Hello all,

I'm new here. I've had PN since April and don't know exactly what
caused it. I was in the hospital when it started - I had hurt my
back and then gotten pneumonia. While I was in the hospital I got a
urinary tract infection that was left untreated for about a week.
Right after that infection was taken care of, my toes started to feel
numb. They didn't hurt at that point, just the weird numbness.
Since then it's gottten much worse, they're numb and hurt all the
time. I'm taking 300mg of Neurontin 6x day, plus Indomethcin 50mg 3x
day and Amitriptyline at night. For awhile there I couldn't sleep at
all, as soon as 5:00pm came along, my feet would go crazy with pins,
needles, knives, burning shards of glass, etc. - you all know what
I'm talking about. I'd be up all night pacing, or trying to get into
some position where I could at least doze off for 15 minutes or so.
Right now I can't wear shoes, slippers, socks, anything on my feet
for more than 30 minutes or so. If I do, I'm practically crippled
for the following 3 days.

Oh, another thing that happened during that time period: For the
last 4 years my hearing has been getting worse and worse. I wasn't
hearing less, it was more that everything was amplified, ie, the
clock ticking on the wall and the cars driving by outside were just
as loud as the person sitting in front of me talking. I had just
gotten some very high level hearing aids in November 2003. In
February 2004, while I was laying at home with the injured back, one
day I heard this real faint "pop, pop, pop, pop, pop" - and then I
couldn't hear anymore, at all. I thought it was the batteries in the
hearing aid but I switched them 4 or 5 times and - nothing. I
haven't been able to hear anything since that day. And now,
sometimes, I feel that same "pop, pop, pop, pop, pop" in my feet.
It's always 5 times, real quick. I don't know if these events are in
any way related and neither do my doctors.

A few weeks ago I purchased the ReBuilder gadget
(www.rebuildermedical.com). The first time I tried it on the balls
of my feet - the next moring was the first time my toes didn't hurt
upon waking. I've used it pretty much every night since then, and
sometimes twice a day. I don't know if it's really curing anything,
but sometimes my feet do feel better after I've used it. I'm still
in my 90 day trial period and don't know if I'm going to keep it yet
or not. Have any of you tried it, or anything like it?

Anyway, I'm glad to be here and talk to others with this thing, it's
so hard to describe to someone who hasn't experienced it.

Thanks!

Gail