Nerve pain is one of the most elusive problems facing our world. No one anywhere seems to have an answer. I am finding that I am doing much better since I changed my diet to being wheat free(allergy).
I still have some nights that I dont get any sleep. But not as many as before. Can I ask what funny things the ultracet did to your ears?

Pat

Darkson,
The Ultracet made my ears feels as if they had alot of pressure in them and then they popped. It was a very uncomfortable sensation. I had this happen with Percocet as well. I have issues with my ears anyways, but I thought that this was weird and uncomfortable side effect and it scared me.

April

Limiting highly processed foods and sugar intake can help me. It's a real b**** to try and watch your diet all the time, not to mention it can be really expensive. But for me - I went vegetarian when I was 16 and wow did that make a difference. I don't think it was so much meat that did it, as was what may have been in the meat. I'm now on a pretty careful diet and I've noticed that when I'm not careful - the number of bad days I have shoots up.

If you are interested in nutritional supplements, theres peripheral neuropathy group on the Neuro Talk boards that talks about various supplements used for neuropathy. B vitamins can be a big culprit; also lack of vitamin D is now being discussed.

Fish Oil, ALA and some others are also discussed in there, and a tool to track blood testing.

Good sit for information on the subject.

Although I am on Lyrica and Cymbalta for peripheral neuropathy that is directly from the hiv (started two months before starting hiv meds and was told the virus had attacked my CNS/mylan sheath around nerves...even though am now undetectable viral load the PN persists), there's a suppliment called bromolaine that is only found on Earth naturally in the centers of pineapples (the part they throw away), and it definitely helps with the pain part but not so much tingling/numbness. You can get it fairly cheaply from http://www.swansonsvitamins.com
I too was initially on gabapentin and all it did was make my feet and calves swell-up 3 shoe sizes and hands were swollen as well. Lyrica is a very similar RX but have not had that side effect at all. The real drawback with the Lyrica/Cymbalta regimine is the costs. With having 30 of my Atripla (HIV med) costing $1600., Lyrica and Cymbalta collectively costing about the same, if I did not qualify for 'extra help' with Medicare, I would be in the 'donut hole' every other month. This is a prime reason for some form of healthcare reform. If the donut hole dictates that once your meds cost $2700., YOU have to pay out of pocket for the next $4700. BEFORE Medicare Pt D will pay for anything, and say you are making only $15,000. a year....the system requires you to somehow pay for 6 X $4700, which is NOT fuzzy math...reason you have retired people going off meds unless they want to lose thier home, etc.