Living with Neuropathy - Welcome to the group

I am looking for help with foot peripheral neuropathy guessing would be the term. I have been to many doctors but only a band aid. I am on gabapentin 300 mg 3 times a day for 8 years. I am wondering or looking for advice on maybe a surgery which could help me out instead of adding more pain medicine. Any suggestions?

Hello @rez2019, Welcome to Connect. I'm not knowledgeable about any surgery that can provide relief for peripheral neuropathy. The only situation I can think of is if you have a specific compressed nerve issue somewhere and surgery can relieve the nerve compression.
I have idiopathic small fiber PN and shared my story in another discussion here: Member Neuropathy Journey Stories: What's Yours?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/310341/.

The Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy has a list of complementary and alternative treatments if you are trying to avoid more pain medication: https://www.foundationforpn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Complementary-and-Alternative-Treatments-Revised-2020-final.-1.pdf.

Have you looked into any complementary or alternative treatments for neuropathy?

Hi,
My name y it a Marg and I’ve been diognosed with orthostatic tremors. I can’t stand for ant length if time and if I try to do too much my legs feel like I’ve just completed a 10 km run. I feel unbalanced in open spaces. I’m much better if someone is walking on my right side or even a building etc. I’ve researched a bit and as far as I can see everyone has different symptoms. Walking across roads or car parks us a nightmare. Does anyone else have these symptoms and if so how do you deal with it?

Hi @granma261253 ,
The Brain & Nervous System group may be of more help. There is this discussion among others: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/primary-orthostatic-tremor/.

My name is Michael M. I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy. I have it in my feet. I experience pain in my toes and overall numbness. Occasionally I like to have a glass of wine or a bourbon drink. Alcohol seems to make the neuropathy worse. Has anyone experienced this?

Hi Michael @mikeamazur, Welcome to Connect. I used to love a glass of wine or a few beers once in awhile but after I was diagnosed with neuropathy and found out that alcohol can cause neuropathy I just stopped drinking it all together. I don't think an occasional drink has much effect on most people with neuropathy. On the other hand, if you have neuropathy and you notice that it seems to be worse after having a drink that would ring an alarm bell for me and I would stop drinking. There are a few sites to learn more about neuropathy and what treatments may help provide relief for the symptoms. These are two of the better ones.

--- Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy: https://www.foundationforpn.org/living-well/
--- Neuropathy Commons: https://neuropathycommons.org/neuropathy/neuropathy-overview.

There are a few discussions that you might find helpful on neuropathy and alcohol:
--- Small fiber peripheral neuropathy and alcohol: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/small-fiber-peripheral-neuropathy-and-alcohol/
--- moderate use of alcohol: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/moderate-use-of-alcohol/
--- Alcohol helps with my pain: Does it make neuropathy worse?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/alcohol-2/.

Do you mind sharing a little more about your diagnosis and how long you have had neuropathy?

I hear what your saying about the feet on fire. Have found some relief with Bio-Freeze, a green gel that you smear on the bottom of feet and then rub it good on bottom of foot thick and then massage it in all over feet. Smells like menthol or Absorbine Jr. Amazon has it. I apply it at nite as I go to bed. Hope it helps you. Bet it will‼️

About 6 years ago, (73 years old), I began to notice that I had pain and tingling. It was everywhere in my body. Scalp, ear lobes, legs, feet, penis, etc.,. It lasted 10 to 30 seconds per episode and the episodes were at least every half hour. I went to a neurologist at U of Michigan . He told me I had small fiber neuropathy. No cure for it and if it gets worse I could take Gabapentin. I actually took gabapentin for a short while but the side effects were worse than the pain and tingling so I don’t take it. I am borderline diabetic and the neurologist said that could be the cause. He really didn’t know. I decided to stop intake of sugar. No soda pop, cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc.,. Within two years the small fiber neuropathy was 90% gone. I was so happy. I still have a small amount that occasionally manifests itself in my eyebrows. However I live with it. I have peripheral neuropathy in my feet. It is very different than the small fiber neuropathy. It started about the same time and is getting worse. Both feet are about 50% numb and I have two toes one on each foot that are painful. They hurt a lot especially in the evening when I sit down. They don’t hurt when I walk or am active. They are getting more painful at night. I stopped drinking alcohol and it appears that it helps but it is hard to quantify.
Michael

I have been diagnose with small fiber neuropathy. I have to tingling in my legs plus when I raise my arms they really hurt and make my stomach feel weird. I also have ringing in my ear and a burning tongue. My leg’s really hurt when I walk up stairs. My legs don’t usually hurt when I walk on level ground. I have tried a lot of different medicine that haven’t help. I feel lousy when I get up in the morning but I improve as the days go on. I’m 78 and I feel like this might have started fairly soon after I had hemorrhoid surgery.

I am puzzled as to why no physicians have labeled my symptoms as nerve damage from my multiple herniated discs and spinal fusion at C5-6. I had been in a rear end collision, which caused me to have a concussion, whiplash, and cervical, thoracic, and lumbar disc damage. Not one doctor suggested my symptoms of neuropathy are from that. I have been undergoing testing and everything comes out normal, yet my symptoms exist. I am having a skin biopsy to confirm the doctor's suspicion of SFN.
I have never heard of B12 treatments. Can you tell me more about this? My doctors have only prescribed Gabapentin and are not doing anything more until I have a clear diagnosis, but the suspicion is SFN and Fibromyalgia.