I was diagnosed with PA back in 2018 after a blood test reading of under 50. I was also suffering with peripheal neuropathy in my feet and hands. I was initially given 6 loading injections followed by 3 montly injections. After contacting PAS and finding out I should be receiving injections every other day until my symptoms receded I went back to my practice and asked for these to be carried out. I was allowed to have these injections but after 2 weeks they were I stopped and I was referred to a Neurologist who recommended monthly injections which I received up until the first lockdown and then the practice put me back to 3 monthly. At this point I decided to self inject and have been doing so until the present time with injections every other day. The numbness in my hands has improved significantly but there is still some numbness in my toes and part of my feet. I will carry on self injecting but was thinking of purchasing a "Revitive Circulation Booster" to see if that would help in speeding up the process. I would just like to know if anyone has purchased one of these devices and if they derived any benefit.
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Swinging-Chandelier
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A circulation booster is a device that creates Electrical Muscle Simulation (EMS)which sends gentle electrical pulses up through the feet which in turn contracts the calf muscles to get your leg muscles pumping thus actively increasing your blood circulation.
Even if a 'circulation booster' did work it's unlikely to help your neuropathy because it's not caused by a circulation problem, unlike diabetic neuropathy.
If you've had your PN for years and it's been undertreated then there is always the possibility that it will never get back to normal. The recommended regimen for people with PN is injections every other day until there is no further improvement.
If you keep injecting EOD for a month with no further improvement then you may want to think about reducing the frequency until you can find an interval that just keeps symptoms at bay.
Thank-you for your reply fbirder, I realised I was possibly clutching at straws but thought it was worth asking the question just in case someone had received benefit from using this device.
I am not sure if my neuropathy will eventually get back to normal but I will persist a little longer with injections EOD and if no further improvement is forthcoming will do as you advise.
I seem to recall that the devices that market themselves as an alternative way of exercising such as ‘slender tone’ have come up against some advertising standards scrutiny for making unjustified claims. This seems to be around the lack of scientific evidence to support how effective they are vs. normal everyday muscle stimulation (like moving around).
I guess this foot pad is a similar thing? I suspect just being upright and walking around gives your muscles enough stimulation to “improve circulation”. Seems a shame that Ian Botham is putting his name to such a thing. It’s possible this may give a small benefit if you are chair bound and can’t get up and shuffle around for more than a few minutes. I suspect it’s more about pain relief (eg tens machine) rather than anything else (and I think those have a high placebo response)
Any clinical “evidence” they are using is from small studies of around 20 participants and seem to be centred around pain relief rather than circulation improvement claims.
Personally I feel that if you can move out of a chair and be upright for a few minutes I doubt very much that this gives any benefit whatsoever ....as mentioned this is unlikely to repair damaged nerves (and isn’t one of their claims) and it seems circulation improvement is a dodgy claim for them to make in any case since there is insufficient scientific evidence for it.
Thanks for posting this Slothlike. Very interesting!
The ASA ruling in July 2018 funds that all the claims are misleading (including the apparent price saving) and that the advert should not appear in its current form again.
And yet...here we are, November 2020...and the claims are still being made! Shocking (but unfortunately not surprising).
And the price made my eyes pop!
My original thoughts were...deep suspicion...and...much more effective to move around or take a walk. I’m sticking with those thoughts.
And as others have said...no use whatsoever for neurological repair.
Really annoys me that misleading claims are used to try and sell devices to those who are often desperate for something to bring relief!
Your story sound familiar to me. I also had to go back to EOD, even though I was symptom-free for at least a month before I tried to reduce the frequency. And then pins and needles slowly crawled back. So, here I am.
Anyway, I read about Thiamine (Vit. B1), and so I tried Benfotiamine without being tested for a B1-deficiency, I have to admit. But in my case, it had a noticeable and quick effect on nerve recovery. Within one week the numbness in my little toes began to disappear. There are some posts about it here in the forum.
Maybe this hint will help you too.
Having PA means that quite some other vitamins and minerals can be low as well. Would be nice if such screening was compulsory.
Thank-you Lunario that is most interesting. I actually do take a multivitamin tablet each day along with vitamin B complex but as yet I have noticed no real change so trying a Benfotiamine might be worth trying even though it is primarily used for diabetic neuropathy.
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