Several methods to help soothe nerve pain

Dear Pharmacist: I have neuropathies all over my body. It feels like pins and needles. I take pain medications. Is there anything natural I can do or take? — G.D., Westminster, Colo.

Dear G.D.: Neuropathy may cause more than the discomfort you describe. It can also cause pain, weakness, dizziness when standing up, burning sensations, shooting pain, trigeminal neuralgia, tingling, numbness, cystitis, urinary urgency, and vibration/buzzing sensations. In men, erectile dysfunction is possible.

Recognizing that your neuropathy is related to another disorder is huge. If you treat the neuropathy as a disease in and of itself, then you miss the big picture. Neuropathy can be a symptom of postherpetic neuralgia, high insulin, diabetes, gluten sensitivity or Celiac, heavy metal toxicity, autoimmune disorders, Lyme disease and medications. A little-known fact is that medications can mug your body of nutrients that would otherwise protect your nerves, so neuropathy pain can be a side effect. The list of drugs that can indirectly do this is in the hundreds, and some classic "offenders" include antacids, acid blockers, oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy, corticosteroids, statin cholesterol reducers, breast cancerdrugs and fluoroquinolone antibiotics. That last class of drugs, the fluoroquinolones (Cipro, Floxin, Avelox, Levaquin), has a fluoride backbone. Fluoride is known to harm the thyroid gland, reduce thyroid production and cause irreversible damage to the nervous system......................