I mentioned in the Sleep Apnea thread that I have peripheral neuropathy in my feet. Ole Miss Guy asked how I was treating it. I guess the correct answer is not very well. I'm going to a neurologist. I've had:

Nerve Conduction Velocity Tests (NCV)
Electromyography (EMG)
Skin Biopsy

So far We've not found a cause. The neurologist thought it might be a sign of diabetes or being pre-diabetic. I'm not as far as I can tell. She sent me to a oncologist. He says I'm fine.

It all started back in Australia about five years ago. I go barefooted in the house a lot and one night I thought I stepped on a piece of tape or something got stuck to the bottom of my foot. Nothing. That feeling became more frequent, and then began to appear on the other foot. I let it go for about three years before seeing a doctor. It got to the point where I had combinations of numbness and tingling in both feet. In the last year, late at night if I was watching TV with my feet up for an hour or so, then got up to walk it was like walking on broken light bulbs.

The neurologist says she can treat the pain, but not cure the numbness. The nerve damage is not reversible. She started me taking Gabapentin; 100mg three times a day. I didn't notice any improvement. I'm now taking 600mg three times a day and maybe it helps a little, I'm not sure. I've thought about not taking them at all and see if the pain increases. The neurologist is saying that I can increase the dosage if needed.

The one odd thing she told me was that I needed to stop going barefoot, and have my wife look at my feet each day because she has had some patients come in with staples, pins, or even small nails in the bottom of their feet that they were unaware of.

I still go barefoot at times, and I let my wife look at a lot of things, but the bottoms of my feet aren't one of them.

I'm not a doctor, nor am I recommending this drug. However, a very brittle diabetic friend of mine, who is literally on his last legs has found it to be the only drug that helps with his neuropathy.

The drug is Lyrica (pregabalin) and it apparently is only effective for about 50% of the patients who try it.

It was originally developed as a anti-schizophrenic (apparently was not efficacious), epileptic drug, so in your case it might have dual benefits.

Just something you might keep in mind and mention to your physician. Pregabalin is the Pfizer successor to gabapentin.

Good luck, bud.

My wife has it and she is a diabetic.You are quite correct about no bare feet. A friend of ours is a brittle diabetic, has it and now is with one foot. It is rather insidious and the only treatment that works for us is me massaging her feet once or twice a day. Sometimes it helps other times it does not. Wish I had a miracle drug for all of us.