Treating Painful Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

The toes burn and tingle and sharp pains shoot into your legs. The bed sheets feel uncomfortable on the feet as you toss and turn, trying to get some rest. Your feet felt numb throughout the day, but now feel like they are on fire. Nothing seems to help as you watch the hours on the clock pass by, hoping to fall asleep.

Burning, numbness, tingling, hot and cold sensations, shooting and electrical pain are common sensations felt at rest in painful peripheral neuropathy. Neuropathy is an abnormality of the nervous system. There are many different types of neuropathy, but the most common neuropathy effecting diabetics is peripheral neuropathy.

Diabetic neuropathy is described as a loss of sensation that starts in the tips of the toes and gradually works its way up the legs, and in severe case into the hands. It is sometimes referred to as a stocking glove neuropathy because it progresses as if one was pulling on a stocking.

People still cant undersand the cause of diabetic neuropathy.

Sixty percent of diabetics have some type of neuropathy in their feet. Five percent of diabetics will experience painful diabetic neuropathy and the incidence increases with age. Over 45% of individuals who have had diabetes for over 25 years will experience some symptoms of painful diabetic neuropathy.

Many believe that the damage to the small vessels surrounding the nerves, from the diabetes, causes damage to the nerves. Others believe the increase in blood sugar causes damage to the nerves. Despite the different theories, studies have shown better blood sugar control helps prevent progression of the neuropathy.

There are currently no treatments to help reverse diabetic neuropathy. There are no treatments which help reduce the numbness. But, there are many treatments to help decrease the pain associated with the neuropathy.

Your doctor may prescribe medications to help with the pain. There are many options, but until recently none were FDA approved for the treatment of painful neuropathy. Cymbalta®, duloxetine HCl, was recently approved by the FDA in September of 2004 for use in diabetic peripheral neuropathy at doses of 60 and 120 mg per day. This is the first drug approved for this use. Similar medications, like amitriptyline, desipramine and nortriptyline, have been used to help decrease pain and help with sleep.

Gabapentin, also known as Neurontin®, has been a successful treatment for painful diabetic neuropathy. Neurontin® was originally approved by the FDA for adjunctive use in seizures, but the benefits of this drug for other conditions, like neuropathy, soon became known. The manufacturers of Neurontin® were caught up in a controversy regarding their marketing tactics for this off label use. Many physicians still use this drug despite the controversy. Tegretol and Dilantin, common seizure medications, can be used in more severe cases. New treatments include lidocaine 5% cream, acetyl-L-canitine, nerve growth factor and Annodyne ®, infrared therapy.

To help treat painful peripheral neuropathy without prescription medications, follow the tips:

1. Keep your blood sugar in control: Studies have shown that when blood sugars remain high, or roller coaster from high to low, peripheral neuropathy will worsen.

2. Exercise. This is probably the last thing you wanted to hear. Exercise helps increase circulation and stimulates the growth of new vessels which help slow the progression of the neuropathy. Exercising also helps to increase your pain threshold and to provide a distraction from the nerve pain in your feet.

3. Eat healthy. Besides helping to control your blood sugar, eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables will add anti-oxidants to your diet. Anti-oxidants will combat the damaging oxidative effects glucose has on your nerves. In particular, try dark-green, leafy vegetables, yellow, orange, and red fruits and vegetables, citrus fruits and tomatoes.

4. Try red pepper powder. Capsaicin is the active ingredient in chile peppers. When applied to the feet it acts as a counter-irritant and can help decrease neuropathic pain. Capsaicin can be purchased at your local drug store. If you cannot afford capsaicin, try mixing 1 tablespoon of dry chile powder with 2 tablespoons of baby powder. Place the mixture in a sock and use the socks at night.

5. Try alpha lipoic acid. ALA is an effective anti-oxidant that has been shown to relieve pain associated with neuropathy in multiple studies. To help relieve pain, the dose must be at least 600mg a day. It is advisable to start with a lower dose, as higher doses can cause nausea, stomach upset, fatigue, insomnia and can lower blood sugar. In general, ALA is a safe supplement.

6. Try gamma linolenic acid. GLA is an essential fatty acid found in evening primrose oil. Most of the studies have shown modest results, but the possibilities are still encouraging. Take 360mg/day. Many indications require higher dosages, but side effects with long term use at higher doses may include inflammation, thrombosis (blood clots), or decreased immune system functioning.

Treating painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy is very difficult and many of the above mentioned therapies should be tried and combined. Don't expect any "cures" and make sure you give each therapy a chance to work.

Depression cure without Drugs

First of all, this question of trying to naturally cure depression without drugs seems to be futile, especially these days when most people have gotten used to the idea of being treated with prescriptions drugs. But many people are successfully turning away from prescription drugs and finding alternative methods of treatment – without drugs. Those suffering from depression, too, are taking recourse to drugless therapies, which generally do not cause any side-effects and are typically much more economical.

Low light blues

Depending upon the cause of your depression, you will need to choose an appropriate type of therapy. If your depressive disorder manifests itself in winter, when days are short and daylight is sparse, you may effectively make use of phototherapy. Bright light therapy, or blue light therapy, given with the help of a light box, is believed to reduce or remove the cause of this type of depression.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy will be helpful in cases in which psychological factors like skewed thought patterns are identified to have caused depression. In such cases, psychotherapy or counseling will work better if there is good understanding and a solid rapport between the counselor and the patient. Depending on the severity of the disorder, long and frequent counseling sessions may be necessary due to the patient’s distorted thought patterns. Thought patterns, personal relationships, and low self-esteem must be corrected. Self-loathing has to be converted onto self-love and stress has to be lowered or eliminated and so on. By and large, the most important thing is the approach the counselor brings to the table as well as the counselor-patient relationship.

Exercise

Physical exercise is also considered to be very good as a cure for depression, particularly when it is combined with psychotherapy. It is an effective method to get rid of excessive stress, which may cause depression. Although it may be rather difficult to make severely depressed people physically active, persistent efforts aimed at motivating them to get involved in regular physical activities are likely to be successful. In practice, group physical activities are known to alleviate depression by cutting at its root causes like traumatic breakdown in personal relationships and stress-related factors.

Food and Diet

In certain cases of depression, dietary supplements like those which are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids (particularly those found naturally in oily fish) work as a cure. Products containing chocolate and Vitamin B-12 are proven to work as antidepressants. Some herbal substances are also found to be effective. When depression occurs due to misuse of alcohol and other intoxicants, caffeine, sleep-inducing drugs and sedatives, the obvious cure lies in teaching the patient not to use these depression triggers.

Meditation and prayer

Meditation and deep breathing exercises are being increasingly used as a means of treating depression without drugs. These have produced results proven to be very effective especially when practiced regularly over a considerable period of time. The calming effect of meditation on the mind has a positive impact for depression sufferers. Prayer and spirituality may also be useful in this regard.

Rehabilitation of depressed people is a family and social responsibility. Often times a depressed person is just looking for the attention of loved ones. Attempts to treat depression by drugs alone will not be successful. For this reason, the stigma that is associated with mental illnesses like depression has to be discarded. Loved ones must not discriminate against depressed people because this can make the problem worse. Love and support is the best way to start looking for a cure for depression.