New treatment for neuropathy, maybe

[Eddy Edson]

Novel Treatment Offers New Hope for Peripheral Neuropathy

Using principles of quantum mechanics and physics, a new therapeutic modality successfully treats painful peripheral neuropathy through improved blood flow and nerve regeneration.

www.medscape.com

In a little experimental study.

Combined electrochemical treatment (CET), a technique that uses local nerve blocks in conjunction with electric cell signaling, regenerates nerve fibers and significantly reduces pain for patients with peripheral neuropathy, early research suggests.

Five of six patients with objectively diagnosed painful peripheral neuropathy (PPN) who were treated with CET over a 6- to 12-week period experienced a 100% increase in nerve density. Pain scores were reduced by 90%, and the treatment was also associated with a 74% improvement in physical function.

"When I see patients with peripheral neuropathy, I tell them there are three treatments," study investigator and neurologist Peter M. Carney, MD, who is in private practice in Elkhart, Indiana, told Medscape Medical News.

Sounds good ... too good, maybe.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I really hope this comes to something.

Treatment options for neuropathic pain are currently pretty meagre from what I can tell.

 

[GPVictim]

I think personally that Combined Electro Chemical Treatment is being deliberately suppressed and sat on by the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry does NOT want a cure for neuropathy - or indeed anything. Almost every mucky drug they ever create is designed to just suppress or mask symptoms - Pregabalin, Gabapentin, Duloxetine and so on and so on. I was originally poisoned accidentally by my incompetent GP. She was treating a mild attack of gout and couldn't tell the difference between symptoms of gout and peripheral neuropathy. Her Colchicine started it and now diabetes is perpetuating it.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear that you have had a difficult time with your GP @GPVictim . It must have been very frustrating for you.

I can’t say I agree with your rather bleak assessment of the situation personally, but I can understand why you feel that way.

I think there is a distinct difference in the way approvals are given for technologies vs for medications, and it can give the impression that some things are being ‘sat on’, but I really don’t think that’s the case. I had first hand experience of this reticence when I was part of the campaign to get Libre available on prescription. During the campaign a respected HCP commented that if the same clinical trial data had been available for a tablet as were available for the device then approval would have been almost automatic - but the system isn‘t really geared up for the approval of devices.

The big pharma conspiracy idea that cures are being actively discouraged is again quite easy to buy into, but for me it slightly overlooks the things which various different pharmaceutical companies HAVE cured. And some medications are designed to alleviate symptoms, so I see that as them working properly.

Anyhow... welcome to the forum!

I hope you made use of the complaints procedure at your surgery to raise the issues you have experienced with them.

 

[GPVictim]

Thank you for your response. I did not make use of the complaints procedure because it would have involved switching surgeries, which is not easy. I accept I should not make sweeping generalisations on the forum, so let me just say that when entering my own GP's surgery she glances at me, asks me how I am (!) listens for about a minute and then swivels in her chair to look at her computer and says 'I've sent a prescription for xyz to the pharmacy'.

I saw a documentary by Dr Michael Moseley a couple of years ago. He entitled it, referring to himself, 'The GP Who Gave Up Drugs'. He visited various surgeries and managed to persuade them to consider alternatives to drugs - with some success.

A couple of points. You say that 'the idea that cures are being actively discouraged is again quite easy to buy into.' Just because something is easy to buy into doesn't always mean you shouldn't buy into it. A doctor I actually respect (rare) told me recently that CET has not yet been approved by the almighty NIHCE and thus is not available in the UK. Given that my GP actually started my neuropathy with an overdose of Colchicine, I looked on the NIHCE website and I noticed Colchicine has approval for up to six months' use. As you know, NIHCE guidelines are like the GPs' bible. I challenged NIHCE directly on this and they said 'We are not responsible for the content on our site'.

 

[Ally the ‘foot lady’]

I think personally that Combined Electro Chemical Treatment is being deliberately suppressed and sat on by the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry does NOT want a cure for neuropathy - or indeed anything. Almost every mucky drug they ever create is designed to just suppress or mask symptoms - Pregabalin, Gabapentin, Duloxetine and so on and so on. I was originally poisoned accidentally by my incompetent GP. She was treating a mild attack of gout and couldn't tell the difference between symptoms of gout and peripheral neuropathy. Her Colchicine started it and now diabetes is perpetuating it.

 

[mikeyB]

Thank you for your response. I did not make use of the complaints procedure because it would have involved switching surgeries, which is not easy. I accept I should not make sweeping generalisations on the forum, so let me just say that when entering my own GP's surgery she glances at me, asks me how I am (!) listens for about a minute and then swivels in her chair to look at her computer and says 'I've sent a prescription for xyz to the pharmacy'.

I saw a documentary by Dr Michael Moseley a couple of years ago. He entitled it, referring to himself, 'The GP Who Gave Up Drugs'. He visited various surgeries and managed to persuade them to consider alternatives to drugs - with some success.

A couple of points. You say that 'the idea that cures are being actively discouraged is again quite easy to buy into.' Just because something is easy to buy into doesn't always mean you shouldn't buy into it. A doctor I actually respect (rare) told me recently that CET has not yet been approved by the almighty NIHCE and thus is not available in the UK. Given that my GP actually started my neuropathy with an overdose of Colchicine, I looked on the NIHCE website and I noticed Colchicine has approval for up to six months' use. As you know, NIHCE guidelines are like the GPs' bible. I challenged NIHCE directly on this and they said 'We are not responsible for the content on our site'.

You seem to be implying that Colchicine started your neuropathy. Neuropathy is not a side effect of Colchicine. It can be an effect of not ideal control of diabetes, so I think your efforts of blaming doctors and Big Pharma for all your problems would be better addressed at who caused your diabetes. Family?

And NICE cannot, quite rightly, approve medications or treatments without proof of effectiveness, which naturally is not exactly rapid. So currently, GPs can only prescribe drugs and treatments which are known to help in many cases. The NICE advice contains nothing about restricting it to 6 months use, so I don't know where you got that idea from. Mind you, it's only used in short bursts in acute gout.

 

[GPVictim]

You are wrong. And 'family' does not cause Type 2 Diabetes. Unless of course you know better than my consultant neurologist and consultant rheumatologist and The Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy. Both consultants agree that my PN WAS cause by too much Colchicine. Yes peripheral neuropathy can a side effect of Colchicine, particularly if the stupid GP continues to treat the side effects of that drug, while assuming she's still trying to relieve the gout! I suggest you look up 'drugs that can cause peripheral neuropathy'. Many anti-cancer drugs can cause it and so can Colchicine.

NIHCE publishes guidelines on their website. GPs rely on these guidelines to treat patients. When I studied the NIHCE guidelines about a year ago they clearly stated Colchicine could be used for up to six months. When I challenged this, they said 'We are not responsible for what is on our website'. The consultant rheumatologist said he would never use Colchicine for more than 10 days continuously. He was the one who told me excess Colchicine had caused my PN.

And finally, it's well known that drugs companies 'court' GPs. They are one of their principal sources of revenue - if doctors don't prescribe, the drugs companies don't earn.

 

[mikeyB]

Of course family can cause your diabetes. If you have a family history of Type 2, then you are more at risk of developing it. So can lifestyle, obesity. The other point I would make is that peripheral neuropathy, of whatever cause, usually improves if that cause is removed.

And for sure, I would question your source as a reliable arbiter as to which drugs can cause peripheral neuropathy. I note chloroquine was listed, another drug which like colchicine is pretty toxic in overdose. Again, that is not listed under NICE or BNF as causing peripheral neuropathy.

And finally, your history suggests that you went to the GP with symptoms of what is now diagnosed as neuropathy before any treatment with colchicine was started. If that is not the case, then I apologise for my confusion.

 

[GPVictim]

This is incredible! I don't really understand why you're getting so involved and I'm getting pretty angry at you questioning my sources. Let's get this clear. Colchicine initiated my PN and now raised blood sugar is probably continuing it. I say 'raised blood sugar' rather than diabetes because my last HbaC1 reading was 45. I'm not obese or overweight, I have no family history of diabetes, have a very good diet and I exercise reasonably.

So you would question the views of a neurologist, a rheumatologist and The Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy as to the fact that Colchicine can cause PN??? Unbelievable.

Are you in fact a consultant? Do you work for a pharmaceutical company and therefore have a vested interest? What's your interest in my personal suffering and the fact that I am a victim of a bloody incompetent GP!?

As you are so mysteriously interested, this is what happened. I went to the GP. She rightly diagnosed Gout (in fact it was my first case and quite mild). She prescribed Colchicine 2 to 3 tablets a day ongoing, plus also Allopurinol. After a while I kept reporting to her that the symptoms had changed to a burning sensation and prickling pins and needles in both feet rather than just the big toe. She said 'This is odd, most of my patients respond within a couple of weeks'. But she told me to keep taking both the colchicine and the allopurinol. This went on for almost four months when I decided to see a consultant rheumatologist. He examined me and ordered me to immediately stop the colchicine because it WAS CAUSING PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY. That was confirmed with a Nerve Conduction Survey. This was in 2019. Eventually the PN subsided a bit but then started again. Both the consultant rheumatologist and a consultant neurologist confirmed that almost certainly the PN had been caused by colchicine but now it was probably being perpetuated by high blood sugar. But they agreed that without the colchicine I'd probably be alright now - and I wouldn't be wasting time talking to you.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

There do seem to be a few case studies of treatment of gout later giving rise to neuropathy thought to have colchicine as a contributing factor in the literature - Unlike @mikeyB I’m not medically qualified, and I’m not sufficiently knowledgeable to be able to suggest whether the link is currently understood to be causal, but it appears to be rare, sometimes involve high doses, and some sort of renal dysfunction seems to be associated in several cases.

Colchicine myopathy and neuropathy - PubMed

Although colchicine has been used for centuries, its neuromuscular toxicity in humans is largely unrecognized. In this report we describe a characteristic syndrome of myopathy and neuropathy and present 12 new cases of the condition. Colchicine myopathy may occur in patients with gout who take...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

I am surprised that you got the impression NICE said they were not responsible for the contents of their website. NICE guidelines are carefully put together by Guideline Development Groups comprising consultants, GPs, Drs, nurses, pharmacists, lay members, health economists, statisticians and scientific researchers and others who review all the available clinical evidence in order to answer specific questions which form the scope of the guidance. The whole process follows a published protocol.

While NICE facilitate the process it is the members of the development group who create the guidance (perhaps that was what the person meant?)... but it ultimately is NICE who publish the documents

I am not sure this thread is serving any useful purpose, plus I’m not sure the discussion can helpfully reach any conclusions about the original topic, nor about the specifics of your case @GPVictim, since we can’t possibly know who said what to whom, so I’m going to close the thread.