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← Return to CBD oil for Neuropathy
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posted by nkhan@sarah_leanne
Greetings.
My name is Nazir Khan. I am working for the UN as an international civil servant and am currently based in Harare, Zimbabwe.
In August 2017, I began to experience gradual onset bilateral symmetrical discomfort of my feet, which could be described as a heavy feeling. Gradually this progressed to a burning sensation along with numbness and pins and needles. My feet are very sensitive to touch. Since then the symptoms have been constant, and they have affected my ability to mobilize freely. I am no longer able to exercise. It is now 18 months later and my symptoms have not resolved. The symptoms of burning/tingling pain and altered sensation are rapidly progressing.
Since the onset of my symptoms, I have seen a large number of doctors in countries all over the world and have had a very large number of tests performed. My most recent assessment was done by Mayo Clinic Rochester.
There has been some conflict in opinion. I was initially told that my symptoms were possibly the result of spinal stenosis caused by degenerative disc disease. To fix the problem, I initially considered stem cell treatment, but ultimately a decision was made to undergo a course of two rounds of spinal platelet lysate injections in a clinic in Colorado.
However, according to the aforementioned more recent assessment in Mayo Clinic, my diagnosis appears to be a small fibre neuropathy.
I have not tried any medication yet but my symptoms are deteriorating rapidly. I am finding it increasingly difficult to walk because of the constant burning sensation, severe numbness and pain.
I am wondering whether my condition can benefit from the pain cream you mentioned in your post on Mayo Clinic Connect and if so how can I get it in Zimbabwe.
Kindly help.
Replies to "posted by nkhan@sarah_leanne Greetings. My name is Nazir Khan. I am working for the UN as..."
@nkhan1958, @johnbishop, Good evening Nazir Kahn and welcome to our wonderful world of sharing experiences and supporting each other. I am very impressed with the care provided by Mayo Clinic Rochester and therefore I can only assume that your diagnosis of small fiber neuropathy was made after you had a skin test to measure the density of the small fibers in a small sample from your leg. If so, then we have the same condition, one in which our small nerves are starting to struggle to keep up the work they do for us. As I understand it, when that happens and they are unable to "communicate" or do their job well, the only thing they know how to do is send back pain signals. Since my diagnosis, my journey into the world of chronic pain has been rapid and intense. At this point, I am focused on controlling the level of pain and discomfort so that I may live my life without constant discomfort. Here is what I have found to be helpful, expressed in terms of my daily regimen. 1. Sleep in if you can and enjoy the morning's moments without pain.
2. Take a hot shower hitting all those suspect areas....hands, feet, and other muscles. 3. Turn on some beautiful music and do 20 minutes of gentle yoga stretches and strength building exercises followed by 10-15 minutes of meditation focusing on relaxation and awareness. 4. Ease into your day without a focus on productivity or anxiety-producing efforts. As I learned, anxiety produces pain which produces more anxiety and then more pain. Depending on where you are in the development of SFN, you may want to add medical marijuana to your coffee. A 2-1 level works for me the entire morning. (I can explain more if you choose.) . 5. Give your body permission to rest. If others are around, simply say, "My body needs to rest now." 20 minutes and you will feel stronger and have less anxiety. 6. Evening time, depending on how much activity you had during the day, should be a chance to prepare for sleeping. I again use my form of pain control. 7. After talking with your heath professionals, you may want to use a couple of medications or their equivalent, gabapentin, and nortriptyline. I take them only at night about one hour before bedtime. And finally, if the tingling in your hands and/or feet is intense, try getting a lidocaine cream compounded for you by a pharmacist. It is topical and yet it lasts just long enough for you to drift off into what should be good healing sleep. Don't give up......you can find the quality of life that you deserve. Best wishes, may you have pain free moments, hours, and days to enjoy. Chris
Hello Nazir,
I think you had the right idea with stem cell therapy , I have researched this till it’s comjng out my ears , big pharmacy does not want to cure any disease , it would put a lot of people out of jobs , the last disease cured was polio in the sixtys ... in a world with super computers we can’t find cures for disease now ? I have read with artificial intelligence that’ these compute will be able to solve and cure a lot of disease , artificial intelligence is moving along so fast Elon musk has stated he is worried about the pace of artificial intelligence . Check out the you tube video joe Rogan with Mel Gibson , I hope to hear from you soon
Hello folks - @nkhan1958; @johnbishop; @pfbacon,; @sarah_leanne - I was diagnosed with neuropathy at Mayo Clinic in Rochester a few years back and have the numbness, ultra sensitivity, tingling, burning and pain. I was prescribed Gabapentin and only take that at night because I can't function during the day if I take as much as they want me to. I also take the Gabapentin for neck and back pain. It helps me sleep, but not sure if it does anything for the pain and I'm 99% sure it has some bad side effects, which I HATE!! On top of Mayo suggesting I have my fourth EMG, they recently suggested I start taking Lyrica, which I refused. I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't handle another EMG. Its got to be the worst procedure ever known to man. Anyway, I have been doing tons of research on alternatives to prescriptions for neuropathy and found some good info on Alpha Lipoic Acid for it. I ordered some from one of the reputable vitamin companies I purchase many of our vitamins from and started taking it a couple days ago. I am thinking it might take a bit to get into my system and start working, but I will keep you all posted on my progress and whether it helps or not. I am a federal employee and was told I'm not allowed to use CBD oil products, more specifically if they contain any THC, which from what I am reading, is the only kind worthwhile using. I retire in about 21 months, not that I'm counting. 🙂
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Hello Nazir @nkhan1958, I see you are a new member this year. Welcome to Connect. I was also diagnosed with small fiber peripheral neuropathy at Rochester Mayo Clinic. It is in both legs, mostly in the ankles and feet. I have no pain with mine. I only have numbness and some tingling. It's been with me for well over 20+ years but I never bothered to have it diagnosed because my primary care doctor told me it was probably nerve damage and when I asked them how they could tell, he told me they could run some tests. My next question was if they find it's nerve damage what can they do to fix it. I was told nothing would fix it so I stopped asking until it seemed to be getting worse a few years ago which is when I had some tests including an EMG and saw a neurologist at Mayo Clinic. He told me if there was pain he could give me medications to address the pain but there was nothing that can help with the numbness. That started my search and was how I found Connect. You can read my complete story here if you want: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/anyone-here-dealing-with-peripheral-neuropathy/?pg=42#comment-65985
I am tagging other members who have posted about CBD and other treatment methods that may be helpful for you. @artscaping and @jenniferhunter would you have any suggestions for Nazir?
John