Peripheral neuropathy

poppets3

Im a newbe on this site so here goes  I am 68 yrs old and for the past three years have suffered with various body pains, worse over time.  ( Pain and sorness at base of spine, dreadful  headaches,  pins needles, mainly on soles of my feet but could occure anywhere, also a mild shivering feeling when i touch any part of my body also when i dress and undress.The worst is on my scalp,  occures nunerouse times a day  proceeds either down my armsand  legs. I beleive its all coming from my spine but Drs beleive its all in the mind! They diagnosed it as Perepheral Nuropathy?  I was prescribed antidepressants 18mths ago  Symptoms never leave me, its relentless.  I am normally a very positive person, full of life but of course that has changed. . I go out most days even at its worse..As i live on my own i find it soooo much harder to cope with.the condition. Have tried avery allternative treatment but nothing works including meditation..  Best to u all.. 
Liz 

Ami2301

Hi @poppets3 welcome to the community! I have peripheral neuropathy and mine stems from my Vitamin B12 Deficiency, have you had any blood tests to out rule any vitamin deficiencies? Unfortunately, we are not medical professionals therefore we cannot advise but by sharing each others experiences, this may help in some way

EmmaB

Hi @poppets3

I'm sorry to hear you are in pain, it can be such a limiting experience but I find it's also quite an interesting phenomena. 

There are a couple of books you might find interesting/useful.  I know you have said you have tried meditation and it hasn't helped but the introduction of the following book is really interesting in terms of explaining about how pain works:

Mindfulness for Health: A practical guide to relieving pain, reducing stress and restoring wellbeing Kindle Edition

by Vidyamala Burch  (Author), Danny Penman (Author)

You mention how the drs feel the origin of your pain is in the mind - this doesn't mean your pain isn't real but rather that there's no organic cause that they can find.  The link between the body and mind is also very interesting [well I think so anyway!] and the state of mind does have a significant impact on the wellbeing of the body, there are several books about this eg:

The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma Kindle Edition

by Bessel van der Kolk
 

It's All in Your Head: Stories from the Frontline of Psychosomatic Illness Kindle Edition

by Suzanne O'Sullivan 

It's important to say again that pain that 'stems' from the mind is still real pain, but understanding how the body and mind works can help to tackle it more effectively.

It might be that if you can learn more about pain it may help, I hope it does.

Best wishes.

Emma

poppets3

Hi Emma, Many thanks for the information.  I will look into it