What Your Doctor Didn’t Tell You

Most doctors tell neuropathy patients that the cause of their neuropathy is unknown or Idiopathic. This is not accurate. Research has shown that there are many identifiable causes of peripheral neuropathy. When a doctor labels your neuropathy as Idiopathic, what they are actually saying is that THEY (your doctor) has not uncovered the cause of your neuropathy. There’s a big difference. Most doctors will also commonly tell you, “There’s nothing that can repair your damaged nerves, they are dead and, as a result, you just have to live with your pain.” Again, the latest research published in ‘The American Academy of Neurology’ clearly refutes this.

Contrary to what you are told by most doctors, there are many known causes of peripheral neuropathy. It is not a genetic or inherited disorder. This is what most doctors fail to disclose to you regarding your neuropathy.

Medications and Neuropathy

Many commonly prescribed medications are responsible for causing or worsening your peripheral neuropathy.

1 in 3 adults suffer from high blood pressure (hypertension); that’s approximately 68 million Americans. A survey published in the British Medical Journal found that 97% of patients taking blood pressure medications suffered from significant side effects, including peripheral neuropathy.

Also, widely published in research is the fact that cholesterol lowering medications (especially statin medications- Crestor,Zocor, Lipitor, etc.) have been linked with causing peripheral neuropathy.

Even drugs commonly prescribed to alleviate neuropathy pain and symptoms – like Neurontin (gabapentin), and Lyrica (pregabalin) have been found to actually worsen the neuropathy symptoms they were initially prescribed for. The reality is that these medication are not healing your nerves; they are merely masking your symptoms…and at a hefty price.

For most neuropathy sufferers, medications are usually the only form of treatment that they have tried, because their doctors are inaccurately leading them to believe that there are no other forms of treatment or solutions for their peripheral neuropathy.

,,For a full list of all medications associated with causing or worsening peripheral neuropathy look at Causes of Peripheral Neuropathy. You can also find detailed information on this topic in our book, “Defeat Neuropathy Now….In Spite of Your Doctor!”

Diabetes and Neuropathy

Our long-standing war on diabetes in the United States is turning into more of a massacre. It is a well-known fact that diabetes and peripheral neuropathy go hand-in-hand. What most people do not realize is that diabetes accounts for less than 1/3 of all peripheral neuropathy cases. 2/3 of neuropathy sufferers do not have diabetes, according to a 2009 study.

A study published by the Neuropathy Association revealed the following findings:

“Neuropathy is often misrepresented as only being diabetes-related. However, this survey demonstrates that for every diabetic neuropathy patient, there are at least six more patients suffering with other various forms of neuropathies.”

– Dr. Thomas H. Brannagan, III (medical advisor for the Neuropathy Association)

Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN)

Chemotherapy drugs do not differentiate between healthy and diseased cells when they attack, thereby destroying healthy cells along with the mutated cells.

Unfortunately, chemotherapy is hardest on the nervous system. Nerve cells are more sensitive than most other cells to these toxins and the neurotoxicity (toxin/poison to the nerve) is a major complication associated with the use of chemotherapeutic agents.

Nervous system damage might not always manifest immediately in chemotherapy patients. The onset of these symptoms is variable. Certain drugs might cause symptoms during or immediately after the first dose in some patients, while others might experience a delayed onset of symptoms up to several weeks, months, or even years after their last dose.

There have been several research studies released since 2005 showing the efficacy of preventing CIPN with the use of Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC), along with its ability to repair nerve damage caused by the neurotoxicity. This is one of the reasons that ALC is a large component of our formulation, “Neuro-Boost”.