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The following two studies show that Melatonin can be helpful in the fight against Peripheral Neuropathy (PN). I am adding this post because Melatonin is not currently on the EC list for PN supplements, but it clearly belongs there.
In this first study / Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) it is shown that melatonin provides benefits against PN even at the low dose of 6 mg / day :
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00228-021-03170-5
Here is a relevant quote from the RCT :
' At the study endpoint, treatment with melatonin resulted in a considerably higher reduction in the mean NRS pain score in comparison with placebo (4.2 ± 1.83 vs. 2.9 ± 1.56; P-value < 0.001). In terms of treatment responders, a greater proportion of melatonin-treated patients satisfied the responder criterion than placebo-treated patients (63.5% vs. 43.1%). Melatonin also reduced pain-related sleep interference scores more than did placebo (3.38 ± 1.49 vs. 2.25 ± 1.26; P-value < 0.001). Further, at the endpoint, more improvement was also seen in terms of PGIC, CGIC, and Health-related QOL in patients treated with melatonin than placebo. Melatonin was also well tolerated. '
In this next study, melatonin is shown to actually repair peripheral nerves :
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891584922001691?via=ihub
Here is a relevant quote from the study :
' Collectively, these findings indicate that melatonin upregulates Parkin-mediated mitophagy and promotes peripheral nerve repair. The results provide a basis for the development of effective drugs for PNI treatment. '
Admittedly, a 6 mg/day dose is rather modest considering they are trying to treat PN in the first study. Considering the results obtained in the study, future studies should use higher dosing to answer the question of whether more melatonin will have an even greater and faster effect, as shown in other studies not involving PN. In any case, working toward actual repair of peripheral nerves as opposed to trying to kill the pain, burning, tingling and numbness seems much more important IMO.
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