A review of natural remedies for diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Hello @kurtwalter, You will notice that we added to your discussion title so that members with diabetic neuropathy will know that the reference you found is for diabetic neuropathy. I have always been in the pre-diabetes category most of my adult life. I've had neuropathy for 30+ years but only bothered to get a diagnosis in 2016 because I only have numbness and no pain with my neuropathy. I've often thought there could be that connection with my neuropathy especially after learning about the connection between the metabolic syndrome and neuropathy which none of my doctors knew anything about.

Have you made any lifestyle changes to help with your diabetes and neuropathy?

Changed diet - reduced sugar drastically, incl alcohol, desserts. Diet more plant-based, more protein, much less carbs. Added exercise, minimum of 5000 steps per day which seems to reduce nocturnal pain and irritation. Apart from taking metformin I am taking a number of supplements which promised reduction of PN or regeneration of nerve endings: Acetyl-L-Carnitine, vitamin B. Main problems were pain and irritation in the feet, but not excessive, nothing that Naproxen could not hide. Now all/most problems have disappeared, as long as I keep up exercise.

So lowering sugar/carb-intake helped your neuropathy?

Hi Curt

I’m a year late to this thread. Can you share how long for neuropathy to resolve? How bad it was in the first place? Did it completely resolve? How long did you take supplements?

Any recurrence?

Thanks
Tony

I've been fighting this battle for 18 years. My particular type of PN is called radiculopathy which means that the cause is damage to the spine from trauma. As KurtWalter says above, exercise is very important. I find it helps more than any drug or supplement. But PN never (or rarely) goes away.

I've had had PN neuropathy for years, spinal stenosis. Good to know relationship to exercise. Questions:
--My sister uses Voltaren. Does that help?
--Should I be concerned toes are starting to curl?

Interested in hearing more about nerve regeneration..

Hi @mjk216, Welcome to Connect. I don't have pain with my neuropathy, only numbness and haven't found anything that really gets rid of it, although I do take supplements for neuropathy in hopes that they will slow down or stop the progression. I shared my neuropathy journey in another discussion here - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/310341/.

I use Voltaren almost everyday on my shoulders and lower back to help with the pain from arthritis and it does help with my arthritis pain. There is another discussion you might find interesting:
-- Can small fiber nerves regenerate?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/can-small-fiber-nerves-regenerate/

Quite a few members have started different discussions and posted comments on nerve regeneration. Here's a link that lists the search results of Connect if you want to scan through them - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/discussions/?search=nerve%20regeneration.

Biggest thing for me was almost completely eliminating carbs/ sugars

Thank you. PN is on my list for discussion with a doctor who's taking over the practice. Fresh start! Plan to keep an eye on this group before then and beyond. Thanks for your kind welcome.