Anyone here dealing with peripheral neuropathy?

I am dealing with neuropathy in my feet and finger tips. I take lyrica daily. Have a problem wearing shoes. My neuropathy came from chemo treatment. Would like to know if anyone can recommend help.

Hi Jim (@jimhd), I'm really happy to hear the spinal cord stimulator is giving you some relief from pain. If it works it is so much better than the drugs used for neuropathy pain symptoms. The drugs just mask the pain and a lot of the times you have to up the dosage to keep the pain at bay. They really do not address the problem - damaged nerves which cause the pain signals to be sent to the brain.

I do not have the pain but I have had the numbness in my feet and legs for over 20 years. It was only last year when I started being more proactive that I became aware of how the drugs work. Because the numbness was just below my knees I started to worry and I asked my doctor about lyrica (you know all those TV ads glorifying it) for my undiagnosed neuropathy. She put me on gabapentin and after a month I went back and told her it wasn't doing anything for me. She had a consult with the Mayo primary care doctor team and another doctor quizzed me on my symptoms. When I told him I didn't have any pain but only the tingling and the numbness, he told me the gabapentin (generic lyrica I think) only addresses the pain and does nothing for the numbness. My primary care doctor had me get a couple of different MRIs and the EMG before I could see the neurologist. After I met with him, he diagnosed that I had idiopathic small fiber peripheral neuropathy and I was one of the "lucky" ones that only had the numbness symptoms without the pain. He also burst my bubble by telling me there are no topicals, creams, medications that will address numbness. I left that appointment pretty depressed and started my search to learn as much as I can about my SFPN.

I learned there are a bunch of companies and folks with neuropathy treatments looking to take your money and it's up to you to do your own research and avoid scams. Fortunately there is a lot of information on how to avoid scams but it's out of sight, out of mind for a lot of folks. Here are the ones I've used:

Quazar's wonderful 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/consumerupdates/ucm278980.htm
You can also link to this great resource from 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
That said, I have found something that works for me and has helped a lot of folks with PN get off of the pain medications. I was skeptical at first and took the list of supplements and vitamins to my doctor who shared it with the Mayo pharmacist to get his feedback on any interactions. His only comment was he thought the omega 3s in the list was pretty high and thought it should be less. But again, I'm the one with the health issue and it's my body so I took his input and did some further research and found that it was within guidelines of the numbers for omega 3 supplements for treating what ails me according to information on the Mayo Clinic's website:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil-alpha-linolenic-acid/dosing/hrb-20059372
This is the website for Facebook Group I found - Solutions to Peripheral Neuropathy Pain & Discomfort (501c3) - http://www.facebook.com/groups/spnpd - website: http://solutions2pnpd.com/. It has been a blessing for me to find the group. I started taking the supplements/vitamins September 2016 and by December the numbness in both legs went from just below the knees to just above the ankles. I haven't made any more progress since December but I'm OK with it since I feel it has stopped the progression. My neurologist had told me to just watch it and let him know when it gets worse - in other words there is nothing I can do to fix it. Others in the group with pain that had them bedridden have reported they are now able to live a normal lifestyle and have been able to taper off the drugs once they were on the full protocol and started feeling better. If you do decide to take a look and join the group, please read all of the information.

Hoping all of my neuropathy friends find a treatment that works for them!

John

@johnbishop
Which supplements do you take specifically for neuropathy? I am unable to tell from the sites you have provided. Thanks!

@elizm -- the over the counter supplements I take are listed on the closed Facebook groups website on the instructions page here:
-- http://solutions2pnpd.com/instructions/ The group is a registered 501c3.

I would recommend joining the group and reading all of the new member information first. Also, it's always a good idea to run the list of supplements by your doctor or pharmacist. There are over 8,000+ members in the group and it's very easy to search and learn the specifics of how each member was helped by the protocol by reading their stories.

Hello @ndttech, welcome to Mayo Clnic Connect. I've not heard of Wharton's jelly injections for PN but I did find some information that may help. I'm not sure there has been any clinical trials for stem cell therapy for peripheral neuropathy. There have been a lot of clinics popping up all over the country touting stem cell therapy treatments which is why the FDA put out a warning. I think stem cell therapy holds a lot of hope but I don't think it's quite there yet. I would want to see some extensive clinical trials that show it works.

FDA Warns About Stem Cell Therapies
-- https://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm286155.htm

Porcine Wharton’s jelly cells distribute throughout the body after intraperitoneal injection
-- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5813394/

Long term effect and safety of Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells on type 2 diabetes
-- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4997981/

@user_ch1d4426 @johnbishop
I, too, acquired PN in my feet, legs, and hands from chemo (Paclitaxel) for breast cancer a year ago. Numbness, stiffness, burning, electric shocks, and the subsequent insomnia were driving me crazy. I have been unable to tolerate gabapentin nor venlafaxine.

I then went to a doctor of Chinese medicine and discovered that I couldn't tolerate acupuncture either, but he recommended that I try herbal pills called Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan. I took 6-three times/day and they turned my feet and hands icy cold within minutes. I was able to sleep all night for the first time in about five months.

One day while researching treatments for neuropathic pain I came across a blog, abstracts, trials, etc. on an endogenous fatty acid called Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) which, for years, has been used successfully in Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, etc. to treat neuropathic pain from numerous pathologies. I have been taking 400mg twice a day since the beginning of October and experienced greatly lessened pain within three-four weeks. Recently, it has allowed me to discontinue the Chinese herbs and still sleep. There are no reported adverse effects from it (except minor bloating for which I take an OTC gas pill). For me, among the best advantages of taking PEA (besides sleeping) is that I no longer experience a rebound of burning and electric shocks following exercise. (I exercise about 4-5 hrs./week to retrain my brain from the loss of balance and coordination when I acquired the PN, and the lingering cognitive issues of chemo.) The PEA has done nothing for the numbness, stiffness, and occasional swelling, however.

I still cannot tolerate closed shoes and look ridiculous, I'm sure, wearing socks/sandals on the treadmill at the gym, and throughout the cold weather, but that's the way it is. (It's a fashion improvement over wearing a hat, scarf, sweater, and sandals at the gym before my hair grew back!)

Will PEA's benefits continue? We'll see, I guess.

My husband had Guilliane Barre Syndrome in 2013, he is now dealing with residuals. Hands, feet and belly pain are the worst. It seems we have tried everything but neuropathy in his feet is bad. Does anyone else have GBS or CIDP? We are always open to suggestions.