I am 66 and have had diabetic neuropathy for about 15 years now. I have tried Lyrica and other medicines, but the results were modest at best. Lyrica has the annoying side effect of making me dizzy and causing me to stagger. On very bad days, I borrowed (or bought illegally) Oxycontin, which covered the pain by simply masking it. The best treatment, and the one I use again after a couple of years of trying everything else, is high dosages of EPO (evening primrose oil). I usually take 15 (1,300mg) capsules. There are no side effects. The herb simply seems to soothe the damaged nerves better than anything else, even Oxycontin. The cost is negligible, too. I have recently discovered that Queen Elizabeth took a large draught of EPO every evening, as it was considered to be the "Royal Herb." My daily costs for my dosage are about $0.34. I have been on EPO for at least eight of the last 15 years. Incidentally, I am able to work full time as a product development engineer. Despite the severity of the neuropathy, I lead a full, rich life. I am able to walk and get a good night's sleep. I am not addicted to anything, nor do I plan to be. Warning: Be aware that most doctors are not equipped to treat diabetic foot sores. Go to a foot-wound specialist. Over the years, I developed one wound that took a long time to heal, and it was incompetence that made it so. I have no doubt that anyone trying EPO will be helped immensely. Start off slow (four capsules per day), then increase the level to 14 to 15 per day. You will see relief within a week, not immediately.

I use Lyrica. I am very fortunate to be able to afford it, but only because my insurance covers it. It is the only thing that has helped with my neuropathy pain. I have the "millions of bee stings" feeling in my feet all of the time, which sometimes goes to my knees. If not for the Lyrica (and I tried other treatments), I would have gone nuts by now. I have been diagnosed with diabetes since I was 19; I am now 47. The problem is my diabetes has been under control. I hate it when people believe my neuropathy was because of ill-control. My doctor says it just happens sometimes. I'm now starting to have weak muscles in my legs; which I am told is because of the neuropathy. I look at it as, "At least it's not cancer." I keep on keepin' on. I love the outdoors and have had to change my ways of doing things, but I still do them!

I'm a 36-year-old woman who found out that I was diabetic about five years ago. For about eight years now, I've been in the worst pain ever in my life. I was having problems with both of my feet being numb before I found out what was a matter with me, that it was diabetic neuropathy. I take Lyrica and Percocet, and still that has no effect on my feet. People think I'm crazy when I say my feet are numb but, they hurt so bad I can't stand it. I also just got both of my big toes amputated at the beginning of the year, so pay close attention to your feet. It still feels as if they are still there, too.

A diabetic since 1997, I rapidly developed neuropathy even though my glucose levels were under control. At first, Neurontin helped considerably but that soon became useless. Then along came Lyrica, a drug with no generic equivalent. As a veteran I get my prescriptions at the VA but being non-service connected, I have to have private insurance, which the VA bills for compensation. AETNA refuses to cover Lyrica as it's too expensive and will only allow me half the dosage of Neurontin my physician wants me to have. So I'm stuck with no relief and as a result my quality of life is diminished. I suffer from sleep deprivation and constant pain. My doctor is well aware of this, but his hands are tied as he can prescribe anything I need, but insurance decides what I can have.

I have had type 2 diabetes for 12 years. I started using capsaicin topical analgesic cream and vitamin B-6 and E to ease the pain of neuropathy. It worked for a while. Then when the neuropathy worsened, I was given Pamelor. The side effects were so bad, I almost died. Then I was given 300 mg of gabapentin, three times a day. Nothing happened. The neuropathy got worse. They increased the gabapentin to the maximum dose. It still did not work on the pain. So they dropped the dose back to 600 mg, twice a day. I continue to take it, but it does nothing for my pain. I have to take two caplets of non-aspirin pain reliever PM just to try to sleep at night. Sometimes I am up all hours of the night rubbing capascin cream on my feet to stop the pain. My doctor then put me on propoxyphene N 100/APAP 650 mg tabs. Unless I take this before the pain starts, it does not help. Now I am getting the neuropathy in my hands and was prescribed naproxen 500 mg tabs, which is not helping a great deal. My hands are getting stiff, and I do not have much feeling in my fingers. I am going back to the doctor to see if there is anything else I can try. During the course of all this, I damaged my right ankle. I hope there is something I can get from the Veterans Administration for this pain. I do not look forward to bedtime, because I know I will be up in pain. I was told today at the foot doctor that there is a new treatment involving blue laser light. I will find out soon if it might help and what it is exactly.