Why Common Neuropathy Treatments Fail

Hey everyone, today I will talk about neuropathy. This is a very common condition; it affects over 20 million people in the US. Neuropathy is so common in patients with diabetes; people who have chemotherapy-related neuropathy and people who take statin medication for a long time can also have a risk of developing neuropathy.

Symptoms of Neuropathy

Many people have different symptoms. Some people will have numbness that starts in the toes, then numbness in the whole foot, then upward in the legs. Some people will have tingling in their feet. Some people will have burning in their feet. Some will experience pins and needles. 

The worst-case scenario is having no feeling in your feet, which is basically the loss of sensation. Having no feeling in your feet will lead to stepping on sharp objects like a sharp nail, and that can lead to open skin, then open wounds. The wound will become infected and then possibly amputation. 

Did you know that diabetic neuropathy is the number one cause of amputation in the US? 

Neuropathy symptoms will progress slowly over time, over the course of years or even decades. Once the nerve becomes more and more damaged, symptoms will get so severe that tingling and burning sensations will become constant, non-stop, severe pain. 

Finally, all sensations are completely lost, leaving your feet with no feeling at all.

Neuropathy Treatment Options

Why do so many people with neuropathy still have neuropathy despite all of the common standard treatments? This is because so many people make the first choice to visit a neurologist, go to a primary care doctor, or see any other doctor, which they were not aware of the common treatment option that would be given to them; pretty much everyone wants something that is covered by their insurance. 

Unfortunately, they show that the most common treatment is taking Gabapentin, also known as Neurontin. Many people go to doctors; they check you out, evaluate you, do the blood work, then they tell you you have neuropathy, and they give you a prescription for Gabapentin. Many doctors don’t tell you what Gabapentin is, how Gabapentin works, and whether it really does anything to repair the nerve damage. 

You can google all of these answers on your own. You’re responsible for your health, like deciding which doctor to go to, which treatment you go to, picking a decision, and what treatment you should have.

Role of Gabapentin in Neuropathy

The short answer is that Gabapentin covers up your pain, basically blocking your pain signal to your brain, and unfortunately, this will not stop or reverse your nerve damage. Once you start taking Gabapentin, you probably might feel better in a couple of weeks. Then, 6 months later, the pain starts to come back, and you decide to go back to the doctor, and they decide to increase the dosage, and that will repeat the cycle.

If Gabapentin doesn’t work, then they will switch you to another option, which is taking Lyrica, also known as pregabalin. This is the same thing; Lyrica will also help to reduce the pain, but in terms of repairing the nerve damage, it doesn’t do anything for that. 

Components of Neuropathy

Neuropathy has two components: pain and nerve damage. You can temporarily stop the pain with medication, either with Gabapentin, Lyrica, epidural injection, or some other method, but to get a cure, you have to repair the underlying causes, which is the nerve damage itself.

Unfortunately, so many people have been told that nothing can be done to improve nerve damage, leaving them trapped in a cycle of pain and medication, but there’s hope. There are two paths: you can continue to increase your pain with medication but that doesn’t fit the nerves or the cost, or you can actually take the first step to actually do something to improve your nerve damage.

Neuropathy Treatment

At our office, we focus on improving nerve damage by increasing the blood flow around the nerves, reducing the inflammation around the nerve, and simulating your body’s own natural response to improve the nerve into an optimally healthy environment. This is perfect for anyone who is suffering from diabetic neuropathy, chemotherapy neuropathy, or idiopathic neuropathy. 

Take action before it’s too late. Don’t wait any longer. Take the first step toward neuropathy healing today. Thank you; take care.