Lupus is an autoimmune disease. Lupus is an incorrect autoimmune response attacking its own tissue and resulting in nerve damage or neuropathy.
What exactly is Neuropathy from Lupus
What is really Needed so that Nerves Don’t hurt
When nerves are healthy, sensory nerves (such as those in your fingers and toes) communicate well to the environment and receive messages clearly. There is no tingling, no numbness, no burning, and no pain in the feet, hands or anywhere else.
Healthy motor nerves communicate to the muscles so that they move on demand. They relay the commands sent to the muscles from the brain. There is no unsteadiness, or being unbalanced, no dropped foot. There is no muscle weakness.
When a nerve is healthy, it has a myelin sheath surrounding it. This covering protects the nerve and just like a wire with a protective coating, it will not short circuit or create any uncomfortable feelings such as tingling, burning or pain.
What does the body need to build healthy nerves?
The body needs specific nutrients (vitamins) that will nourish the nerves and create health in each individual nerve. This, of course, will build a healthy nervous system. It helps to supplement these B vitamins as it is difficult to get enough of these vitamins in food, especially if your nervous system health is fading.
B1 (thiamine) Besides being important for energy production, cardiovascular function, brain function, eye health and proper functioning of the muscles and all body cells, It is necessary for nerve function.
B1 is used in the development of myelin sheaths: Myelin sheaths are the protective covering of the nerves. Deficiency of vitamin B1 results in weakening of the sheaths. Adequate intake of vitamin B1 ensures the development of myelin sheaths and aids nerve functioning. It is also required for regulating the transmission of particular types of nerve signals along the brain and the spinal cord.
Thiamine also contributes to optimal cognitive activity, normal brain functioning, and learning capacity.
Vitamin B1 even acts as an antioxidant, helping to guard the body against the destructive effects of free radicals.
Vitamin B1 Deficiency
A vitamin B1 deficiency can happen due to numerous reasons, such as poor diet, abusing alcohol, or liver and kidney problems. Eating large quantities of sweets, sodas, and processed foods can also create a higher risk of deficiency.
A deficiency may result in muscle weakness, fatigue, muscle cramps, and stiffness. A vitamin B1 deficiency can also negatively affect heart function and cause the heart muscles to weaken.
Using alcohol results in lower vitamin B1as it uses up B1 and lowers the amount of B1 that can be absorbed by the body. It blocks the B1 absorption but also damages the lining of the small intestine which will disrupt normal absorption of all ingredients.
Vitamin B1 deficiency results in digestive problems
A thiamine deficiency can negatively affect the nervous system resulting in tingling, numbness, irritability, poor memory retention, and depression.
B12 – Vitamin B12’s primary use by the body is aiding in the production of red blood cells, and in helping to maintain the health of the central nervous system. It keeps nerve cells healthy and protects against deterioration of the nerves.
It is critical for maintaining this myelin sheath around nerves. Nerves are encased in a fatty sheath composed of a protein called myelin which shields nerve fibers from each other.
Vitamin B12 Deficiency
A deficiency of vitamin B12 can contribute to a wide range of problems. Extended periods of deficiency can eventually result in degeneration of nerves as the body needs it to build the myelin sheath. Those who suffer from a vitamin B12 deficiency can have tingling sensations numbness, and burning feelings, weakness in the legs and problems walking.
General symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency can include tiredness, weakness, abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, flatulence, reduction in appetite, and menstrual problems. This can be reversed when the deficiency is remedied.
Other B vitamins:
B2, B6 and B9: B1 (thiamine) is dependent on the other B vitamins. Absorption of B1 into the body requires adequate supplies of vitamin B6, B12 and B9 (folic acid). A deficiency in vitamin B12 can increase loss of B1 in the urine, and vitamin B6 also appears to help regulate distribution of thiamine throughout the body.
B9 (folic acid): Is necessary to activate the absorption of the B12. It also improves circulation, which is particularly important point for diabetics as they tend to be deficient in folic Acid and also tend to have impaired circulation. Folic acid is also helpful in restoring healthy nerves for anyone, diabetic or not.
B2: The body utilizes vitamin B2 to keep tissue healthy and to help accelerate healing of injuries. B2 protects the nervous system.
Vitamin D: One of the functions of Vitamin D is the regulation of nervous system development and function.
All these vitamins nourish the nerves and calm the nerve endings.
What type of B1 & B12 should you use:
You need to both the Benfotiamine (B1) and Methyl B12. The result is that the blood stream levels of vitamin B1 and vitamin B12 can be greatly increased, providing the nutritional support needed by the body to rapidly and far more effectively nourish the nerves.
You might have heard of the new type of vitamin B1 being produced, called Benfotiamine. It is a fat-soluble version of vitamin B1. What does this mean? It means this form of vitamin B1 can be taken orally in large dosages and it will not flush out of the body the way ordinary thiamine (vitamin B1) does. This is due to the fact that this type of B1 will be delivered into the blood stream where it can travel to the cells and be used. It doesn’t just flush from the body.
Methylcobalamine (called Methyl B12). This is the form of vitamin B12 that can be directly utilized by the body. When regular B12 (called cynocobalamine) is taken, the body has to convert it into the Methyl B12 in the gut. Often a person can have a hard time converting B12 especially as they get older. Methyl B12 already comes in this useable form. So, when you take this type of B12, your body uses it.
B12 from food is absorbed in the intestines and needs a secretion from the stomach called gastric intrinsic factor in order to be effectively absorbed. If you are deficient in gastric intrinsic factor you will absorb much less vitamin B12, and therefore can become deficient.
Both Benfotiamine and Methyl B12 have been shown to be non-toxic and without any side effects even in very high dosages, so it can be taken as a supplement.
Taken together with the three other B (B2, B6, B9), and Vitamin D3 in the exact proportion that work together will produce the best results.
RECOMMENDED:
There is a formula that will give you this type of Nerve Support to build healthy nerves. It contains all these vitamins in the right amounts so they work together.
You can find out about it here
What can Vitamin C do for Your Nerves?
Sorbitol (a form of sugar) travels to certain parts of the body where it builds up. These parts of the body are:
– the lens of the eye where it forms a white milky film called cataracts and
– the sciatic nerve (the big nerve that runs down your leg) where it can cause nerve damage (nerve pain).
Evidence indicates that taking 2,000 mg a day of vitamin C may reduce the production of sorbitol and help strip sorbitol out of the body.
Most of the vitamin C sold in the US is ascorbic acid by itself, a whole food or food based Vitamin C is what is needed.
You can read more about Vitamin C
The Cause of Your Neuropathy, is it Unknown
I’ve been talking to people about their neuropathy for 14 years. I offer a quiz to help people to know what can make the neuropathy worse, or what will slow down building healthy nerves when taking supplements. (Here is the quiz, if you are interested – Quiz
One thing that I get often is that the cause of their neuropathy (nerve damage) is unknown. Not only does that bother me as they could be doing something everyday that creates more nerve damage, but I don’t understand why the cause can’t be found.
So, on that note, here is an article where all the causes of nerve damage is listed.
B Vitamin Deficiency and Neuropathy
B vitamins are the most important vitamins for nerve health. Once the nerve is damaged by the high blood sugars of diabetes, chemotheraphy, toxins, trauma, etc. etc. getting enough B vitamins is vital to building healthy nerves again.
But can a deficiency cause the condition?
Neuropathy can be a result of malnutrition caused by an unbalanced diet and by alcoholism . Alcohol does not allow the normal nutrients of the food you eat to be used. It does not allow it to be absorbed and metabolized. Thus, the person using alcohol winds up with malnutrition and the symptoms one normally observes as the result of heavy alcohol consumption. See Alcohol for more information.
Poor diet, vegan diet plans, gastric disorders, severely compromised immunity, etc. are just a few of the risk factors for vitamin B deficiency.
The main reason can be due to the lack of B12 in the diet. B12 deficiency can lead to a number of serious conditions and peripheral neuropathy is one of them. Usually this is more than just B12. These B vitamins work together.
Vitamin D. There is some thought that when a person has diabetes, his D levels go down and that might be a reason for the neuropathy. But that isn’t something that would on its own create the damage. It is the high blood sugars that lead to the nerve damage.
Many doctors after diagnosing someone with neuropathy will take blood tests to see if they have vitamin deficiencies. Because it is believed that neuropathy can be due to B12 deficiency, it is sort of reversed and the deficiency is then looked for.
Very often they can’t find a deficiency, however, the tests used are venous blood which is blood that is leaving the body. It doesn’t seem like a good test to determine what is in the cells. That is where it counts and where the deficiency would matter.
Healthy nerves can be determined as they do not burn, hurt or create coldness, etc. etc. If these symptoms are present the nerves are not healthy.
If the body had all the ingredients to build healthy nerves, they would by using up all the B vitamins and none would appear in the blood test.
However, often the B12 (and other vitamins) found in the blood can be due to laboratory created vitamins that the body cannot use. In fact, there are often a lot of deficiencies created by artificial vitamins found in “supplements” and processed foods. Have you ever seen “vitamin fortified” on a box? These are artificial vitamins made in the laboratory that the body does not recognize and will not use – and, in fact, it can “gum up the works”. See Natural vs Synthetic Supplements
Getting the right nutrients however will give the body what it needs to build healthy nerves again. Once the nerve is damaged it needs certain vitamins to build healthy nerves. An isolated B vitamin will not do that. It needs the various B vitamins to create health in the nerves. It is the nutritional support needed for neuropathy.z
To find out what the body needs for healthy nerves read Nerve Health
Dental Work & Surgery Nerve Problems?
It is common for people to experience different nerve damage symptoms after dental work. This is especially true of dental surgery and implants.
During the procedure, the nerve can be damaged. Yes, it most probably will get better in a few months if it isn’t extensive damage.
But are you willing to put up with numbness, and pain, tingling, etc. for 6 months? Why not give your body a head start in restoring your nerve health.