Peripheral neuropathy treatment?

[happylife]

Hi

My hands become numb during sleep. Some times even my legs become numb during sleep.

I guess this is peripheral neuropathy symptom.

If you have saved similar symptoms please tell me if this is treatable or not?

Which are the best medications to treat this?

Does peripheral neuropathy affect only hands and legs or order parts of body as well?

Thanks

[Joe S.]

During sleep may be at positional issue. suggestions: Chiropractic, Yoga, and Tai Chi

If not during sleep: foot patches and Ionic foot baths

Typical Rx is Neurotin which I have issues with.

Stretching to open up my shoulders and Hips did help. The foot patches reversed my neuropathy quite a bit. I have not done them in 10 years.

[Carolina]

Hands may be carpal tunnel.  You can wear braces at night to position your hands properly.

I don't know about numbness in your legs.

I have profound peripheral neuropathy in my legs, walk with braces and a walker.

I didn't ever experience numbness except very cold feet due to loss of circulation from nerve damage to blood vessels.

I had tingling and leg cramps.  But mostly I fell due to foot drop and could not walk uphill or do rock climbing.

It was more loss of function than numbness.

My treatment for PN is medication for pain.  I also have small fiber neuropathy and lots of gabapentin helps with that horrible pain, burning, stabbing. etc. 

Most of the time there is no cure or treatment for PN, just relief of symptoms of pain.

But there can be MANY causes of PN: genetic, diabetes, alcohol abuse, heavy metals in environment, spine issues, even brain tumors, etc. can cause problems with your legs.

Your doctors should be looking at the cervical spine (neck) for numbness in your hands, and lumbar spine (lower) for numbness in your legs.

Most problems are most noticeable at night, and everything is worst in the morning, I find.

You can also find out a lot by using Google.  The information at the Mayo Clinic is very accurate and professional.

Regards,  Elaine

[Kararific]

I have PN but for me it doesn?t cause numbness, rather intense pins and needle?s/pain/electrical shocks.  It has got so bad that I haven?t worked more than 10 hours in the last six weeks. Now I get sharp stabs and tiny muscle cramps ALL over. (Arms, hands and even in/on my mon pubis area)  I have an appointment with a neuromuscular specialist because it isn?t being controlled. I also have Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia and Lamictal is the only thing we?ve found to help with that. I haven found something to ease the PN in my feet/legs.

[Carolina]

Hi Kararific,

Lamictal is in the same category as Gabapentin: anti-epileptic, anti-convulsant. 

Their use for neuropathy, including tri-geminal neuralgia symptoms is very common. They are not 'on-label' for use for neuropathy or bi-polar conditions, however, even tho' this use is common.

I hope you find some relief for all of your symptoms.

Regards, Elaine

[Kararific]

FYI - I?ve been on:
gabapentin, pregabalin, oxcarbazepine and duloxetine. I think that?s all - off the top of my head.

[vrystaat]

The best treatment for peripheral neuropathy is prednisone in high doses. There are two new treatments for it:
1)  IVIG (Intravenous Gamma Globulin)
2)  Achthar Gel, which is ACTH, an adrenal gland stimulant.

I am going to have a trial of ACTH shortly ($40,000) per dose, due to the fact that I also have Polymyopathy.
As always, there are problems with the Insurance Companies.

[bmonahan]

I have had peripheral neuropathy since I was diagnosed in 2012 with Sjogren's.
I am now taking Lyrica 400 mg daily.  It works well with stopping my symptoms of burning feet/hands, tingling and numbness with both hands and feet. The downside is it can make you tired which can be a problem if you already have fatigue and it makes you feel hungry. I used to take Gabapentin but was having increased brain fog on it so my dr. decided to try the Lyrica.

[SjoGirl]

As Carolina said

Hands may be carpal tunnel.  You can wear braces at night to position your hands properly. I did this for a long time until it became too much and had surgery, it was painful for a bit, but the relief was welcome.

The way to know if this is neuropathy is to see a neurologist and have an exam and EMG. Now I am no fan of EMGs, but having them has been crucial to determining what precisely has been causing my symptoms, which then led to appropriate treatment.