Vitamin Cocktail May Improve Neuropathy Pain

In the Aug. 5, 2007 Grand Rapids Press (MI) there was an article that my son-in-law saved for me about a study that some area doctors did to try to find relief for their chemo and diabetic patients with neuropathy. This is the bare bones info:

Dr. Mark Gostine, a GR pain specialist and Dr. Larry Pawl, an oncologist, were discussing pain relief and set about to try to find out if missing micronutrients may be the cause of some neuropathic pain. They set up a study using their own patients with a mixture that was produced by a pharmaceutical company according to their instructions. The ingredients include N-acetylcysteine, alph-lipoic-acid, L-carnitine, vitamin C and selenium. The six month study was done using patients recruited from Foot & Ankle Specialists of West Michigan. They published their findings in the Journal of Practical Pain Management, August issue.

Patients in the study had both pain reduction and less numbness. Cleveland Clinic is considering doing a parallel study to affirm the findings. The supplement mixture is available for sale online under the trade name NeuropathyRx for those of you who want to try it for pain. There is a companion supplement for chemo related neuropathy as well. Hope this helps someone.

Ruth,
I have probably had silent diabetes for over 30 years and only after I was diagnosed did I put two and two together with the weird feelings in my feet when I got into the bathtub. My diabetes was never 'rampant' enough to set off alarms with the doctors (the cutoff numbers used to be higher) but the damage to my feet, eyes and kidneys happened just the same.

When we have diabetes, controlled or otherwise, we have large glucose molecules floating around in our blood, clogging up the pipes. If this happens on a regular basis it would make sense that the things our bodies need might not always get delivered thru the pipelines. Increasing our intake of some supplements would enhance the chances of getting the necessary nutrients to the cells that need them. This is why I take Malic acid for my fibro.

Seems to me that trying a supplement that enhances the chances of supplying your nerves with what they need might decrease your pain. If the cost is not prohibitive, I'd go for it. Try it for six months like the peeps in the study. You can be our own personal guinea pig and report back your findings. You might be able to give us some insight into how the stuff works. If you can't afford it, maybe someone else here will give it a try.