Seeking help, information, support...

Hello @artscaping . Consider yourself a very lucky guy, I wish I can meditate and make this hell go away. If I do so, I feel more aware of the pain I’m in, what works for me is distraction, I sip through water every 2 seconds to forget, it’s awful.

Your mediation teacher was wise. I am on about every neuropathic pain reliever, and find that meditation is the best thing for controlling my pain.

@arcticmark

"Zappers" is a great to describe what I experience. As I have mentioned, they went away for five days and have been back the last two days. I've accepted it and that has helped me a lot. 'Course my big worry is it getting worse or something new like numbness. My neuro told me none of his patients with SFN are in a wheelchair because that was a fear I mentioned when I saw him two weeks ago. I am going to try your approach with simply welcoming the pain that, thankfully, is very mild for now. I try not to think about if this will get worse or, if so, how bad it could get.

I really appreciate the feedback I am getting. The people here are helpful and encouraging. Thank you!

@archer , offff, I want to be in your shoes right know. I tried everything under the sun as well, from massages to acupuncture, to meditation and even hypnosis, yoga and stretching. Nothing seems to work, to the contrary, rubbing makes my small nerves in the skin scream in pain and burn, while anything that reminds me of it causes more chaos. I feel like a cancer patient in his fourth stage , and believe me, I would do and try anything to deal with these madness .
Good lock farther !!

Hello Sinjin, Sorry that you are having to deal with "Zappers," I get them periodically and then they disappear, with I could say the same for my numbness and pain. Pain 24/7. I started with neuropathic pain in my entire back from neck to tailbone and all of the muscles in between. After searching for relief for about 15 years I ended up at Mass General Hospital in Boston where they recommended fusing my entire spine. To see if this would work, I wore a massive brace that prevented any movement in my spine. After a month there was no change in pain. Since there was no evidence that the fusion was going to reduce my pain. As a result, in 1999, I got "Full Catastrophe living by John Kabat-Zinn, began meditating daily, stopped seeing doctors about my back for nearly 20 years. With meditating I was able to seeing what I was doing to increase my pain and I was able to establish parameters on what I am able to do without hurting myself. Definitely a better way to go if you can make it work for you.

"Full Catastrophe Living" is on my nightstand so I can delve into it whenever I need a bit of a lift. Nice to see others appreciated the messages.

@marinelastef - and all those who find meditation difficult to accomplish and therefore miss the benefit of the practice. My first attempt at meditation left me uncomfortable and I bailed....just walked out. A wonderful person followed me and helped me understand. To meditate, all you really need to do is focus on one item so well that random thoughts stay away. You might choose to focus on a fan in motion, or, as I do, focus on the area above my upper lip. First I notice and become aware of the cool air entering my nostrils and then I feel the warm air exiting my nostrils. Sometimes my mind wanders away, everyone's does. So I pull it back and begin again. Sometimes I count the breathing cycles to help prevent the wandering mind. Meditation sets the stage for mindfulness and gives us the ability to be present in the moment. Please try again. There are many apps online. I chose "Calm". The daily calm begins with meditation and ends with a message. Today it was "vulnerability." There are also Master Classes with multiple chapters in a series on timely issues. I think you can try it free at calm.com. This app received the Apple Award in 2017 for being the best meditation app. Let me know what works. And just an FYI...I am a female. Christie has been shortened to Chris over the years.

It is a keeper for sure!

Thank you for the recommendation regarding the book. I will certainly check it out.

The burning/electrical sensations have returned and I've been dealing with it pretty well for the most part. When this hit last month I was not eating, having trouble sleeping, getting dry heaves, and an occasional crying fit. Frankly, I became physically and emotionally drained with putting myself through this. I have finally accepted the fact that I have to deal with it, be patient, and wait to see what the doctor(s) say(s). Sure, the anxiety still comes up at times, but I'm doing my best to control it.

This is a place I can come to and not drive myself crazy with what I read. I was doing all sorts of reading online about neuropathy and diabetes. Goodness. All the questions that kept coming into my mind:

1) Am I going to lose feeling in my feet?

2) Will I end up in a wheelchair?

3) Will I eventually not be able to walk?

4) Will this get worse?

5) Will I end up traveling to different doctors and hospitals around the country trying to get an answer? My doctors are part of the Cleveland Clinic so I hope not, but...

Truth is, nobody knows. I had to stop worrying about all the possibilities. The warning about Dr. Google was one that I did not heed.

I am appreciative of the feedback and support that I've received from everyone. I've been given some new things to try to deal with my worry. Thank you all!

@sinjin All of your questions are legitimate for those of us who cope with this condition. I spent a lot of time trying to find answers to similar questions. I was sure that my head and brain were just deteriorating. I was frightened. My neurologist scheduled an MRI and found nothing unusual. I remembered that I had fallen and cracked my head on the bathroom floor 3 years ago and wondered if there was evidence of fall damage. No there wasn't. I had spent three days in a sling at the hospital after falling another time and receiving a major concussion. Could they see anything on the MRI? No, nothing. And then I started realizing that the head tingles and shock waves were directly related to what I was thinking in answer to those darn wonderments. In other words, the symptoms were anxiety produced. And so....I set out to stop becoming so anxious and to learn to control the anxiety as soon as it starts. That led me to Medical Marijuana and relief. I still get them in my head but I now know why and I can do whatever it takes to reduce the anxiety. Sometimes that means saying "no" to doing certain things and with certain people. Sometimes that means meditating immediately wherever I happen to be. The questions are still there ....they just don't consume me. Good wishes to you for finding relief.