My experience with Neuropathy:

I got neuropathy the night of my 20th high school reunion over 25 yrs ago. I had stayed up all night blowing up balloons and all day decorating for the event the next night. I had bought cute hard bottom flat shoes that matched my summer dress. I noticed my feet were killing me after the event and I assumed it was from the shoes. But it never got better, only worse to the point I was in tears constantly from the constant pain. The first thing that came to my rescue was the rubber bottom shoes.

Secondly, was finding a doctor and getting the medicine. Having non-diabetic, chronic, neuropathy usually brings the frustration of having a doctor look you in the eye and say, " There is nothing we can really do for it, there is no cure, we don't know what causes it and it's only going to get worse. " Lovely!! They all say the same thing. Once you are tested and find a medicine treatment that works; is better to find a general doctor to just give you the medicine to sabe the cost of a specialist.

I've tried everything through the years. Number one if you are in constant pain ask your doctor for a prescription for Cymbalta Its for neuropathy and it works fabulous. The pain will disappear. And it treats back and knee pain too at the same time. Some people take Lyrica and it might even work better but its number 1 side effect is weight gain and you put it on quickly in the first week or two taking it. And it takes more than 2 weeks to get it off. And older treatment is to take Neurotin. It also works and is cheaper but has a few mild but annoying side effects like brain freezes if you miss a dose or take a doze too late. If your pain is really bad , your neurologist might recommend you taking neurotin with Cymbalta our Lyrica.

Number 2 treatment is only wear shoes with rubber sqwishy bottoms. These are hard to find. The Earth brand at Wal-Mart is good and the more expensive Nike and Sketchers are good. When looking for a shoe pit your fingers in the inside of the show and push down lightly with 2 fingers. If there is an indention and/or spring back rubbery feel there are good. It must have soft rubber and not hard rubber or hard cardboard or plastic bottoms. Heels of any type are out except occasionally you can find a medium platform shoe that gives you height. Under no condition go barefoot or stand barefoot on hard wood floors.

If your feet get too cold; stop up your tub and stand in as hot of water that you can in the tub. The longer you have neuropathy the more your feet will continue to sting, hurt and go numb. The more you can massage your feet with a lotion that is cool, has menthal or pepperment in it. The more you keep the circulation moving the better. I have tried every lotion known to man and i have found they all work about the same. My favorite choice is keep a small bottle of antibacterial gel in your pocket book or by your night stand. Works as good if not better than everything out there.

Some people will get RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) from taking any medicine for neuropathy. If this is the case then you will need to take RLS medicine, usually Requip or Merapex. Both of these meds tend to stop working after a year or 2 so you will have to switch to the other one when that happens. I personal like Merapex better and it lasts a few years longer before i have to switch to Equip or stay off of it a week to get it to start working àgain. For me, I take these 2 medicines and a anti-acid pill (these meds cause intergestion if I don't) over the counter at 4 pm. I have to take them at 4pm so they have time to work before bed time. Of I'm late taking them at bedtime or after take them immediately because for me the RLS medicine won't work. In that case, i have to take a half of a hydrocodeine to stop the RLS. If zi take everything correctly and wear the correct shoes, I usually don't have any pain.

Note: I would like to add here that after years of researching this and experiencing it first hand.....I do believe that it is possibly caused by dormant Lymne Disease. (Being bit by a tick at some point in your past.) I say this because 4 out of 5 of my family members were bit by ticks at a certain points in their lives and the same 4 out of 5 bitten have feet problems. In our cases, the neuropathy started anywhere from 3 months to a year after being bitten; although there are many cases of starting years after a tick bite.