Coffee and Neuropathy

My Dr had me on gabapentin, didn't do much and caused swelling and rash. Dr stopped that and put me on Amitriptyline. It took several days to notice it helping but at 2 weeks, I felt huge difference. Still not 100% but grateful for the relief I have now. I was truly miserable for 4 months. Sensation is still annoying but not painful.

Coffee can help with pain stimulus suppression but will tighten muscles and may cause headaches so make sure you stretch out during the day and drink water so you are hydrated. Many studies suggest moderate coffee use increases longevity of life.

Too expensive for me now. Tried this long time ago but didn't notice any changes.

Hello,
I'm a 67 years old retired male and recently have been diagnosed with shingles. My upper leg, thigh area started itching, then within 2 days a rash and incapacitating pain set in which on a scale 1 to 10, I would rate an 8.
It's been 2 weeks since I've been struggling with this nasty ailment, rash, burning, shooting, pulling pain and so on. The first 10 days I could not sleep at night at all, the pain was so bad that I could scream (which I didn't do because nobody would care anyway), I was totally exhausted, my blood pressure went up, my heart was racing at a pace of over 100 beats / min. This shingle came of the blue, I considered myself a healthy enough individual for my age and had no previous complaints regarding my health and well being. I spent my life in the Silicon Valley working in R&D for large corporations and enjoyed every second of it. Now, I live in the woods and I'm still a very active individual who's trying to make healthy and disciplined choices: good sleep, healthy food, plenty of outdoor activity, low stress level; I'm surrounded by pets (cats and dogs) who I care for on a daily bases.
I'm asking myself what could've been the trigger the reactivated the Chicken Pox, Herpes Zoster virus in my organism and led to such a sudden decline in my health?
Around the end of January, early February I contracted some kind of winter flue like something which didn't make me really sick just lightly running nose, sore throat on one side (left) and a cough in the morning which went away as the day progressed. Also it’s worth mentioning, I could not take a deep breath, it seemed like I'm not able to use my lungs to their full capacity.
This condition lasted almost 2 months, which finally resolved itself without taking any medication by the first part of May and I started to feel good again, energy level up and lasting throughout the day, good lung air capacity.
Then the sudden heat arrived and I stayed out in the sun all day, fiddling with my projects. In the evening I started to feel that something isn't right: I had a light headache, my body was overheated, my face was lobster red and I felt the chills in my vertebrae. The left side of my body felt funny starting from my Cervical area of my spine down to the Lumbar and Coccyx area; but only the left side.
By next morning I could feel that I'm getting sick.
Conclusion: Due to previous cold virus that I was struggling with, also declining immunity level due to age and sudden change in temperature are the stress factors that are responsible for the re-activation of the dormant Herpes Zoster virus in my organism.
The pain was so intense that I ended up at the emergency to seek help. There wasn’t a whole lot they could do for me, I went home and immediately started on anti viral - Valtrex 1Gx3 per day medication which I took for 1 week.
The rash is almost gone; the blister did not burst just disappeared. I still feel itching, burning and muscle pain.
As far as pain killers and anti inflammatorily pills nothing worked! The Doctor prescribed Gabapentin which I decided not to take at all; I was worried about the side effects of it. At age 67, I have a very good mind, good memory excellent reasoning capabilities, good motor functions and I wish to preserve it as long as possible without messing it up.
What really helped me through the first 2 weeks of pain is Coffee!!!!!!!!!!!!
I drank one or two coffees a day and within 10 minutes the pain level from 8 dropped to a 3 which is bearable.
I monitored my blood pressure and heartbeat on a daily basis before and after drinking coffee:
Before:
160/98
Heart: 75
After drinking coffee:
125/80
Heart: 92

Pain down to 3 from 8!!!!!
Caffeine must have dampened the pain signals originating from the Peripheral Nerves in my leg or made my brain deamplify - average out these signals and moderately interpret them.
I know everyone is a little bit different, however Coffee Works for Me!

Just to add more info on the usefulness of coffee for PN here is my take. I have PN due to a back injury years ago. It resulted in the tingling of feet and legs and lately I have had actual pain in the bottoms of my feet on some days (reason unknown). I have one cup of coffee every morning that I enjoy with a little toast or muffin while reviewing my emails. If I don't have coffee I notice that my PN is more bothersome by midday! This effect has been consistent for many years now. So coffee is a small but noticeable help for PN in my case. PS- Nothing else I have tried (and I have tried many drugs, supplements, etc.) does any better. Hiking/biking is a helpful treatment.

I've had chronic nerve pain for 30 years. Doctors have tried everything from Gabapentin to Lyrica. The last 10 years I've enlisted the help of a Pain Management clinic. The Pain Clinic has been pumping opioid into me for the last 9 years. My pain is so distressing I cannot function. The pain is in both legs behind the knees. The pain starts off slowly and is at its worse within a few minutes. The pain feels like someone is grabbing you from behind the knee and squeezing as hard as they can. Over the years I found that coffee has helped. I then switched to caffeine capsule upon the advice of my cardiologist. When I inform my doctors how caffeinne helps with my pain they either don't believe it or just pass it off. When the pain just starts off I reach for caffeinne before I go for the pain killers. Just recently I purchased pure liquid caffeinne to mix with water. I figured the caffeinne will enter my bloodstream much quicker than a tablet resolving in my stomach. I'm hoping to get off the opioid permanently. I was certainly surprised when I saw this article posted. I thought I was the only one suffering from this condition.

Very interesting. Do post again in a couple of days and let us know how you are doing with caffeine and getting off the options. I love my cup of coffee.

Although the purified liquid caffeine doesn't completely stop the pain it does a great job lessening it to the degree where the pain is tolerable. 600mg seems to do the trick.

I have autonomic neuropathy I drink 7 to 10 cups of coffee a day. I believe it helps. Also I smoke lots of marijuana. I believe it helps. Also it certainly helps you sleep and coffee doesn’t keep me awake. I have a double espresso before I go to bed and fall asleep the nights I can’t fall asleep with a lot of neuropathic pain and I smoke a lot of pot.

While I feel for your pain and hope you get better soon, smoking pot is not healthy. It damages your lungs, and it can cause mental health issues. Hope you don't drive a car. Please find other ways to lessen your pain to live a productive and safe life. I'm in your corner. Best of luck.