I am a type II diagnosed in early ’91. Have had what I thought was fairly
good control, with TouchII readings averaging 140-150, and A1C’s
confirming. I was just informed by my endo that the degree of neuropathy
that I am experiencing is "quite severe". He is proposing a program
of tight control (with averages in the 120 range or lower), and is going
to start me on insulin within a few days to assist here. I have been using
oral meds up to now, but they seem to have lost their effect. I am very
curious to find out if any of you have experiences you can share regarding
the neuropathy. I have lost much of the sensation in the toes of both feet,
with the left foot being much more pronounced. Both feet, behind the toes,
are very sensitive to the presence of any footwear, again with the left one
being the more pronounced, due, I think, to the fact that the big toe joint
is arthritic. There are times when the balls of the feet become very
painful to walk on. Lower legs not very encouraging in their response to
temperature change or vibration.
I am looking for any words of encouragement/advice from anyone with any
insight here.
TIA
Jim Mackelvey
–
jimb…@netcom.com
IJ>I am a type II diagnosed in early ’91. Have had what I thought was fairly
>good control, with TouchII readings averaging 140-150, and A1C’s
>confirming. I was just informed by my endo that the degree of neuropathy
>that I am experiencing is "quite severe". He is proposing a program
Did you confirm the "qualitative" statement by your Doc with a
Quantitative EMG by a skilled neurologist?
Usually, the bottoms of your feet will have a "burning sensation".
Never go barefoot with just open aired sandals to where your feet dry
out; espec. in Summer.
Do the backs of your calfs and/or thighs feel weak and give a "pins
& needles" sensation; espec. when you get up from sitting.
See a skilled podiatrist known to be knowledgeable in treating
Diabetics’ feet. He’ll probably give you helpful instructions on foot
care.
Stop eating ANY Fatty foods (e.g. greasy snacks, etc.).
Do You smoke tobacco? If so, try and stop. Get your blood
cholesterol level differentially tested and determined. You may have
arterial circulation blockage in legs or feet.
Get into bG sugar control by learning how to "Carbohydrate Counting"
and know your level of Calories needed, %Proteins, %Carbos, & %Fats
desirable. Get this from a couple of initial courses from a Diabetic
Nutritionist (found usually at a hospital Diabetics Care unit). Get a
prescription from your Doc to attend. GOALs: loose weight, feel
healthier, bG’s more tightly controlled minimizing Insulin dosage
needed.
>of tight control (with averages in the 120 range or lower), and is going
>to start me on insulin within a few days to assist here. I have been using
>oral meds up to now, but they seem to have lost their effect.
We’re curious what oral meds. you were taking? (r)eply–>
I am very
>curious to find out if any of you have experiences you can share regarding
>the neuropathy. I have lost much of the sensation in the toes of both feet,
>with the left foot being much more pronounced. Both feet, behind the toes,
>are very sensitive to the presence of any footwear, again with the left one
>being the more pronounced, due, I think, to the fact that the big toe joint
>is arthritic. There are times when the balls of the feet become very
>painful to walk on. Lower legs not very encouraging in their response to
>temperature change or vibration.
You might consider getting into a supervised hospital sponsored
Diabetic Clinic "exercise program". Start slowly and build-up stamina.
Avoid "load bearing" exercise like treadmill, for awhile.
Sitting/pushing on a exercise bicycle and moderate leg exercises will
get your heart/circulatory system going also. The exercise will usually
build up your level of Endorphins; which will probably reduce Pain
symptoms. Be careful though, exercise can play havoc with your bG
levels; so strip test your bG levels before and after exercising until
hospital exercise supervisors directions and interpretation.
Hope the above info sharing evolved from my own DEBIT experiences
will help you out.
——
gottl…@foodfarm.org
—
þ QMPro 1.51 þ "If the shoe fits, buy it." – Imelda Marcos
I’ve had neuropathy for a few years. There was a time when it was so bad
all I could do was sit and cry….but when my blood sugars got better the
pain did go away…so what your doctor says is true. Tight control does help
keep neuropathy under control. I don’t know if it works for everyone but
it worked for me. If my bg’s start to go up the pain comes back at times,
but as soon as my bgs drop the pain goes away.
*Belver
jim mackelvey (jimb…@netcom.com) wrote:
: I am looking for any words of encouragement/advice from anyone with any
: insight here.
Yes, tight control has reversed a fairly early degree of neuropathy for me.
I used to have burning feet at times, with an unpredictable, sharp, needly
pain in one of my big toes. Since starting tight control under pump
therapy, most of that’s history.
Now what I’ve heard, but have not experienced myself, is that when nerves
regenerate, they may also result in a sense of pain. Since you’ve lost some
feeling in your feet, you might have had some amount of pain before this,
but the nerves eventually quit. New nerves, rerouting to replace the
damaged ones may bring back painful sensitivity in the interum. I would be
afrid of this pain if I were you as it is a sign that nerves are getting
better, and the good news is that continued tight control can diminish this
sense of pain. So… yes, it gets better. :-)
-Joe
—
+——————–+
| jc…@kaiwan.com |
+——————–+
Joe Carp (jc…@kaiwan.com) wrote:
: jim mackelvey (jimb…@netcom.com) wrote:
: : I am looking for any words of encouragement/advice from anyone with any
: : insight here.
: damaged ones may bring back painful sensitivity in the interum. I would be
: afrid of this pain if I were you as it is a sign that nerves are getting
: better, and the good news is that continued tight control can diminish this
: sense of pain. So… yes, it gets better. :-)
Whoops… typos galore, here. I meant: I would NOT be afraid if I were
you as it is a sign that nerves are getting better…
-Joe
–
+——————–+
| jc…@kaiwan.com |
+——————–+
In response to your article I’m not able to get rid of the pain in the feet and the
and the hands other than exercise and aspirin. I’m also very tired most of
the time and want to take naps. I don’t think that my Doctor is concerned
about my condidtion as the Touch II indicator is reading around 225 to 250
but he seems to think that is acceptable. I’m not on insulin and was
diagnoised a year ago. Any suggestions?
Pete Wilcoxon
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
In article <Rc+Tg2n.be…@delphi.com>, Belver Ladson <be…@delphi.com> writes:
> I’ve had neuropathy for a few years. There was a time when it was so bad
> all I could do was sit and cry….but when my blood sugars got better the
> pain did go away…so what your doctor says is true. Tight control does help
> keep neuropathy under control. I don’t know if it works for everyone but
> it worked for me. If my bg’s start to go up the pain comes back at times,
> but as soon as my bgs drop the pain goes away.
> *Belver
HOYT E. WILCOXON (h…@wdl1.wdl.loral.com) wrote:
: In response to your article I’m not able to get rid of the pain in the feet and the
: and the hands other than exercise and aspirin. I’m also very tired most of
: the time and want to take naps. I don’t think that my Doctor is concerned
: about my condidtion as the Touch II indicator is reading around 225 to 250
: but he seems to think that is acceptable. I’m not on insulin and was
: diagnoised a year ago. Any suggestions?
: Pete Wilcoxon
225 to 250 is not acceptable, no way, no how, and it’s probably why you’re
feeling so tired. Get another doctor.
In article <1994Jun21.220553.27…@wdl.loral.com>, h…@wdl1.wdl.loral.com (HOYT E. WILCOXON) writes…
>In response to your article I’m not able to get rid of the pain in the feet and the
>and the hands other than exercise and aspirin. I’m also very tired most of
>the time and want to take naps. I don’t think that my Doctor is concerned
>about my condidtion as the Touch II indicator is reading around 225 to 250
>but he seems to think that is acceptable. I’m not on insulin and was
>diagnoised a year ago. Any suggestions?
>Pete Wilcoxon
Yes, find yourself another doctor, who will be willing to teach you how to
achieve normal BG level most of the time. It may well be that you need insulin
to achieve this.
You will cease to be tired, and in all probability the pain in your feet will
calm down. (Although, expect that the pain in the feet will be slightly worse
at the beginning of the new regimen. This is documented in the literature.
The feet need time to adjust to normal BG levels.)
I am telling you this, because it all happened to me before I switched to the
new regimen. — exactly as you and I describe it above.
Rachel
What I can recommend past everyone else is simply this:
Do your best to help yourself, and be patient.
Stress will not help here. I think going to insulin will help more
than you know – once you get the hang of it and get used to how your
body feels at certain places (140-150 is HIGH for our experience as a
general rule), you’ll probably find it easier to control your sugars at
a lower level. And you probably will see some improvement in your
neuropathy.
You’re not the only one who this has happened to – if you can, find
someone else LOCAL to talk to. Don’t worry about pestering whomever –
the podiatrist (GREAT idea, BTW), your endo, your vascular guy – talk,
talk, talk. Get a glass of iced tea and chat it up.
Listen to your favorite music more. Pamper your feet and yourself.
And keep us posted.
***************************************************************
"Some things have to be Believed to be seen."
– Ralph Hodgson (1871-1962)
Donna Hutt-Stapfer * p00…@psilink.com * (909) 983-3907
"Firebug"
Subject: Re: Neuropathy
From: Donna Hutt Stapfer, p00…@psilink.com
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 94 19:29:23 -0700
In article <2981327086.2.p00…@psilink.com> Donna Hutt Stapfer,
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
p00…@psilink.com writes:
>What I can recommend past everyone else is simply this:
>Do your best to help yourself, and be patient.
>Stress will not help here. I think going to insulin will help more
>than you know – once you get the hang of it and get used to how your
>body feels at certain places (140-150 is HIGH for our experience as a
>general rule), you’ll probably find it easier to control your sugars at
>a lower level. And you probably will see some improvement in your
>neuropathy.
[deleted]
> ***************************************************************
> "Some things have to be Believed to be seen."
> — Ralph Hodgson (1871-1962)
> Donna Hutt-Stapfer * p00…@psilink.com * (909) 983-3907
> "Firebug"
I am sorry, but I *cannot* agree with this posting. Although classified
as type I since 91, I believe I must have been type II for some time
before that. I am under insulin 3 times per day since mid-91 and use very
tight control (HbA1c regularly at around 5.8 — "too good to be true"
acoording to my endo).
Despite my endo’s promises and the official TRUTH STRAIGHT FROM THE
HORSE’S MOUTH, there has not been *one iota* of improvement of my
neuropathy. I would even say, on the contrary: I had some cramps and
pins-and-needles at that time, but now there is an almost total absecne
of feeling and of reflexes in the whole lower part of the body
I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I did say "probably", didn’t I? That
really doesn’t help – I know. Trust me. Better than you know.
There was a time when we thought Cliff was having nerve damage – but
the affect was in autonomous systems, not the "walking around" systems
– mainly, his digestive system was going haywire, and he couldn’t keep
any food down. He was put on Tagamet and Reglan (I *hate* Reglan, it’s
like getting a poker shoved up your…) and we ended up overmedicating
the kid once again. He has an allergy to beer and avocados when
ingested together. Separately, no problem. But we had been living on
mexican food – and you get the idea. Gucamole and Coronas. *barf*
Also, California roll and saki. *ralph*
I also advised patience. I’m not taking months, here. Nerve damage
takes a LONG time to resolve. Cliff sustained some damage to his left
hand after his first vitrectomy (emergency surgery, they hyperextended
his arm and put a blood pressure cuff on it – inflated, for over 5
hours – he didn’t need demerol for his eye, he needed it for his arm!)
and it took over a year and a half for it to completely go away. It
still is most senstive to cold or any temperature change.
I understand that you can get damage to other autonomous systems – like
breathing. Ugh.
You also have not lost any more ground. THAT is something to point to.
The fact that there has been no measurable improvement is a bitch, but
not to continue to lose ground is damn good. As my Mamma said, this is
a disease process – when the process is halted in any way, you’ve won.
For the time being.
Be kind to yourself. It’s not your fault.
In article <2981855128.2.p00…@psilink.com>, "Donna Hutt Stapfer"
<p00…@psilink.com> writes:
I too suffer from autonomic neuropathy. very, very, badly. What has
worked for me is, believe it or not, Erythromycin elixir, 4 times a
day. It has literally saved me. ive been using it for 18 months,
and my digestive tract responds well. I use it to stimulate movement
in the bowels.
good luck, And like the Jimmy v says: dont give up, dont ever give
up