Neuropathy caused by toxins, poisons and chemicals

@jeep, Thank you for the private message. I thought I would start a new discussion so that you and others can share your story of neuropathy induced by chemicals. I found a few sites that list different toxins, poisons and chemicals that can cause neuropathy that may be a good reference.

-- Toxic Neuropathy: https://www.foundationforpn.org/causes/toxic-neuropathy/
-- Peripheral Neuropathies Associated with Drugs and Toxins: https://now.aapmr.org/peripheral-neuropathies-associated-with-drugs-and-toxins/
-- Toxicity in Peripheral Nerves: An Overview: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8472820/

@johnbishop
My Neuropathy was caused by the long term use of the anti-seizure medications Dilantin/Phenytoin and Phenobarbital. I've had
Neuropathy for about 35 years. Currently I only have numbnes.
Jake

Jake, Sorry that the medications caused your neuropathy but glad you don’t have the pain.

Thanks John - what wonderful information in those articles! I used to work at a manufacturing plant location whose main chemical was lithium, and where the site itself was later declared an EPA Superfund Site because of years of mercury contamination. I recently wondered about the possibility, but my neurologist said it was too late to test for it since I’ve had my idiopathic PN for over 5 years. So people should act fast for heavy metal tests I guess. What I found especially interesting was a mention in one of the articles of the effectiveness of alpha lipoic acid that was found in 1951. I have seen several members of this forum post about it!

John, Thanks for the reply! I found the articles very interesting. They illustrate how many things are assaulting our bodies, and how much we bring on ourselves! I'm still trying to identify the cause of my PN and ultimately accept that regardless of what the cause is, the damage is done and I still have to manage / cope with PN.

I appreciate all your help that you give to fellow PN sufferers!

@jeep

Good idea, John. A lot of the drivers of later studies is accumulated earlier anecdotal evidence. Who knows what we'll learn from each other?

My particular complaint, in a sense, is the declining emphasis in the health of soil. I read an interesting book entitled Secrets of the Soil and, as a result, became a master gardener through the county extension program so I could pester people about Round-Up and othrr toxins as a volunteer speaker. I also teach kids about how amazing earthworms are...and can be a measure of soil health.

@callalloo - I'm for healthy soil too! In fact it's the main reason I no longer try to rid those beautiful yellow flowers from my yard 🙃 https://youtu.be/bpEy-Mpm6AI

Lovely! And dandelions have a lot of health benefits. I belong to an herb club and one of our favorite speakers went off on a riff about all of the amazing properties of them one evening.

You might have fun looking at the eattheweeds videos on YouTube and the website. 'Green' Deane leads foraging classes and has over 150 videos online. Thank heavens people are getting re-interested in the natural world around us. And free really interesting foods.

I have peripheral neuropathy left lower extremity and sensory in both lower extremity I also have pulsating movement on both lower extremity legs only I am waiting for appointment for Vanderbilt. Has anyone else had this experience?

The article that mentioned that 20% of herbal and related products sold in an Indian store in Boston were contaminated with various toxins and metals really got my attention. I've always wondered how safe all the herbs and spices we buy are. If you look at any Travelodge and see the lovely urban open-air spice markets, you can see how unclean they are....imagine an outdoor salad bar with a lot of traffic pollutants and no sneeze guards even. Spice buyers go to vast Central markets to bid on the stuff, much of which, by law, is then sprayed with I-don't-know-what when the U.S. I'm guessing that major importers like McCormick might have legal work-arounds to avoid the anti-fungal and other sprays at least. But some stuff is already very contaminated upon arrival here.