Neuropathy Advice

Today's post from the Foot Pain Center Blog (see link below) is written by Dr. Marc Spitz, who is a well known and respected podiatrist (foot doctor to you and me). He knows what he is talking about when it comes to neuropathy and the advice given here is of great value to a person trying to work out what their options are after getting a neuropathy diagnosis.

You Have Just Been Diagnosed With Neuropathy-What Are Your Next Steps
Dr. Marc Spitz: Posted on February 10, 2012

Here is a typical scenario that I am presented on frequent basis. A patient has been given the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy – either from their primary care physician or more likely a neurologist. They often bring to the visit a voluminous amount of testing material that they have undergone-nerve tests, MRI’s and blood tests. Many have questions and others are frankly fearful. It’s pretty common for “well meaning friends and relatives” to have related some horror story about a person they know who had a catastrophic complication from peripheral neuropathy. Something like this: they heard from friend who has a distant cousin who was told that they had neuropathy now has wound up in a wheelchair.

What to do-first relax and take a deep breath! The first thing to do get more information from the person who diagnosed you with the condition- doctors are notoriously good at ordering tests but sometimes fall short in explaining the results. In deed the terminology associated with peripheral neuropathy can be quite intimidating-words like polyneuropathy, demyelinating disease, delayed latency and my favorite- chronic Inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).

My suggestion is to get a basic understanding about neuropathy by logging onto to some popular websites explains the condition in easy-to understand terminology. To name just a few: National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic and Wikipedia. My website-footpaincenter.com contains many articles on peripheral neuropathy along with frequently asked questions. Having armed yourself with knowledge, a consultation with your doctor will be a lot more beneficial. Make sure to ask questions during your visit-if you don’t understand something -make him or her explain it in terms that you understand.

The most pressing concern that patients express to me when they are told that they have peripheral neuropathy are what are the treatments for peripheral neuropathy. Unfortunately there is no real cure for neuropathy-but there are number treatments that help reduce neuropathy discomfort and can slow down the progression of the condition. Gabapentin (Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica) are commonly prescribed medications for neuropathy. They may not effective as they claim to be in relieving neuropathy symptoms and there are many side-effects. If your doctor prescribes these meds - ask questions about his experience on its effectiveness-and put a time limit on taking these drugs. For example after taking these medications for three months –and you had no relief from pain, burning and tingling-you might ask him to take you off these meds. An important note-always inform your doctor if you decide to stop taking any medication. Neurontin and Lyrica are anti-seizure medications and it could be dangerous if you abruptly stop.

There are many other treatments options as well for neuropathy including vitamin and nutritional supplements, laser therapy, infrared therapy, topical creams and patches, hyperbaric oxygen, pain medication, spinal stimulators and immunogloblin therapy and Botox® injections.

I hate to be trite- but knowledge is indeed power when dealing with peripheral neuropathy.

http://www.footpaincenter.com/blog/?p=91