pain management for diabetic neuropathy

Question:

First, thanks so much for being there for veterans that desperately need your help! My husband is 70 years old, 100% disabled under the Agent Orange provision, has Type 2 Diabetes and extreme pain in his feet due to neuropathy. The VA is not giving him any real solutions to his chronic pain since taking him off of opioids. Are there any VA paid healthcare benefits available to him outside of the VA clinic system? We live approximately 1.5 hours from his clinic and would like to explore civilian pain management clinics as the VA pain management clinic has not reached out to him since being placed on the list. He is so miserable and seldom gets any real sleep because of the pain. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Jim's Reply:

Diabetic neuropathy can be an extremely painful condition and controlling the degree of pain can be challenging. Most clinical studies claim success if the pain can be reduced by 50%. Diabetic neuropathy isn't usually treated with opioids so I'm a little surprised to hear you associate the two. Rather than opioids, diabetic neuropathy is most often treated with antiepileptics like Gabapentin  or  Pregabalin. A very popular and safe pain reliever that can be purchased over the counter is Capsaicin cream. Those who have used the chili pepper extract will attest to how well it works to provide some relief at night. The opioid and narcotic medicines won't be coming back for chronic pain relief. That isn't the VA doing that, it's the DEA. The nation is in the midst of a huge opioid crisis and those medications are now reserved for very short term use, if used at all. Going to an outside clinic won't help, doctors there aren't prescribing opioids for fear of losing their licenses. Your veteran should speak to his primary care provider about trying some of the options I mentioned. If he doesn't ask for opioids, I'm sure he'll get the help he needs.