Hi there. I've seen a lot of people getting upset about severe pain and not getting enough pain medication. I suffer from extreme and debilitating neuropathy. Mainly consisting of intense burning, stabbing and electric shock feelings in the hands, forearms and feet. I was on strong pain relief for far too long as I didn't know any better. They didn't even take the edge of my pain and ended up adversely affecting my stomach which was already an issue. If I could go back in time I would have only used natural pain relief like magnesium, tumeric etc. consumerreports.org/cro/mag...
I am now not masking symptoms with pain drugs but tackling the root causes of my disease with functional medicine. If it's good enough for ex president Bill Clinton then it's good enough for me 😉. This is his Dr and he's done a testimonial on his website....
I have had the guidance of two other functional doctors. I probably couldn't afford Bills lol. The improvements that I have experienced so far are:
Crippling fatigue...gone, only when I have infections.
Chronic glossitis-gone
chronic liver pain-gone
dizzyness-gone
Balance and clumsiness - gone
breathlessness-gone
extreme brain fog-gone
freezing hands and feet-normal most of the time.
palpitations-gone
allergies-not as extreme.
On and off anxiety- much more relaxed
disruptive sleep -much improved. Most of the time, I sleep through the night.
Symptoms that remain and currently working on:
Burning hands,forearms and feet. Have had some improvements . Feet can sit more comfortably on the floor when sitting. Hand swelling has gone, pain dampened down but still pretty painful to use. Still need aids to type and walk. I use crutches less in house but still need a wheelchair for distance.
Chronic infections still a real issue. No resistance to infection. Dr is currently trying to break up the biofilms and detox me etc.
I went 25 years without functional medicine. Considering that I used to not even be able to sit up, stay awake in the day or sleep at night due to pain, it beats pain medication hands down!!
In response to any questions about whether there is science behind functional medicine..
Yay health3030, I totally relate to what you say about pain and medication. I was on extremely high doses of morphine for chronic head pain for 26 years which wasn't helping at all after the first few years! Unfortunately my chronic pain and other disabilities are due to neurological damage, severed cranial nerves etc. etc.
I finally got to see a pain specialist who threw every drug she could think of over two years at me to try and help me with the pain but none helped! The final straw was one drug that completely screwed up my tinnitus in my deaf ear for good!
Now I'm so anti drugs with their possible risks/side effects from what I've experienced I won't take any and manage my pain and depression myself Probably not the best way but seeing the harm they can cause short and long term is enough for me!
Your functional medicine sounds great but due to the nature of my problems sadly I can't see it working for me. Basically I need a new head, neck and spine lol but I live in hope.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to me Xene . I'm so sorry to hear about your health problems and totally sympathise. There is nothing worse than dealing with severe chronic pain. It's good to speak to someone that understands my post. I've had a few prescription pain meds and was given morphine one time in hospital. They did absolutely nothing for my pain and caused even more problems. I feel the exact same way you do and I'm never going to go back on pain medication.
I understand your concerns about functional medicine not helping you if injury was the root cause. The only thing it might help you with is keeping you in a calm state of mind. Some of the minerals like magnesium relax you. The B vitamins are also meant to be good for stress. You could definitely ask a functional doctor online if any pain relief is possible with your injuries. I really hope so.
Thanks again for replying. Feel free to message me anytime. I'm sometimes a bit slow in replying if my hands are painful but I do like to hear from people. Take care.
Talk about coincidence, I saw my new neurologist this morning for the second time after last year diagnosing me with a prolapsed disc at the base of my skull with bony overgrowth and narrowing of the spinal canal! She sent me for numerous blood tests including B12 not that they're going to cure the problem!
I'm now looking at yet another possible operation for decompression of the spine! I've been having all sorts of operations over the past 30 years and I'm sick of it! I carry a mutant gene SDHB (I sound like an alien lol) which causes tumours to grow in the abdomen, chest, neck and head whenever they feel like it! I've had three already and am awaiting MRI results of a possible fourth one. It never rains but it pours!
I sometimes feel like checking out but always manage to find the inner resources to carry on. My motto is In The Face Of Adversity Fight On but it's not as easy as it sounds. We just have to fight on as there is nothing else we can do!
I hope you continue to improve with the functional medicine, onwards and upwards.
You poor thing! I know that B12 deficiency can definitely affect the spine and damage the nerves. Was your spinal/cranial damage due to an accident? low B12 can cause multiple problems and affect your mood. My b12 injections really help! Pity I had to wait years for them!
You have such a great attitude. I have the same moto. I always say to my mum that I'll keep fighting. I agree it's hard at times though.
Unfortunately my voice app is playing up a bit. My hands are a bit painful so i have to go for now. 😡😢Hopefully,catch up in a day or two if you reply. Have a nice evening.
oh and thank you for your kind words. Fingers crossed.!! I really hope that your operation helps you but completely understand why you can't bare another.
Yay health3030, hope you're doing ok. In answer to your question my problems weren't caused by an accident but down to one of my tumours. It was so massive it stuck to just about everything in my head on its travels! I guess the most damage was caused by the neuro surgeons trying to hack it out, sorry surgically remove it. It took them 15 hours to get it out but thankfully they got there in the end.
I think, at the end of the day it's a case of whatever individual finds out what works for them and luckily you've found what helps you. It's sad that the NHS especially our GP surgeries (first point of call) haven't got the resources, funding and most crucially of all the time to give to every patient that needs it but it's been like that for a long time now, plus you've got the added factor thrown in, if the GP actually knows what they're dealing with?
It's a game of swings and roundabouts as sadly some of us find out. Hopefully we get there in the end but some don't
That's awful. You have been through so much. I agree that we are all individual and have different circumstances as to why we are in pain. People have to decide for themselves what road to go down. I wish everyone the best with whatever they decide.
I think the NHS are good for certain things. Like operations (if they go well), dealing with life threatening bacterial infections, short term pain etc. However, they aren't trained on how to cure or how to treat chronic disease safely in general. I know some pharma drugs are safer than others. It depends. It's not their fault but fustrating for patients. A specialist once told me that it didn't matter what chronic disease you had, they just don't know how to cure. That same conventional specialist supported me trying functional medicine. Actually, a couple of other conventional Dr's did as well. It really helps when Dr's support you doing something different.
Look after yourself. Hopefully, catch up another time x
Yay health3030, I just wanted to thank you for the heads up on vitamin B12. I went onto the PA forum and omg what an eye opener! Basically to me B12 was just a letter and a no. lol.
After reading about all the possible symptoms, most of them sound a lot like mine? I'm totally phased by B12 in blood test and active B12 test but guess I'll have to leave it in the hands of the neurologist. Shame she didn't do the bloods a year ago and when she told me I had an exotic disease I had to google it at home. I thought she meant I had some sort of tropical disease!
Anyway I'll have to wait and see what the bloods come back with. I'm definitely not up for the operation as I don't want to end up worse off ie paralysed anywhere! Thank you once again for your sound advice.
Oh that's great that the Pernicious anaemia group has helped you. No problem at all. Worth looking into. I don't think that they do the active b12 test on the NHS. Just the normal serum one, where active and inactive levels are all thrown in together. My neurologist knew that it wasn't a very accurate test.
Make sure that you find out what level your b12 is. Your better to be higher up in the range. There's a great book called 'could it be b12, a history of misdiagnosis'. Keep me posted. 😃👍
Yay health3030, by chance today I got B12 result from my dietician. I asked what it was and she said 374 nano grams per litre which doesn't mean anything to me and that it was within the normal range. I asked her about B12 serum and active B12 and at least she was totally honest with me and said she didn't really know.
Anyway her major problem is getting me to agree to having a feeding tube fitted (which will be for life) If I have it there's the possible risk of infection, if I don't there's the possible risk of aspiration/pneumonia due to my high level of dysphalgia! (probably spelt it wrong) Dammed if I do or don't, the choice is mine?
So if that result means anything to you I'd be grateful for your comments. I thought the neurologist was doing a full blood range from the three tubes they filled with my blood but it was only for B12!
Aww Xene . What a difficult situation for you. You always sound so brave and upbeat as well. Your family must be so proud of you.
With regards to b12 some people do class that as too low. I'll attach some useful links. Japan like people to be at least 500. So do the pernicious anaemia society. My functional Dr said people do well on much higher levels. She prefers to treat depending on clinical picture.
It could be a separate issue from your other health problems, if you have any symptoms. I'm not too sure. The Pernicious anaemia group on here might be able to give you a better idea. I really hope that this info helps you. Speak soon 👍
I too suffer from constant neuro pain. Last August I stopped smoking after 50 years, I didn't even know I wanted to stop, it just happened. I had a check up with my GP and my cholesterol was a bit high 6.9, so he advised trying some exercise, I left feeling unsure about what exercise I could do. Going through town I noticed a new gym was opening 24/7 with easy access for wheelchair users, so spur of the moment I went and asked if they could help me. To cut a long story short, I started in September when they opened and I have been everyday since. It has really helped my depression and my confidence, as for the pain, well its always going to be there, so my philosophy is I may as well have a physical reason for it. I do an hour a day at the gym, love the weight machines and TRX strap workouts, still struggle with the standing bits of pilates because of balance issues but I try. I'll be 60 in March so feeling pleased with myself, wow cant believe I just said that. I don't take any meds because of previous overdoses, but I do use cbd oil.
That's fantastic vizzio . Good for you. I'm still not well enough to exercise yet but I hope that I can in time. I'm young so I live in hope.
KatieERoberts I just saw your post. If you read my post at the very top then it might be of some help to you. I use safer alternatives for my pain. Tumeric, magnesium etc. I find them the most effective and i have tried strong pharma drugs. Sorry to hear that you were worse on your medication.
okay brilliant thank you i will have a look now, alot of people have told me that tumeric is helpful along with other natural sources, but then as i am so young my doctor told me at some point i will need strong medication as natural meds can wear off after a while thank you x
No problem at all. In my experience it was the strong pharmaceutical drugs that were ineffective for my pain. Prescription pain medication like co codamol for example, just gave me a drugged up relaxed feeling. Although this felt nice at first it wore off by the 3 dose. I'm not sure what medication your g.p is referring to but as far as im aware I'm not the only one to build resistance to pharmaceutical pain drugs. Your Dr is unlikey to know hardly anything about functional medicine if hes a conventional dr?They receive little training on nutrition. They are trained to supress pain with medication.x
yeah exactly i have physio and she is also a trained nutritionist so she is looking into other pain reliefrs for me therefore i hope she can find something that suits me and i can finally come off medication that leaves me with horrible side effects x
That's fantastic. It's a safer road to go down. I've had benefits not side effects this way. I really love magnesium for pain. Its my fav but tumeric is good too. I take a lot of supplements. I know functional Dr's are more expensive. I think nutritional and wellness coaches are cheaper. Unfortunately, I was so ill I really needed a doctor. I've learned so much from them. Good luck with this. You have age on your side. I'm relatively young too. I better rest my wee paws for now but if you have any questions feel free to ask. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. x
I will definitely try magnesium and turmeric but I am worried that i will be in paid for a while before that begins to work therefore I am going to still take my tablets on a lower dose for a while just to make sure I'm not In pain. With my job I cannot afford to be in any pain hence why I'm having to reply on my string painkiller daily even though I wish I couldn't. X
It is true that the natural way takes time to work KatieERoberts . I also took very high doses of vitamins and minerals under the management of my Dr. Certain vitamins and minerals can be dangerous in high dose, so i did get guidance.
I did few things to get the benefits I mentioned in my original post. For example I took ionic magnesium orally and high dose magnesium spray to put on painful areas. Plus I took other supplements to combat fatigue like ionic minerals, b vitamins, high dose ubiquinol.Also other supplements for inflammation like omega 3 algae oil etc. I did the paleo diet. It's expensive compared to conventional if you have the NHS. However, it has been worth it for me. I wish you all the best. Let me know how you get on.
ps that's wise about your medication. No one should stop abruptly unless advised by a Dr. You usually need to be weaned off medication. I would inform your Dr of your side effects though x
It's not proved to be disappointing at all luckyjim . Did you not read my post at the top? I wasn't even able to sit up before functional medicine. I did a list of what symptoms went with it on my original post. Functional medicine tackles the root cause of disease, whereas conventional generally masks it with pharma drugs. I was very ill for 25 years doing it the conventional way. I was actually getting worse. I wish i had know about it sooner as i dont think i would have developed neuropathy or been seriously ill at all. You might find the links I posted useful.
I think very short term use of pain drugs for accidents etc should be OK. However, to mask pain long term for chronic disease? You could end up with more problems as widely documented.
Aw thank you Hidden . I'm glad that you found it interesting. Yes I definitely think twice Nobel prize winner Linus Pauling was right to support orthomolecular medicine. It's a key part of functional medicine.
So many people just want treatment straight out of a bottle, they think pain is validated by being given narcotics, not understanding the ramifications. Very few are prepared to think outside of the box. I commend you
Thank you Pacemaker_1 . I understand people's desperation for relief. However, I really don't believe that it's the long term solution for pain caused by chronic disease. I really hope my post helps those that are suffering from this.
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thank you x 
i go to bed in pain. i hardly sleep as i have apneoa also, especially when stressed. i wake up in pain and pain rules my everyday life
Facet joint denerveing in lower back
Cervical spondylosis 
Help with advice about pain medication please
chronic
