How To Slow Nerve Degeneration Naturally

Article originally published on The Lost Herbs!

Your feet tingle when you walk. Your hands feel numb when you’re trying to button a shirt. You drop things without meaning to. Your balance feels off, like you might fall.

These aren’t just “getting older.” These are signs your nerves are dying from the ends inward.

And if you catch it early, you can slow it down. Sometimes even help damaged nerves start to recover.

Dr. Nicole Apelian knows what nerve damage feels like. At 29, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that makes your immune system attack the nerves in your brain and spinal cord.

She was in constant agony. Her body felt like pins and needles were stabbing every inch of her skin. She couldn’t walk unassisted and spent most of her time in a wheelchair. The prognosis from her neurologist was bleak: wheelchair for life in the best-case scenario.

After three years of failed treatments and only getting sicker, she turned to medicinal plants. She started making her own remedies with Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Cordyceps, and Turkey Tail mushrooms.

Today, she hasn’t taken a single MS drug in over 20 years. She went from bedridden to surviving 57 days alone in the wilderness on the History Channel’s show “Alone.”

Later in this article, I’ll show you exactly which herbs and nutrients she used to manage her nerve damage, and what the research says about each one.

And for a short version of the important information of the clip, if you are in a hurry, you can check this out:

How You Know Your Nerves Are Struggling

Nerve damage starts quietly. You might notice:

Tingling or burning in your feet and hands. Numbness that makes it hard to feel temperature or texture. Shooting pains that come out of nowhere. Weakness when you try to grip things. Balance problems that make you unsteady on your feet.

It usually starts in your toes and fingers and works its way up. That’s because the longest nerves in your body are the most vulnerable. They’re farthest from your spine, hardest to nourish, first to suffer when something goes wrong.

Most people wait months or years before mentioning it to a doctor. By then, significant damage has already happened.

Why You Need to Act Now

Here’s what most people don’t realize: nerve damage gets harder to manage the longer you wait.

In the early stages, nerves are struggling but still alive. They’re sending distress signals (the tingling, the burning, the numbness). Those signals mean they need help but haven’t given up yet.

Wait too long, and the nerve fibers die completely. Dead nerves don’t regenerate. The numbness becomes permanent. The weakness gets worse. Balance problems lead to falls. Small injuries on your feet become infected wounds because you can’t feel them.

This isn’t about vanity or minor discomfort. Nerve degeneration affects your independence. Your ability to walk safely. Your ability to use your hands. Your quality of life.

Catch it early, support your nerves properly, and you give them a fighting chance.

What Makes Nerve Damage Worse

Three things accelerate nerve degeneration faster than anything else:

High blood sugar. If you’re diabetic or pre-diabetic, uncontrolled glucose is toxic to nerves. It damages the tiny blood vessels that feed nerve fibers, starving them of oxygen and nutrients.

Nutritional deficiencies. Your nerves need specific vitamins to function and repair themselves. Run low on B12, and your nerves start degenerating even if your blood sugar is perfect. Same with vitamin D and magnesium.

Inflammation and toxins. Alcohol damages nerves directly. Smoking reduces blood flow to your extremities. Chronic inflammation from poor diet, stress, and lack of movement creates an environment where nerves can’t heal.

The good news? You can control all three of these.

The Herbs and Nutrients That Actually Help

Lion’s Mane Mushroom: For Nerve Growth

Lion’s mane contains compounds called hericenones and erinacines that stimulate your body to produce nerve growth factor (NGF). NGF is the signal that tells nerve cells to grow and repair.

Animal studies show lion’s mane accelerates nerve regeneration after injury. Rats with crushed nerves healed faster when given lion’s mane extracts. The mechanism involves improved myelination (the protective coating around nerves) and activation of growth signaling pathways.

Human trials exist for cognitive function, but not yet for peripheral neuropathy specifically. Still, the nerve growth factor mechanism applies to all nerve tissue, not just the brain.

Safety: Can lower blood sugar (monitor if diabetic). Inhibits platelet aggregation, so stop two weeks before surgery or if on blood thinners.

Lion’s mane is difficult to find fresh, and even harder to extract properly. The nerve growth compounds (hericenones and erinacines) need dual extraction with both alcohol and hot water to become bioavailable. Most people don’t have the time or equipment to do this correctly.

Nicole makes a Lion’s Mane Tincture using dual extraction to preserve the compounds that support nerve growth factor. This is one of the mushrooms she takes daily to manage her MS. Get it here. 

Alpha-Lipoic Acid: The Most-Studied Antioxidant

Alpha-lipoic acid has the strongest research base for diabetic neuropathy of any natural supplement. Multiple clinical trials show it reduces pain, burning, numbness, and tingling.

It works because it’s both water and fat soluble, allowing it to reach all parts of nerve cells. It regenerates other antioxidants, improves blood flow to nerves, and helps restore energy production in damaged nerve fibers.

Studies used oral doses taken on an empty stomach for best absorption.

Safety: Can lower blood sugar (monitor with diabetes medications). May reduce thyroid medication effectiveness (separate doses by several hours). Rare cases of insulin autoimmune syndrome reported.

B Vitamins: Fix Deficiencies First

Before anything else, check for B12 deficiency. It causes nerve damage that looks exactly like diabetic neuropathy.

If you take metformin for diabetes, you’re at high risk. Metformin blocks B12 absorption. Acid blockers (like omeprazole) make it worse.

Studies show B12 supplementation significantly improves nerve conduction, vibration perception, and pain in people who were deficient.

Benfotiamine (a fat-soluble form of vitamin B1) also helps. High blood sugar depletes thiamine, creating toxic compounds that damage nerves. Benfotiamine replenishes it. Clinical trials found it improved neuropathy symptoms within weeks.

Critical warning: Avoid high-dose vitamin B6. Above certain levels, B6 itself causes peripheral neuropathy. Many “nerve formulas” contain dangerous amounts.

What to do: Get tested for B12 deficiency (ask for methylmalonic acid test too, not just serum B12). Supplement with B12 if low, or use a B-complex with safe B6 levels.

Reishi Mushroom: The Inflammation Fighter

Reishi has been called the “mushroom of immortality” in traditional Chinese medicine. It’s a powerful anti-inflammatory adaptogen that helps create the calm environment damaged nerves need to heal.

Chronic inflammation keeps your body in survival mode, diverting resources away from nerve repair. Reishi reduces inflammatory markers like cytokines and helps regulate immune function, which is critical for autoimmune-related nerve damage. It also lowers cortisol, the stress hormone that directly impairs nerve healing.

Safety: Can lower blood pressure and blood sugar (monitor if on medications). May increase bleeding risk, so stop two weeks before surgery.

Nicole also uses Reishi to calm the inflammation that prevents nerve healing.

Reishi is an adaptogen, it helps your body handle stress while reducing the chronic inflammation that creates an environment where damaged nerves can’t repair.

It’s part of what helped her go from wheelchair-bound to thriving. Get your own Reishi Tincture here. 

Evening Primrose Oil: For Nerve Membranes

Evening primrose oil provides gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an omega-6 fatty acid that’s critical for nerve membrane health.

Diabetes impairs the enzyme that makes GLA from dietary fats, starving nerves of this essential building block. Supplementing with evening primrose oil bypasses the problem.

The largest clinical trial gave GLA for one year and found significant improvements in multiple nerve function measures.

Safety: Can increase bleeding risk. Stop two weeks before surgery.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Protect Nerve Structure

Omega-3s (EPA and DHA from fish oil or algae) incorporate into nerve membranes and generate compounds that support nerve regeneration.

Recent studies using corneal nerve imaging (a way to actually see small nerve fibers) show omega-3 supplementation increases nerve fiber length over months. This is visible structural regeneration, though it may take longer to translate into symptom relief.

Dosing: Fish oil or algae-based supplements providing combined EPA and DHA.

Gotu Kola: Traditional Use With Preclinical Support

Gotu kola (Centella asiatica) has been used traditionally for nerve health in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine.

Animal studies show it accelerates nerve regeneration after injury, with one of its compounds (asiatic acid) enhancing nerve fiber growth. However, no human trials exist specifically for peripheral neuropathy.

Important safety note: Rare cases of liver injury have been documented with gotu kola. If using it, get baseline liver enzymes checked and recheck after several weeks. Use only quality products (contamination is common).

The Simple Daily Protocol

Support your nerves with:

• Lion’s mane for nerve growth factor
• Alpha-lipoic acid for antioxidant protection
• B12 (if deficient) and benfotiamine for B vitamin support
• Evening primrose oil for nerve membrane health
• Omega-3s for structural protection

Keep your blood sugar steady. Move your body daily (nerves need blood flow). Stop smoking. Limit alcohol.

Give it time. Nerve healing takes months, not days.

The Complete Protocol Library for Your Bookshelf

Supporting your nerves isn’t just about supplements. It’s about when you take them, what foods to avoid, how to manage blood sugar throughout the day, which movement helps and which makes things worse.

Nicole detailed everything she does to manage her MS nerve damage in The Holistic Guide to Wellness. But that’s just one of 45 complete protocols inside. Each one gives you morning-to-evening instructions, exact timing, dosages, which remedies to combine, and what to avoid.

This is the kind of book you want on your shelf before something hits. High blood pressure. Diabetes. Arthritis. Autoimmune flare-ups. Chronic pain. Digestive issues.

Instead of scrambling to piece together advice from the internet, you’ll have a complete day-by-day plan written by someone who actually lived it.

It’s not just about nerve damage. It’s about having a trusted protocol ready when your body needs help. Get it here.

When to See a Doctor

See a doctor immediately if you have rapidly worsening weakness, frequent falls, trouble swallowing or breathing, or new bowel or bladder problems.

Also get tested for B12 deficiency, diabetes, vitamin D, and magnesium levels before assuming it’s just “aging.”

Nicole’s Complete Mushroom Protocol for Nerve Support

After Nicole’s MS diagnosis left her in a wheelchair with constant nerve pain, she started making remedies with four specific mushrooms: Lion’s Mane for nerve growth, Reishi for inflammation, Cordyceps for circulation and energy, and Turkey Tail for immune support.

She hasn’t taken a single MS drug in over 20 years. These mushrooms are still a vital part of what keeps her nerve damage from progressing.

Now she makes them available in the Warrior Bundle, specifically formulated for autoimmune conditions and MS. These are the exact formulas she uses, made in small batches, dual-extracted for maximum potency. Wild-harvested and organically grown.

If you’re dealing with nerve damage from diabetes, autoimmune disease, or aging, this is the same protocol that helped Nicole go from bedridden to surviving 57 days alone in the wilderness. Get the Warrior Bundle here. 

The Bottom Line

Your nerves can heal. Not overnight. Not completely if damage is severe. But they can stop getting worse, and often they can start recovering.

Catch it early. Support them properly. Be patient.

Your independence, your balance, your ability to feel and move freely, it’s all worth protecting.