| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| holly |
Posted - 01/11/2007 : 10:51:34
While having my yearly lunch with one of my deceased mothers dear old friends we had a pretty interesting conversation. She is one of the dearest old ladies with alot of wisdom. She has problems walking but takes it in stride as just another day in the life of what must be close to 75-80 years old. Her disposition was wonderful as usual. I was in a good mood and she asked about my health. I told her I was fine except for these darn feet! lol. I told her my story and she proceeds to inform me about a friend of her's who had just terrible neuroligical feet problems & who's life has changed from taking Neurotin. I told this older lady friend that I had a unfilled prescription for Neurotin for a couple of years hanging on my bulliton board but was afraid to start on it since it doesn't cure but only relieves. She replied "Holly somtimes we get things that just don't go away . If this can make your life more comfortable then why not be comfortable???" Her friend has been on it for years and now lives a much less problematic life from her neuroligical problems in her feet. Then I said "well maybe there is something to that". I thought how taking Acollate for my asthma has basically enabled me to live in NY in the winter and I even took my kid sleigh riding in the winter of last year because of that oral medicine! It has made a big difference in my life over here in NY! (I have to get my levels checked while on it and so far so good) Maybe I should consider this Neurotin for my feet??? So anybody here try or use Neurotin? I am probably on the wrong board to ask about this but what the heck!!! |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| K2toK9 |
Posted - 06/19/2007 : 19:25:31
P.S. If this helps any, my Mom died of ovarian cancer which is one of the reasons I had a complete hysterectomy.
I am open to any insights from anyone as I am stuck in pain right now. I did see a TMS doctor about 2 years ago and I have read and read Dr. Sarno's book and watched the video. No improvement.
Thanks Everyone,
K2toK( |
| K2toK9 |
Posted - 06/19/2007 : 19:20:45
Dear ScottyDog,
I have thought on and off for three years now that maybe it was my mom's passing away and not the hysterectomy, but then I thought that it had to be the surgery.....maybe a nerve got hit or something. Then an operating nurse told me that nerve damage is uite possible with hyst or abdominal surgery mostly due to position and length of time on the operatin table.
As for my Mom....no regrets in our relationship. She is the one person in this world that I know I truly had a good relationship with. I loved her and she loved me. The rest of the world I question, but not her. I do miss her something aweful. One reason the foot pain strikes me as possible TMS is that my Mom walked and walked everyday....10 miles per day for 25 years....sun, rain, snow, col, heat....she was out there walking until the cancer and all the chemo.
My plan to get through the sudden surgical menopause that came upon me, way too early in life, due to the hysterectomy, was to walk through it and just keep walking. I am prone to anxiety and I figured the walking would help that too... and the grief. So, after a month of recouperating, I asked my doctor/surgeon if I could go back to my daily walks and she said "yes". I pushed it of course, and walked longer and faster than I was suppose to at first....but it felt good to be outside moving. Two weeks into it, I had burning feet that were numb and leg pain. Two weeks after that I stopped taking walks.....I also stopped the hormone meds. I remain on a very small dosage of klonopin and have been for years and years.
I have seen countless doctors at the very best hospitals. Diagnosis: "idiopathic neuropathy"....and one doctor added, "polyneuropathy and depression" and sent me for an MRI....which was normal. Then he sent me to the Pain Clinic where they wanted me to take cymbalta, but it was not on my insurance and too expensive. That was alomost 3 years ago.
K2toK9 |
| LuvtoSew |
Posted - 06/19/2007 : 05:43:16
Littlebird- I like your name too, and I haven't been sewing much lately either.
I got diagnosed with MS in 1992- but the right head humming and R. facial spasms I don't think is the MS as it doesn't come and go- has been constant for the last 1.5 years.
My neuro thought it might be from a pinched nerve in the neck, thats
why I thought maybe neurontin might rule that out. On the other hand I hate to take a pill to mask my symptoms = I want them gone. I just hate the thought of being on neurontin as I know some people have side effects and I don't want to feel drugged.
The spine specialist said he couldn't be sure it was from the neck but facet block injections would rule the neck out or as the culprit.
At this point I just hoping it goes away! but its disrupting my whole life so I may have to break down and try something. |
| davec |
Posted - 06/19/2007 : 05:05:52
I took neurotin then lyrica with amitriptiline at night for two years-it did nothing for my 'neuropathy'and completly fogged my days and i slept alot at home.Did it help with the burning? NO!
I hope this helps,i stopped at Christmas when i discovered TMS Am I still burning?Yes,but i am able to think straight and am doing the work to get better.
David |
| Littlebird |
Posted - 06/19/2007 : 00:31:43
K2toK9, I'm sorry to read about what you've been through. I think Scottydog's point is very good. It is traumatic to lose one's mother, and it must have also been traumatic to go through that surgery so soon after losing her. It seems to me that the emotions tied to those events could be a very likely source of the neuropathy.
I know from personal experience that neuropathy can by a manifestation of TMS. My experience with it was triggered by a situation that created a lot of anger, but there was also a physical event that I initially blamed for triggering the symptoms, until I learned about TMS. Then I was able to realize that the physical situation was not the true cause after all, the emotions were. Hang in there and continue to learn about TMS. That may turn out to be the answer for you. Let us know how things go for you. |
| Littlebird |
Posted - 06/19/2007 : 00:23:06
LuvtoSew, I like your name. I used to love sewing, but haven't been able to take time for it in too many years.
Regarding your comment that you were thinking that taking Neurontin would rule out a nerve condition, I thought I'd mention that I was taking Neurontin for "neurological" symptoms that turned out to be TMS. (Had some tests to check for MS, but they were all clear--there was no explanation for the symptoms.) Before I learned of TMS, I wanted to cut back on Neurontin due to side effects, but the symptoms would get much worse when I cut down the dose, yet after I learned of TMS I was able to go all the way off of Neurontin and still get rid of the neurological type symptoms, though I still have some other types of symptoms. So I'm not sure if taking Neurontin and seeing how it affects your symptoms would be an accurate method of ruling out a nerve condition, since Neurontin did help reduce the neurological symptoms I was having even though they were actually caused by TMS. But if you really want to try taking Neurontin, perhaps the doc can give you a smaller dose. It comes as 100 mg. as well as the 300 mg.
Sorry, but I haven't kept up with all of your posts, so I don't know if you've mentioned more details about your condition, and what kind of testing you may have had. Having MS must make it difficult to sort out just what symptoms might be TMS. Hope all goes well for you. |
| LuvtoSew |
Posted - 06/18/2007 : 14:56:06
My neuro just ordered it for me for the MS. I have a whole bottle sitting there, took one one night, the next day I felt like I was drunk half the day. That was 1 1/2 wks ago. REally don't want to take it. I also felt taking it would help rule out a nerve condition causing my symptoms, but I am not ready to go on it. |
| Scottydog |
Posted - 06/18/2007 : 14:48:00
K2,
Instead of the burning foot pain following on from your hysterectomy couldn't it be connected with your Mother's passing away.
Losing a parent is a pretty big event in anyone's life, do you have remaining regrets, or guilt or unfinished conversations and the foot pain is distracting you from that?
Anne |
| K2toK9 |
Posted - 06/18/2007 : 13:27:15
Hi Everyone,
It was suggested to me to go back and read these postings on foot pain/ neuropathy. I have had this foot pain for 3 years now. It occurred about one month after a complete hysterectomy when I had gone back to my daily walks. I have always assumed the nerve damage is realted to the surgery I had. I have even been told by an operating nurse that it is quite possible. I have spoke to numerous doctors and my diagnosis is "idiopathic nueropathy" (in othe words "no known cause".....even though the surgery seems the cause to me....at least in part). I had the surgery because my Mom had passed away from ovarian cancer 4 months prior and I had tests run that did not show good results and a life time of gyn issues....so the decision was made to do a complete hyst....anyway, after the burning and the pain, came numerous doctors, physical therapy, and two persciptions....one for neurontin and one for cymbalta. The neurontin did not work as I never reached a high enough dosage and the cymbalta was too expensive. So where do I go from here....3 years later and in more pain than before? Any and all advice is welcomed.
Thanks,
K2toK9 |
| Littlebird |
Posted - 02/02/2007 : 14:32:20
If it's the book I've referred to a few times, it's called "Stop Being Your Symptoms and Start Being Yourself," by Arthur J. Barsky, M.D. and Emily C. Deans, M.D. I read it shortly before I found Dr. Sarno's TDM, and it seems to me that it can be a useful addition for some people who may have difficulty shifting their focus away from any obsessions with their physical symptoms so they can concentrate on the psychological aspects of their life that are leading them to develop TMS.
The book talks about how our culture in general has become more aware of having less than perfect health and developed an expectation that we should all feel great all the time, often with the help of the medications we see advertised, while older generations had the expectation that life would not be perfect and that people could live well even with many health issues. Then it goes into how unproductive it usually is to do large amounts of health research and to coddle our bodies by avoiding our usual activities. It discusses how our attitude and perspective affect our experience of pain and other symptoms. And it gives suggestions for taking the focus off the symptoms and getting on with life, in spite of not having perfect health at all times.
There are statements that don't mesh with the concept of TMS because the authors don't know about TMS, but there is some mention of how our emotions about other situations can intensify the symptoms. So if I was to read the book now, knowing about TMS, there would be parts of the book that I'd simply dismiss as not applying to my situation, but that's true of many books that I read. |
| holly |
Posted - 02/02/2007 : 06:04:03
I like that too. That makes more sense than anything else. It all goes back to stress making anything (even legit) going on worse. |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 01/31/2007 : 08:40:30
tms is the volume control for the pain |
| holly |
Posted - 01/31/2007 : 06:56:24
just wanted to post that I never did use the neurotin and my feet are feeling better all around. They are not 100% but about the best they have been in a long time. (sometimes I am afriad to say that because it seems like i curse myself everytime lol!) The tendonitis in the middle toe area has basically cleared up . I won't be trying such high shoes again any time soon that's for sure! So I didn't have a neuroma, I did have some tendonitis (as Sarno said)but not from TMS my friends but from those high heals I am sure. So he was half right anyway!! That's ok with me. lol |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 01/24/2007 : 22:03:51
"Hi Holly, Wow, the global warming thread is still there. I would say that topic's life expectancy is short."
Don't bet on it newbee. The last time we did the science of g.w. here, it went 20 pages.
|
| holly |
Posted - 01/24/2007 : 16:38:56
Alexis where is your global warming thread?? My husband is very much into that stuff (way before it was even fasionable!) you sound very smart so don't feel the need to change that! Just curious what you do for a living
and a question to you all with feet problems ...do you find walking barefoot makes things worse? Alexis about B12... you found that helped? Did you just take a supplement? |
| holly |
Posted - 01/23/2007 : 15:54:30
wow alexis that was deep! I think you went way above me there on that response but whatever you said it sure sounded impressive. |
| Plantweed |
Posted - 01/23/2007 : 05:54:22
I've been a little groggy, but functional. But that could also be from the Darvocets I'm taking. |
| marytabby |
Posted - 01/23/2007 : 05:12:27
Before I knew about TMS, I tried it and it made me feel lousy. I was very dizzy. I had to get off it immediately. Not a good med for me at all. Now I know better about tms pain but before that I tried everything. |
| mala |
Posted - 01/22/2007 : 23:11:38
Hi Holly,
I remember whwn the doctor gave me what seemed like a huge supply of neurontin and I sincerely believe he was trying to help. His idea was that if I took it long term as a pain supressant, then perhaps in due course of time the pain would go away.
Anyway, I read up on it( and there is lots of information you can get on the net) and decided I would start on a much lower dosage than the one prescribed by the doctor. I hated it rom the start. I felt drugged and lethargic. I would slep thru the night but it was very much a drug induced kind of sleep and I would wake up feeling groggy. It also gave me the munchies for some reason and I put on weight which was depressing.
Most pain killers relieve only, they don't cure so I just took normal painkillers which is what Sarno recommends
Good Luck & Good Health
Mala |
| holly |
Posted - 01/22/2007 : 17:25:15
plantweed have you noticed the neurotin helping? Is it making you groggy?? I am sorry about your situation. |
