Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., D.A.C.B.N., M.S.
One of the complications of diabetes is peripheral neuropathy.
Peripheral neuropathy is a result of nerve damage which often causes weakness, numbness and pain, usually in your hands and feet.
People generally describe the pain of peripheral neuropathy as tingling or burning as well as a loss of sensation compared to a feeling of wearing a thin stocking or glove.
Peripheral neuropathy is a serious disease of blood vessels that supply the nerves as well as the nerves themselves.
The most common drug prescribed for people suffering with diabetic related leg pain is Lyrica®.
But it comes with a huge price.
To be quite honest I have to wonder how this drug was ever approved.
One look at the PDR will get you wondering too.
Here is a punch-list of some of the recorded side effects:
- Has an unexpectedly high incidence of hemangio-sarcoma (which is a cancer of blood vessels).
- It raises your creatinine kinase (leads to kidney disease)
- Lowers your platelet count
- Causes changes in the EKG that can lead to heart block
- Causes weight gain
- Causes swelling of the ankles
- Can cause life-threatening angioedema (swelling of the throat and face inhibiting breathing).
- Causes retinal atrophy as well as corneal inflammation and calcification. (meaning you can go blind from it as it progresses to macular degeneration)
Can you believe that many of the above side effects are things that the diabetic patient is trying to avoid?
This drug just speeds up the likelihood that you will get the side effects a lot sooner.
To make matters worse any improvement the diabetic patient gets is short-lived and will commonly wear off after one year.
I simply don’t understand why the public is not be told about proven solutions provided by thousands of dedicated and respected researchers around the globe.
Yes, the research is overflowing with real non-drug answers to peripheral neuropathy. And the best part is, most if not all of these solutions are free of side effects.
Seldom will you hear about physicians specializing in diabetes seeking to identify the underlying cause of this disease.
In the thousands of medical records I have reviewed from patients suffering from diabetes rarely, if ever, have I seen any note of looking for the cause.
Just one look at the medical references below should be quite convincing for nutrients that have actually reversed diabetic neuropathy such as acetyl-L-carnitine, lipoic acid, vitamin E, etc..
Considering these medical studies are from the very journals of diabetic specialists, I have to wonder why a physician would prescribe Lyrica when they have not first measured and corrected something as simple as ALC (acetyl-L-carnitine) for nerve regeneration?
As shown below there is an abundant amount of evidence showing the power of doing a thorough investigation for nutrient deficiencies and diabetic neuropathy.
Sometimes the answer could also be as simple as fixing a vitamins B1 or B6 deficiency. It all depends on what the person is low in.
References:
Sima AA, et al, Acetyl-L-Carnitine Study Group, Acetyl-L-carnitine improves pain, nerve regeneration, and vibratory perception in patients with chronic diabetic neuropathy: an analysis of two randomized placebo-controlled trials, Diabetes Care 28; 1:89-94, Jan 2005
Quatraro A, et al, Acetyl L-carnitine for symptomatic diabetic neuropathy, Diabetologia 38:123, 1995
Scarpini E, et al, Effect of acetyl-L-carnitine in the treatment of painful peripheral neuropathy is in HIV-positive patients, J Peripher Nern Syst 2: 250-2, 1997
Zeigler D, et al, Alpha-lipoic acid in the treatment of diabetic peripheral and cardiac autonomic neuropathy, Diabetes 46 suppl. 2: s 62-6, 1997
Nakamura J, et al, Polyol pathway hyperactivity is closely related to carnitine deficiency in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy of streptozotocin-diabetic rats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther, 287:897-902, 1998
Tutuncu NB, et al, Reversal of defective nerve condition with vitamin E supplementation in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 21:1915-18, 1998
Fedele D, et al, Peripheral diabetic neuropathy. Current recommendations and future prospects for its prevention and management, Drugs 54:414-21. 1997
Ido Y, et al, Neural dysfunction and metabolic imbalances in diabetic rats. Prevention by acetyl-L-carnitine. Diabetes 43:1469-77, 1994
Onofrij M, et al, Acetyl-L-carnitine as a new therapeutic approach for peripheral neuropathies with pain, Mt J Clin Pharmacol Res 15:9-15, 1995
Lowitt S, et al, Acetyl-L-carnitine corrects the altered peripheral nerve function of experimental diabetes, Metab 44:677-80, 1995
DeGrandis D, et al, Acetyl-L-carnitine in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy. A long-term randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study, Drugs R D, 3: 223-31, 2002
Abbas ZG, et al, Evaluation of the efficacy of thiamine and pyridoxine in the treatment of symptomatic diabetic peripheral neuropathy, East African Med J, 74:803-8, 1997
Koutsikos D, et al, Biotin for diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Biotin may also reduce pain, Rimed Pharmacother 44:511-4, 1990
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