Something for neuropathic pain.

[fbirder]

I've read a couple of posts elsewhere on HU that mentioned something for neuropathic pain and it persuaded me to give it a go. I took 1 600mg capsule of alpha-lipoic acid amazon.co.uk/d/Alpha-Lipoic... twice a day (morning and evening) for four weeks.

To be honest I didn't think it had done anything, so I stopped taking them. Over the next two weeks my pain got gradually worse. It took another week of bad pain before I thought of the fact that I'd stopped taking the alpha lipoic acid -so I started taking it again.

That was a week ago, and my neuropathic pain has decreased substantially over that week.

Now this is the sort of stuff I hate - anectodes about chemicals that help. There is some evidence that it helps with neuropathic pain. But that was in diabetics after intravenous administration, so not totally relevant.

However, if, like me, your neuropathy is bad enough to sometimes require opioids to quell the pain then it might be worth giving alpha lipoic acid a try.

[fbirder]

My neuropathy is not caused by a B12 deficiency. The neuropathy got worse as my other symptoms improved.

So it's quite possible that anything that helps me may not help people with neuropathy caused by a B12 deficiency - but it's worth a try.

People whose neuropathy is caused by B12 are likely to need something to help with it while waiting for the B12 to fix things. And many find that some damage is irreversible.

[AnnaKatrina]

Hi fbirder,

Thanks for posting this, it's fascinating & I'm going to give it a try, as I have to take opiates when the pain is at it's worse, which I absolutely hate to do.

This might be a stupid question, or one which you may not chose to answer, which is fine

I would like to ask you, was the diagnosis that your neuropathic pain wasn't connected to B12, difficult to determine?

My GP refuses to send me to a neurologist, as she believes it will be a waste of time, given I have the injections & as they have improved but not dramatically solved the problem, the cause "must be idiopathic" & therefore needs no further investigation.

Many thanks

AK

[Hidden in reply to AnnaKatrina]

My Gastroentrologist Is Adamant That My Symptoms Including Neuropathy Is In My Head As B-12 Corrects Everything Connected...Though I Have Many Symptoms I Believe May Be Irreversible Nerve Damage...My Spine Pain Is Continuously Severe...Is Made An Appointment With A Neurologist Myself...Thank God My Insurance Doesn't Require A Referral...♡

[fbirder in reply to AnnaKatrina]

Hi AnnaKatrina

It was fairly easy to determine that my neuropathy wasn't caused by B12. Timing was the big giveaway.

I was diagnosed with PA in Feb 2015. My GP tested me and found very slight numbness in one big toe and no balance problems.

By Feb the following year the neuropathy had progressed for me to require gabapentin for the pain and a referral. The neurologist did a load of tests and said that the results, backed up the idea that the cause wasn't B12.

There are lots of possible causes of peripheral neuropathy (I have a book all about it). Some of them are fairly nasty things that are better caught sooner, rather than later. So you need to nag your GP for a referral, where they can so nerve conduction studies, electromyography, various antibody tests plus various possible chemical causes (like too much B6).

[AnnaKatrina in reply to fbirder]

Thanks so much for your reply. Under the circumstances I will definitely push my GP for a referral.

Kind Regards

AK 🙂

[addie18]

I feel I have something in common with you fbirder because I'm not sure b12 deficiency was the sole explanation of my neuropathic symptoms either. The doctors are currently convinced otherwise, but they have been pretty wishy-washy in their opinions about me. I guess that is a positive reflection on the doctors, maybe it means they are following the evidence and not married to one particular conclusion. But I can't get over the fact that (what I previously thought was not physical but) mental health problems of 4+ years went away right away with b12 supplementation, yet my neuropathic symptoms increased and spread in subject matter for months after I started the injections. Fortunately for me, my symptoms suddenly and dramatically improved for unknown reasons (possibly the b12 suddenly caught up to a point where the system decided to repair nerves - I guess - but to me this seems like only one possibility among thousands of unknown probability). The only thing that has helped my residual neuropathy since then is large dose biotin, which is something one can google. I'll google alpha lipoic, thanks for the tip!

[fbirder in reply to addie18]

It can take quite a long time for the damage to nerves to fix itself, so B12 does sound like it might be th explanation.

Biotin is interesting. Apparently achlorhydria can cause a deficiency. Might be worth a try.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

delicious21

thank you for your comment - just a reminder that this site is not a substitute for professional advice but is a support group which means that people can share their experiences but that we should all be checking before going ahead with any form of supplementation to ensure that there isn't any interaction with other medications that we may be taking, or implications for a condition that we are suffering from.

Potential sources of information include a qualified pharmacist as well as your GP.

[fbirder]

I strongly doubt that homeopathic 'remedies' can have any interactions.

[Polaris in reply to fbirder]

homeopathic silica will push a splinter or glass, shrapnel, etc. to the surface - sometimes quite dramatically.

[fbirder in reply to Polaris]

Intriguing. How do you get homeopathic sand?

[Polaris in reply to fbirder]

At the risk of being shot down FB 😄

No short answer as it's a complex and difficult subject & takes medical doctors years of supervised study. Remedies are prepared, natural mineral, animal & insect products that act differently to other medicines, being carriers of energy and encouraging your body to heal itself.

[fbirder in reply to Polaris]

Are you sure you meant 'medical' doctors? Are there really people with an MD who say that sand can do anything useful, medically?

[Polaris in reply to fbirder]

The NHS spends approximately £4 million a year on homeopathy.

The three NHS homeopathic hospitals have been a part of the NHS since it began in 1948. They currently treat tens of thousands of patients per year who are referred by GPs, PCTs and NHS specialists.

Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine

The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine holds 27,000 NHS patient appointments a year. All clinics are led by consultants, doctors and other registered healthcare professionals who have received additional training in complementary medicine.

[Frodo]

Thanks for the tip. Checked it out on Web MD and looks promising for several conditions. It 'might' help with migraine and several other conditions.

(Note you shouldn't take it if you're likely to have a thiamine deficiency, it might affect blood sugar, and it might affect thyroid meds amongst other things)