Neuropathy pills: How to avoid scams?

@wideawakechas
No, and I wouldn't waste my money on it. It screams SCAM to me. A new Neuropathy cure pops up nearly every day.
If something actually worked I have little doubt the greedy pharmaceutical companies would be on it.
Jake

@wideawakechas - I'm with Jake on this product. Have seen too many neuropathy magic pills. There are supplements that can help but you have to do you own research and make sure they are high quality. Here are some good links for guidance when trying to make a decision. I don't trust any product with "secret" ingredients.

Quazar's guidance about avoiding scams and snake oil cures
-- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/how-to-avoid-quacks-and-snake-oil-treatments/

FDA's Health Fraud Page
-- https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ProtectYourself/HealthFraud/ucm539101.htm

NIH's National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) which offers guidance about integrative health and how to evaluate it.
-- https://nccih.nih.gov/health/decisions

Here are a few sources of supplements that can help with nerve health:
-- Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy: https://www.foundationforpn.org/living-well/integrative-therapies/ has a link to a PDF listing many of the supplements for the nervous system here: https://29fvx519grkh3bdqrc16zioc-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Supplements-Not-highlighted.pdf
-- Management of Nutritional and Toxic Neuropathies: https://neuropathycommons.org/neuropathy/causes-neuropathy/management-nutritional-and-toxic-neuropathies

Also discuss taking any medication and/or supplement by talking to your doctor or pharmacist. The Urologist I have been going to for years, after discussing with him the benefits of taking a supplement to improve my urination, he did recommend a supplement to improve my urination, which has been slowing down a bit - a common plight of elderly men.

Thanks for your input. I'm afraid that you and John are both right on this one. after another 4hr. sleep, I was reaching for straws, ready to try any thing. I'm waiting for a call back from my neurologist to see if he will increase the Garapentin. I would like to ask if anyone in the group has tried any of these magic pills, and have had positive results, or not. there are so many out there, I figure some one must have tried one. I will also check the sites that John suggested. Thanks so much, Chas

My pain doctor recommended 200 mg of alpha lipoic acid three times a day for the neuropathic pain. ALA is widely used in Europe for that purpose. A clinical trial found ALA was as effective as gabapentin in relieving the pain. There is also evidence that ALA may help to heal peripheral nerves. I believe this supplement does reduce my pain. It can cause heartburn. I'm careful to sit upright for about an hour after I take it.

My Doctor, a pain management specialist recommended the same thing. Hope it works as advertised.

@kenc I would also add that not just any ALA but R-ALA is best. Most ALA contains at least 50% synthetic ALA which is less bioavailable and can be money wasted. Here's some more info on the topic.

Alpha Lipoic Acid -- http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/lipoic-acid
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Dietary and supplemental lipoic acid
Consumption of lipoic acid from food has not yet been found to result in detectable increases of free lipoic acid in human plasma or cells (3, 6). In contrast, high oral doses of free lipoic acid (≥50 mg) significantly, yet transiently, increase the concentration of free lipoic acid in plasma and cells. Pharmacokinetic studies in humans have found that about 30%-40% of an oral dose of a racemic mixture of R-lipoic acid and S-lipoic acid is absorbed (6, 7). Oral lipoic acid supplements are better absorbed on an empty stomach than with food: taking lipoic acid with food (versus without food) decreased peak plasma lipoic acid concentrations by about 30% and total plasma lipoic acid concentrations by about 20% (8). A liquid formulation of R-lipoic acid was found to be better absorbed and more stable in the plasma, suggesting that it might be more efficacious than the solid form in the management of a condition like diabetic neuropathy (9, 10).

There may also be differences in bioavailability of the two isomers of lipoic acid. Following single oral doses R,S-lipoic acid (racemic mixture), peak plasma concentrations of R-lipoic acid were found to be 40%-50% higher than S-lipoic acid, suggesting a differential absorption in favor of the R-enantiomer (6, 8, 11). Yet, following oral ingestion, both enantiomers are rapidly metabolized and excreted. Plasma lipoic acid concentrations generally peak within one hour or less and decline rapidly (6, 7, 11, 12). In cells, lipoic acid is swiftly reduced to dihydrolipoic acid, and in vitro studies indicate that dihydrolipoic acid is then rapidly exported from cells (3). Moreover, a pilot study in 19 healthy adults suggested that the bioavailability of R,S-lipoic acid and R-lipoic acid may vary with age and gender (13).
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Research seeks to identify the mode of action of two age-essential micronutrients, lipoic acid (LA) and acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) -- https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/research/hap/aging-stress-response-and-mitochondrial-decay

The studies I found only pertain to diabetic neuropathy. Has anyone found studies that address idiopathic neuropathy? I tried it for about 6 months, a few years ago. I didn't notice a difference in my symptoms but was also on IGG therapy. I actually just bought a new supply of ALA and was going to give it another go, since I'm off the IVIG, to see if I could detect any changes.

The first time I started taking R-ALA supplements for non-diabetic PN, it was effective but after 6 months or so it stopped having an effect. I found Primrose oil to be very effective but it had estogen so not good for men (me).

@runnergirl, Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/) is a good search tool for finding medical research information. Here are the search results using the phrase "idiopathic neuropathy":
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_ylo=2021&q=idiopathic+neuropathy&hl=en&as_sdt=0,24