears out and could not find anything wrong. I heard the noise as soon as he got through cleaning out my ears and the noise was louder. LOL
True story. Never knew what caused it, but I heard the noise for at least one or two years. Can't remember, it has been a long time ago. A Ear Doctor today might be able to tell you something. I am sure we are not the only one that has had that experience. Let me know please if you find out what is causing it. Good Luck and God Bless
Fay faybe3@yahoo.com
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1 Reaction@faybe If I don't think about the whooshing, then I don't seem to notice it. Once the quiet of the night comes and I am in bed, the sound is really loud. Every breath in and out brings the sound out. Also, my sinuses shut off around three or four in the morning. Even after irrigating with the Navage and giving myself two sprays of Rx nasal spray. I have to get up and reirrigate and spray. Very frustrating.
@rdear45 How do you get your oxycodone? Seems like most Docs are very reluctant to prescribe opioids these days.
@heisenberg34 the The navage might be making the noise louder, or causing it. Try sinus medicine over the counter and just use nasal spray. your doctor will have to refer you to a pain clinic to get pain medication. Good luck
@faybe Interestingly, I did nothing yesterday to my sinuses. No Navage, no sinus sprays... I went to bed, relaxed and tried to breathe as normally as possible try to limit the "whooshing" in my ears when breathing. I fell asleep quickly. got up once to use the toilet, went back to sleep. Woke up around 6:30. Best sleep in a long time. Looks like much of my issue was mental. There, I said it... I'm a mental case. Please take me away! LOL
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1 Reaction@heisenberg34 my advice helped. thank God
I have a similar situation that I have been working through for about 8-10 years. I have severe pain that occurs in my right middle toe that acts like neuropathy and me and my medical providers have been treating it as such with little or no improvement.
About a year ago a PCP personal friend of mine made an observation that changed everything. After bringing her up on my condition on a visit and telling her my experience she hit me with on observation. I suffer from Diabetes due to my time in the service over in Vietnam, so everyone thought that what I had was diabetic peripheral neuropathy. My PCP friend told me that she thought my medical team was missing something because diabetic PN must be symmetrical (in other words manifesting itself on both sides of my body the same way, and my symptoms were asymmetrical as shown by the pain in my right middle toe. This of course has been complicated due to the fact that I do have diabetic PN that is manifesting itself in both feet and legs up to my knees, but that pain is very minimal compared to my right middle toe which can be excruciating and sleep robbing as it affects me when I lie down to go to sleep at night.
I was told to start looking elsewhere to discover what else might be causing the situation. As the pain can be adjusted to a small degree by changing my position in bed the idea of sciatica came up. Fortunately, I am VA (90% disabled) so I don't have to carry the costs of tests, so I went for an MRI on my spinal cord to see if there as something there causing the problem. The test came back that my spine looked good for someone my age (83) and the spine surgeon's PA could find nothing that would cause the problem. So, that ruled out the sciatica radiating down to my right middle toe.
The next step to find the problem was to check in with my podiatrist, which is where we are now, and I am scheduled for another MRI on my right foot. Don't know how this is going to turn out but I am hopeful of finally getting to the bottom of this.
Something else that I discovered that has really made a difference is medication. My PCP put me on Gabapentin 600mg 1-1-4. This did little to help with the pain but was really started making a mess of my brain. (almost lost my wife of 52 years on this one.) The civilian medical services availability in my area is getting really complicated with medical provider services discovering that NPs and PAs are cheaper than doctors so have been going thru doctors like crazy as they are becoming no longer available. I did connect with a new civilian PCP who weaned me off the Gabapentin and put me instead on Ropinirole HCL which is primarily used for Parkinsons and also in different doses used for Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) but according to my studying (I am not a doctor or a pharmacist so please do your own studies.) uses some of the same approaches as the Gabapentin but w/o some of the real bad side-effects. I was informed that some of the side effects include drowsiness and upset stomach. I am sure that there are others that I am unaware of, but I have experienced no side-effects, yet. I am on a high dose of 3mg which was introduced as .5mg doses intervals, which I take an hour before bedtime and it has made all of the difference in the world. I am finally able to get something that gets close to a good night's sleep. This does not remove all of the pain and discomfort, but it sure takes the edge of it off and so far, is an answer to prayer.
I wanted to share my experience in depth to maybe start up some fresh ideas and approaches that might help someone else. I am not saying that I have the answer only that I have found some answers that help me. As I have delved into treatments and remedies for this over the past 8-10 years I have learned the hard way that what works for me doesn't necessarily work for anyone else and visa versa. I feel like I have tried every "scam", supplement and cream that I could find out there without much luck. So, if this helps you in any way please take what helps and throw away the rest.