Pain relief in neuropathy.

  Please, if anyone can help me/us, please let me know.
  My grandfather is entering his eighth or ninth year dealing with peripheral neuropathy.  After years of experiencing primarily muscle weakness, his system was disrupted upon hopitalization for a CABG.  That was in 1997, and since then, his condition has deteriorated to - in the words of my grandmother - "constant, screaming pain."
  The only advice that I have been able to find is from a FamPrac Resident with whom I occasionally work.  His residency is in a city about 4 hours away, so I have little contact with him.  His only suggestion that fell outside the bounds of what my grandfather had been told was that there exists a cream of some sort, used in hospice care, that has been effective.  His only recollection was that it contained cortisone ("probably"), and diphenhydramine ("possibly").  He thought that there was a third ingredient (I thought perhaps capcasin?)
  I understand that this is an unusual forum for this question, but I feel that at his age, my grandfather is having trouble finding doctors willing to look beyond palliative care for the next ??? years (my grandfather is in great health otherwise, and there is no reason to believe that he would be in for less than 5-7 years of this agony.
  If anyone has ANY help, allopathic, holistic, anything...Please contact me  
          e-mail:***@****
       US.Mail  :P.O.Pox 1836 Van,TX 75790-1836.
  Thank You.
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There are a few options available, your posting does not mention what has
been tried already, the cream is called Zostrix and contains a pepper
derivative eventually which desensitizes the skin to all stimuli including
the pain of the neuropathy.
There has been considerable success recently with a new drug Neurontin
which has a very low incidence of side effects and is very effective in
many patients with peripheral neuropathy.
There are also several older but effective medications which you do not
mention, I would also suggest referral to a specialized pain clinic if this
continues.
Unfortunately many of the treatments in this area are palliative in the
sense that they do not cure the underlying cause and treat symptoms only,
This is the case regardless of the patients age, and unfortunately will
remain so until underlying mechanisms and new treatments are discovered.