“Painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy affects 40-50% of patients with diabetic neuropathy, leading to an impaired quality of life. Duloxetine has evidence-based support, & is formally approved for controlling painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy” [1]. It is frequently prescribed by Pain Specialists
Overview
Duloxetine is a balanced serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor. – This works to stop or delay the body from reabsorbing both hormones, namely, serotonin and noradrenaline). Duloxetine is licensed for the management of neuropathic pain linked to diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Multiple research trials have been conducted in order to investigate the use of duloxetine in nociceptive and neuropathic painful conditions. The results have been very positive [2].
Why Pain Doctors Might Recommend Duloxetine
Pain Consultants may put patients on Duloxetine, because it has been shown to be valuable in treating various forms of pain. Neuropathic pain is one of them, and this condition refers to disease, dysfunction, or damage to one or more nerves (particularly in the peripheral nervous system, which refers to nerves outside the brain and spinal cord). The associated symptoms of neuropathic pain, include: muscle atrophy or weakness, tingling, numbness, shooting or burning pain. It is frequently degenerative, and is normally the result of toxins, disease, infection, injury, drugs, or a vitamin deficiency [2].
“Pain can be produced spontaneously from damaged parts of the nervous system used to transmit pain information to the brain (this is known as neuropathic pain). When this damage is to nerves outside the spinal cord, it is called a neuropathy” [2]
Booking an Appointment With a Pain Specialist
In order to get an accurate diagnosis of diabetic neuropathic pain, and be put on a holistic Personalised Treatment Plan (which includes both conventional and cutting-edge treatment); the best course of action, is to book an online or in-person consultation with a Pain Consultant. In the first instance, they will review your medical history, and ask you various questions about your nerve pain. To that end, it is a good idea to compile a ‘Pain Diary.’ – This should be divided into days with 24 hour slots. Be as precise as you can when you fill it in, and be sure to include what you were doing at the time, e.g. standing, sitting, climbing up the stairs, etc. Your Pain Specialist will find this extremely helpful.
References
[1]. Carlos et al. (2015). “Duloxetine for the treatment of painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy.” Medwave.
https://www.medwave.cl/investigacion/estudios/6265.html?lang=en
[2]. Lunn et al. “Duloxetine for treating painful neuropathy or chronic pain.” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2014, Jan 3;(1):CD007115.
