I cured my serious neuropathy completely in 2003

Diabetes Complications and other Conditions Feet
1

My neuropathy came on in 8 days on an antibiotic called Cipro of the fluoroquinolone class.

I used all kinds of supplements once a day and that did not help for 3 months. The drug gabapentin they put you on does not help, but gives such bad side effects that it makes you worse.

The answer is to take a lot of supplements once a day...I will list them, and then take your own injections of B vitamins....you can easily do it as anyone who injects insulin knows how to do injections into subcutaneous fat.

I improved 50% in just two weeks, after having been in extreme pain all over my body for 12 weeks...I had felt that suicide might be necessary....it was like having a tooth ache all over the body...feet, hands, skin on back, around the stomach, the legs....that was 2002.

I researched on the Internet, as my boyfriend had come to look after me. The gabapentin made my blood pressure go down to 80/50 and it did not reduce the pain at all. So when the 60 capsules were finished, I asked for Tylenol 3 and did more research, on the Internet, and with 3 books. I was taking a lot of supplements once a day, but that did not help.

Then I asked my GP for 3 vials of 30ml B vitamins as he uses them in his clinic, so he gets large vials.

1=Methylcobalamin B12

2=B6

3=Bcomplex =B1,B2,B3,B5,B6

then I added in oral folic acid, Biotin....etc

I am not putting all the details now because I have to remember it all. I've had a couple of hard drive crashes.

What I suggest is that anyone can find a practitioner who does "chelation therapy" and you go ask them if they will sell you the three vials from their stocks. I only needed 4 months of injections and when I finished the B12, I just bought one more B12 and carried on for a full 1 year and 5 weeks, which is what time it took to finish 4 vials of 30ml.

Even though I had already been cured for many months, I knew the B vitamins were good for me, so I would not throw them out.

I then went off supplements for three years to see if the neuropathy would come back, and it didn't, but my mood is always better when taking B vitamins, so I even have 2 vials on the go now, that will end up lasting me over a year at a cost of just $75 for both of them.

I currently can get a "B complex forte" version that has more B6 in it and a better balance of the 5 Bs, so that is simpler than 3 vials. However, a chelation practitioner may not regularly buy the "forte version" of B complex, so I will suggest the plan I used in 2002, that I figured out on my own.

So that is what this "Discussion" will be for....to indicate the whole collection of supplements that can cure neuropathy.

Naturally, keeping blood sugar levels under 10 also is important, but even if I currently go over 30, I still don't get back the neuropathy...except there were 2 days, when I was under extreme stress of a flood in my home, and I had to use juice boxes as I had nothing else to fend off lows from extreme exercise bailing water. So that was so unusual Aug 20-21 2009, that I don't consider it a true return of neuropathy. I so rarely drink juices. The 200ml boxes are in the fridge for extreme reactions.

The way to look up a chelation practitioner is to go to the www.ACAM.org web site and enter your postal code etc. to find one who is also an MD.

Also, there are likely many NDs that do chelation, so just enter into google "chelation therapy" and your location, and find one near you.

Given that I improved 50% in 2 weeks....you should try it....who is interested? I've almost forgotten what it was like, given that was 2003.

Let's say the 3 vials of 30ml are about $30 each and you get another later of B12...then the $120 will last you over a year, so a cost of $10 a month should not be scary, and most of you already take insulin by subcutaneous injection, so why not B vitamins? I can assure you that your MOOD will improve too and also your blood sugar management improves, although I can't say exactly why. I tried a new C-peptide test to see if it increases my own production, but that was false, it actually is so low it is oinly 14. So while B vitamins help me take less insulin, I can't say what the exact mechanism of action is, although I know B vitamins are used in the metabolism of food.

If you choose to use B vitamins orally, then still use the B supplements 3x day, because I say I did not improve at all with once a day. Also B vitamins require friendly bacteria in the intestines and intrinsic factor in the gut for absorption, so that is why I decided the injection manner would be more effective and it sure did work. I was taking just a mix of 20u, but 5x a day....for the 2 weeks.

Then when I saw it was working, I did just 3x a day injections every 8 hours. This was all based on a study I found that said that 80% of B vitamins were gone from the blood within 8 hours, so I decided OK that means 3x a day injections....but I'll try it more frequently first, to see how it works....so I settled on a mix of 20u every 4 hours while awake, but slept 8 hours.

So, people with neuropathy, how about you try it? Just add in the 20u 5x a day injections for 2 weeks and see how it goes....it is not a waste of your money because I can say that everyone says it improves mood too. I notice that and so do others whom I have helped.

You won't find a place to buy small 10ml vials of B vitamins, except B12 and B6. I can guaranatee that only taking B12 by injection is not enough...also it has to be methylcobalamin, not the cheaper cyanocobalamin. The liver would have to be counted on to change the cyano into methyl and I decided it was worth just getting the fully active form of B12.

So, I've given you enough information to go on. I'm not selling anything. I'll just wait to see how many people try it and improve....if you don't try, you'll never find out.

I'll answer any questions gladly, in this forum, so everyone can see the questions and answers.

If you don't try, you'll be missing out.

I could ALSO ASK...are there any others who have already tried it, by injection? I don't mean just B12...I mean a mix of all the Bs and even 3x a day of oral folic acid?

I am fairly certain, the reason I did so well was that I also continued the Vit C in high doses, the magnesium and other supplements is regular doses. In other words a single supplement will not cure anyone....it takes a wide variety, so it does take more than just the B vitamins by injection.

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Naturally, I checked all the safety issues. A,D,E, K are the fat soluble vitamins and they were all within easy safety limits. The B6 issue, that you will read about, was very small at 2.5mg per injection so even at 5x a day that is 12.5mg and that is far below the concern of 500mg or even 200mg total per day. That was one of the reasons I chose to do the therapy via injection as opposed to via oral supplements where more is taken due to the problem of absorption difficulties. That is referring to only the B6.

As we know, even standard conventional medicine routinely injects a whole 1cc of B12 at one time. In my opinion that is not as effective as much smaller amounts more consistently to ensure that less is wasted down the toilet. As one study said that 80% is gone within 8 hours, that is why I decided on 3x a day and decided to call it “room service for the nerves.”

I knew about the Tylenol concerns and so I kept my amounts as low as possible from Oct 2002 to Jan 2003 and then did not need to renew the prescription. I would resort to Tylenol 1 if needed. I do not feel any benefit in taking Tylenol. I did not detect that it gives any feeling of being an “upper” like maybe other pain medications like Valium, which I have had just once in my life, so I do know what that feels like, as it was given in a hospital.

If people want to instead take pain medications for the rest of their life, I guess that is the standard conventional medicine approach, but it was not going to be my choice for life. When I set out doing my research, I had no idea what the outcome would be.

I still say it is worth each person with neuropathy trying it. If a person has had the problem for many years, possibly it may take longer to reverse, but it still is worth trying it. And above all, remember that nerves hurt MORE when they are regenerating, which is one concept that people find very hard to understand and I think that is precisely why so many people stop everything that starts to be effective…see the problem in that? That is also why it is so important to do the 5x a day routine, even though more trouble, because it brings a quicker solution. I was in a hurry, as anyone would want the pain to stop ASAP.

As soon as you notice an improvement, you then know that it is just time that is required. Also, keep blood sugar levels down, as anyone who has neuropathy can readily attest to the fact that pain is higher if the blood sugar level goes very high.

Also, I had made a batch of red wine in the spring of 2009, and had literally had 375 ml about 5 nights a week prior to the one incident when I had the flood. That was a co-incidence, but I would say that my B vitamin levels were likely compromised. I did not have B vials on the go at that time, until Oct 2009, when I decided to start again. So, every which way you look at it, the B vitamins help, and alcohol is a detriment. As we should all know from our reading that the liver stores B vitamins, among it various jobs, and alcohol does not help. My GGT level is actually 14, so I do not have a liver problem. I can also say that it is vitamin C calcium ascorbate taking that has kept my liver healthy.

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Janina, that is a remarkable message. You created your own cure. I would have been very hesitant for the reason pointed out by mistressbinky. High dosages of certain vitamins can be harmful. I know you were desperate, and I am sure you researched the vitamins you used. I am so happy for you that it has worked so well! I am going to start another discussion and talk about another use for vitamin B.

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Thanks for this information. VERY interesting.

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Very Interesting Janina. I have also been dealing with Peripheral Neuropathy since I took Levaquin over a year ago. You mentioned that you purchased 3 vials of 30ml B vitamins as he uses them in his clinic
1=Methylcobalamin B12
2=B6
3=Bcomplex =B1,B2,B3,B5,B6
I am assuming that you meant that these B Vitamins above you mentioned are all in separate vials?
You mentioned 2.5mg of B6 per injection 5X A day

How much B12 where you injecting daily? And at how many times a day?
How much B Complex (Bcomplex =B1,B2,B3,B5,B6) where you injecting daily? And at how many times a day?
Where you injecting all of these Vitamins in the same needle (All of these vitamins together with 1 shot into your blood stream)?

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Hi RW....If you join TuDiab and have your "page" filled out more, people can check there to see more medical details of your situation which I did in order to see how long you've been diabetic and what type of D you have etc.....but it's not there. But anyway I will answer here.....

I just took another injection this morning. And I took one last night before going to bed. The injection is into fat, but eventually gets to the blood stream, as it does with our insulin injections.

10u MethylB12 + 5u B complex +5u B6 =20u total but after inverting it many times so it is well mixed, I inject half in one location and pull it out and inject the other half in another location. I have just started doing that splitting of location so less goes into each location, recently.

The best solution is to do so 3x a day evenly spaced, but if you work, then inject in the morning, take a B50 capsule at lunch while at work, and inject on arriving home and then inject before bed. Two of these vials need to be kept in the fridge, but the B12 can be kept completely covered, in the dark at room temperature because if it were also in the fridge, you would find the coldness of the injection very hard to bear and I have not even tried that. The B12 will say on the bottle to keep in the fridge, but I can't be bothered with that as I learned it is fairly stable at room temp and I could not bear the idea of the stinging of the large injections....BUT I am now planning a new approach with my next set, as I have decided on the splitting of location for the injections.

So you are the FIRST person I have mentioned this to as I am deciding as I write this....I will do equal amounts of each vial 5u+5u+5u=15u, but inject into two locations 7u+ each place, as per the DrB suggestion of "rule of small numbers" where he says no more than 7u injected in one location even though multiple injections may be done at the same time, one after the other. It will NOT take a mixing of more than one shot, but just an injection and push the plunger half way and pull out and inject elsewhere and push the rest in...simple.

My rationale in 2002 had been B12 at room temp would warm up the cold other two and make the 20u injection easier to bear. It worked, but the B12 runs out before the other two, so I usually get another B12 when one runs out.

But as I do not use the the injections as frequently, these days, as I am using them for general health and to boost my red blood cell count which is working. I also get Bvits in my MultiVitMin.

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Thanks Janina.

Very Interesting. Sorry I am new to this website. My blood tests have came back that I am not a diabetic. Like you, I took 10 days of Levaquin (which is in the Cipro family) over a year ago and developed painful Peripheral Neuropathy since. I was fascinated by your post and wanted to try it to see it will help me as it as helped you. My blood work came back negative.

Do you know which kind of needle will show me the "u" measurement when i draw out the vitamins out of the vial so that I can measure the 15u you are referring to?

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Just ask the pharmacy for the same syringes diabetics use.

The "u" is just MY short form for units. I've used it for years.

The syringes come with markings and each unit is what is on the side of the syringes based on 100 units per ml and insulin often came in 10ml vials until they started using pens with 300u cartridges, but that is unnecessary for you to worry about. The 10ml vials are still around.

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To RW
The problem with any antibiotic taking is that it kills friendly bacteria that B6 needs to be absorbed through the friendly bacteria in the intestines. So please try plenty of yogurt of the plain type as the fruit in yogurt is more like jam. You need more friendly bacteria in you. So, if you want to get a B50 capsule and skip the injections do the capsules 3x a day. You might get better quite fast, but even if you do order the vials from a compounding pharmacy, as I don't recommend use of cyanocobalamin to anyone as cyanide is dropped off when the body translates it into the human methyl form.

So, a short plan might be plenty of yogurt for re establishment of the friendly bacteria and then take B50 3x a day. You might be better then in two months and the cost of 180 or 210 capsules of B50 can be quite inexpensive at around $15 and 180 would last two months at 3 per day. But don't forget to get a high quality MultiVitMin to take twice a day and that would cost about $34 a month, but the brand I have tried that is excellent has a serious downfall if having titanium dioxide on each of the 14 capsules a day to take and I developed an itchy feeling and searched and found someone else found that and was told to spill out the contents, so I do that, but the taste is so terrible that I can't be bothered. I have various types of MultiVitMins on the go so I use one when I can hide it in tomato sauce and another when I am not eating food I can do that with. I did give my recommendation to the Swanson vitamin shop and they ignored my suggestion as I BET they did not wish to place my comment as it would reduce buyers. I simply suggested they use a clear gelatin capsule instead of a capsule painted with white pain just so they could put their initials on it. So instead the Dr Julian Whitaker's Forward Plus Box of capsules and a gel oil capsule in nice packets to take twice a day is far superior.

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To RW again
If you try the short oral approach first for 2 months and if it doesn't work then try the injections, but still take all the others. Life is not simple. And if you fed a child would you say. "for simplicity I will feed you just one thing to eat and once a day," do you think the child would thrive or get sicker? So the nerves are poor little children who do need a varied diet. But I do understand the need for simplicity for the person who has to do the purchasing and taking etc. But remember 80% of water soluble Bvits are gone within 8 hours so to feed the nerves once a day will mean it will take a whole year. So I am serious when I say it requires multiple overlapping doses of 3x a day. That is why supplements are taken twice a day for people who are not sick. They strike a balance for simplicity as people who work do not want to bother at lunch. But if you plan to use Bvits in any way just once a day, it will take a whole year to see improvement in neuropathy and that way people will begin to say it happened on it's own and forget the association with the Bvits. Oh I have heard all sorts of objections as some people even my own mother before she died in 1992, said she was healthy and got enough in what she ate...oh how wrong she was. She died super skinny and of a congestive heart attack, at granted a late age of 78, but she could have lived 20 years longer. She was a very light smoker. But she was my first objector to the idea of supplements and she lost out. I have used supplements for about 32 years.

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My mother died 20 years ago, but I was focused on computers mostly in the 1990s and then met a very good doctor in 2000 and decided to help him a lot as his PR person because I appreciated his alternative medicine approach that I was already familiar with as I believe in orthomolecular medicine.

He is the doctor I got the B vitamin vials from in 2002. I was focusing on him as heart disease is a huge problem and that is a major part of his practice and he also has lots of diabetics as patients as they are prone to heart disease. So all in all I was taking it on as a mission in honour of my mother, but more because I so much like a naturopathic approach to medicine.

So B vitamins are for everyone, even if you're not a diabetic. As everyone has a high chance of dying from heart disease if you don't die from something else first.

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Wow! You certainly are incredibly knowledgeable. I am sure your Mom would be extremely proud of you and your accomplishments. As well as trying to genuinely help people.

I have done a slew of things over the past year such as B-12 Injections are have tried all kinds of supplements such as high doses of Alpha Lipoic Acid, Acytel L Carnitine. Selenium, Vitamin C, Vitamin D. Diets such as going Gluten free, Dairy Free, and Sugar Free. Unfortunately, nothing has really worked.

I have been on and off Vitamin B Complex but have never taken it like you are recommending. I know all vitamins are not created equal. Research has shown me that some Vitamins are actually made from GMO's or high

Are you recommending that all I should be taking right now is B50 capsules 3 times a day? Should I also be adding in separate B-12 Vitamins and B6 Vitamins?

Do you recommend taking Dr Julian Whitaker's for all Vitamins such as the B50?

I really want to beat this Neuropathy. I never want to give up.

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Hello Janina, my doctor (internist) has prescribed a new medication for my neuropathy. it is called Metanx. It is not intended to help with pain, but it is supposed to help repair nerve damage and get at the root of the problem. There is a discussion on diabetesdaily.com with Metanx as the title. Scott Johnson, a type 1 diabetic himself, is working with the company, Pam Lab (Pamlab?), that makes this medication. I participated in a Google+ discussion that Scott put together, and a representative from Pamlab was on the panel. It was very interesting. I have not started taking the med because my insurance does not cover it, but I do want to give it a try. Have you heard of the med?

My neurologist has no confidence in any med that claims to repair nerve damage. That is one reason I have hesitated to give Metanx a try. My internist says it is a new med and I should give it a try, and that we should not assume it will not be effective. What do you think?

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All help in knowing where to purchase is GREATLY appreciated. We live in Ecuador and need some help in finding a place to purchase these items:
1=Methylcobalamin B12
2=B6
3=Bcomplex =B1,B2,B3,B5,B6

We will then ship them to a friend and have them brought over to us.

Thanks!

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Hello Janina
I loved reading your story. I was just diagnosed with Neuropothy and it is horrible. My hands are numb with pins and needles, legs, feet, tummy and back. I can only walk with walker now. Difficult time showering, dressing, cooking and can not do house work. I also feel very weak no strength in my arms and if not careful when walking I will fall. Just a couple of months ago I was fine. I want this gone I do not have a normal life anymore and the Doctors keep giving me medications that dont work. I would like to try what you did but I was a little confusing.
Is this right:
5u of Methylcobalamin B12
5u of B6
5u of BComplex B1 B2 B3 B5 B6
Mixed together in a syringe and take 5x a day for 2 weeks and then 3x a day after

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Hi Debra!

I hope you do not mind my jumping in on this conversation.

I think the neuropathy that Janine initially described was due to a side effect of drugs called fluoroquinolines (e.g. A name brand is Cipro) which is an a type of antibiotic. This drug now has a black box warning as required by the FDA.

Is your neuropathy due to this type of antibiotic or diabetes? If diabetes, controlling your blood sugar is most likely the best place you can start. If you suspect vitamin deficiencies, you can ask your doctor to run some lab tests to confirm.

2 Likes
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Thanks for responding. No it is not due to medication. Iwas diagnosed with borderline diabetes at the hospital and put on Metformine but my pcp took me off medication and stated that I am not diabetic I do not know why or what caused Neuropathy but it is affecting my whole life in just a couple of months cant live like this
Debra

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Have you been tested for autoimmune disorders?

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Very definitely Metformin is a prime cause of neuropathy. So thank God you have a smart doctor to take you off the damned metformine. It drives down B12 levels and if you were on a higher quality Multi Vitamin Mineral than the useless store brand that gets a 0.5/5 star rating she was able to get rid of the neuropathy in under three months.

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You are very definitely misguided by anyone who tells you it was not due to medication as medications are indeed a prime cause of neuropathy. I got my case in 2002 by just taking 8 days of an antibiotic and I solved it by the end of 6 months and have had no problem at all since 2003.

Doctors are inclined to say it was not a medication if they feel they need to protect themselves from being sued for having put the person on that drug. If you do any research on the Internet you can easily find that drugs very definitely DO cause neuropathy. That does not mean that all people on that drug will get neuropathy and the drug manufacturers do not with to withdraw the drugs from the market so they are very unlikely to agree that drugs are a cause, but they definitely DO cause some cases. I know as I have helped more people who got neuropathy while not even being diabetic but they had taken the fluoroquinolone antibiotics. So that defies the concept that high blood sugars are the cause as the people were not even diabetic. Cipro, short for Ciprofloxacin, Avelox and Levaquin are part of the class called fluoroquinolone Antibioticss and sold in Canada and there are others in the USA in that class. There are even web sites which talk of this and they call it being floxed. The solution is NOT ever to accept being put on an antiepileptic medication as that does not help at all and would only perpetuate the problem and make you adapt to the drug and then not be able to come off it without extreme withdrawal syndromes that are even worse than neuropathy. I know as a man I helped complained no end of those withdrawal syndromes of sleeplessness, sweating and intense itching.